WOBURN EXPERIMENTAL. FARM.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2641, 25 October 1909, Page 2

WOBURN EXPERIMENTAL. FARM.

A VISIT Off INSPECTION. From “The Times.” The Council of the Royal Agricultural Society have paid their annual visit to the Society’s experimenal farm near Woburn, Bedfordshire. The party made a systematic inspection of the experimental plots and pot culture station under the direction of Dr. J. A. Voelcker. The Woburn station was established in 1876. The farm, about. 140 acres—loo acres arable and the rest grass—in extent, was given to the Society by the Ninth Duke of Bedford, and it has since been maintained almost entirely by the generosity of the successive Dukes of Bedford, the superintendence, management, and expert advice being provided by the Royal Agricultural Society. The work at Woburn has been closely related and intermingled with that at Rothamsted, prominent objects in view being to test th© application of theRothamsted teaching upon light soils, and to ascertain by independent ■ trials the value in actual practice of Lawes 7 and Gilbert’s tables in estimating the value of unexhausted ritanures. But the directors of the Woburn station have embarked upon independent linos of research, and the results of these original schemes ar© of high practical importance. In Connection with the continuous growing of wheat and barley on the same land, it is shown that both crops may be so cultivated if the proper manures are used and the land kept free from weeds and in good condition. The manures needful in such circumstances comprise a combination of

mineral manures and. nitrogenous salts, or else organic manures. An important point brought out in' both ' the wheat and barley plots is the deterioration that results from the continued use of nitrogenous manures alone. For as long a period as twenty years the sulphate of ammonia produced excellent crops,but alter that •Rime the land! began to become unfruitful, and to assume an acid condition, the application of lime being necessary to restore it to a healthy state. Woburn, in fact, can claim the credit of having been the first experimental station to demonstrate practically the exhausting effects of sulphate of ammonia and the value of lime in nentra'ising-accumulations Of acid in the soil.' The experiments on the hues of Hellvcigel’s discovery and in green manuring arc also oi‘ economic significance. The effect of clover in enriching the soil with nitrogen—according Hellreigel theory, now generally accepted as correct, absorbed from the atmosphere —is so marked that supplementary manuring of wheat following clover with.! decorticated cotton-cake and maize meal gave no increase of yield. It is curious to notice that while the nitrogen-collecting properties of leguminous crops were proved in ordinary rotation fanning, they had not the same result when used for green manuring. For the latter purpose mustard" was distinctly . superior to tares, race occupying an intermediate position. ~ Further investigation into this point dieted that the tares were supplying to the land t,wice the amount of bulk of organic matter and nitrogen that the mustard did,, and therefore the only feasible' explanation of the better yields from the mustard plot is that the noil-leguminous crop exerted a Letter influence upon the mechanical texture of the soil and its waterliolding capacity. In reference to the lucerne experiments, Canadian seed had for / four seasons given better results than either Provence or American, and the inannrial trials show that potash is an essential element in the food of this plant. On the grass land experiments, also - potash salts were very beneficial, their Yhief function being to increase the percentage of leguminous plants. Mr R. H. Elliot’s seed mixtures-for per. manent pasture, including deep-rooting plants such as kidney vetch, hornet, and chicory, sown in 1901, have been very successful. With regard to farmyard manure, it has been ascertained that this material loses about 15 percent of its nitrogen during the making, and another 20 per cent, during storage, even under careful management. These figures prove the importance of looking carefully after the manure heap. . . . . The Pot Culture Station, instituted twelve vears ago mainly as the outcome of a bequest by the late Mr E. H. Hills, is utilised for intricate and finer investigations calculated to simplify and supplement work on the farm. This year new investigations have been instituted for the purpose of testing Professor Bottomley’s preparation of nitrobaeterine on lucerne and white clover, and also upon non-leguminous crops; comparing different varieties of lucerne ; ascertaining the value of the new atmospheric nitrogen manures, cyanamide and nitrate of lime; . and proving the influence of magnesia on potatoes; but these experiments are not yet sufficiently advanced to- yield practical lessons.