Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1873 [PAGE 130]

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C o m p a r i n g t h e different a m o u n t of seeds drooped i n a place, w e g e t t h e following r e s u l t s :

WEIGHT OF GREEN BRUSH.

Varieties. Mohawk Early Evergreen M i s s o u r i E v e r g r e e n .. Chinese Dwarf Brush

12 seeds. .- 943 705 492 300 1,343

10 seeds. 843 678 527 459 1,060

8 seeds. 675 600 650 700 1,190

6 seeds. 605 525 630 575 1,040

Total 3, 783 3, 567 3, 815 3, 375 T h u s t h e n u m b e r of seeds a p p e a r s t o m a k e no definite difference i n t h e w e i g h t of t h e g r e e n b r u s h I n t h e clean b r u s h , h o w e v e r , t h e r e s u l t is m o r e m a r k e d , t h u s :

W E I G H T OF CLEANED BRUSH.

Varieties. Mohawk Early Evergreen Missouri Evergreen Chinese Dwarf Brush Total

12 seeds. 192 183 157 165 248 945

10 s e e d s . 166 179 164 158 205 872

8 seeds. 164 163 164 144 173 808

6 seeds. 158 146 167 136 124 731

H e r e w e find t h e w e i g h t of b r u s h i n c r e a s i n g w i t h t h e a m o u n t of seed, b u t b y n o m e a n s i n a n e q u a l r a t i o . S u c k e r i n g fills u p t h e t h i n l y p l a n t e d b r o o m corn, b u t does n o t m a k e so good s t a l k s as original p l a n t s . H e n c e , p r o b a b l y , t h e d i s c r e p a n c y b e t w e e n t h e c o m p a r a t i v e yields of g r e e n a n d cleaned b r u s h . I n 1871 t h e s a m e five a c r e s w e r e p l a n t e d w i t h t h e s a m e five v a r i e t i e s . T h e following t a b l e g i v e s a c o m p a r i s o n of r e s u l t s i n 1871 a n d 1872 :

WEIGHT OF BRUSH.

Varieties. Mohawk Early Evergreen Missouri Evergreen Chinese Dwarf Brush Total A v e r a g e per acre

1

/ Green. v 1871. 1872. . 1,520 3,066 1,568 2,508 2,538 2,299 2,052 2,034 3,290 4,633 10,968 2,193 14,540 2,908

,—Cleaned.—, 1871. 1872. 178 680 275 671 500 652 380 603 579 750 1,912 382 3,356 671

T h e season of 1871 w a s v e r y dry, a n d t h e c h i n c h b u g d i m i n i s h e d t h e crop t o an u n k n o w n e x t e n t . T h e - s e a s o n of 1872 w a s q u i t e favorable, so far as q u a n t i t y w a s concerned, b u t t h e b r u s h is s o m e w h a t coarse, of inferior color a n d a good deal b r o k e n d o w n from softness a n d w e a k n e s s i n t h e d a m p w e a t h e r p r e v a l e n t a t t h e t i m e of i t s p u t t i n g o u t . T h e a v e r a g e yield p e r a c r e for t h e t w o y e a r s of t h e different v a r i e t i e s is as follows: Mohawk 429 p o u n d s Early Evergreen 473 '' Missouri Evergreen 576 '' Chinese 491J " Dwarf Brush . 664£ '' Total Average 2,634 527 " ''

T h e D w a r f B r u s h gives t h e b e s t r e s u l t s , a n d t h e M i s s o u r i E v e r g r e e n , w h i c h s e e m s t o b e t h e favor i t e v a r i e t y w i t h C h a m p a i g n g r o w e r s , comes n e x t t o it. T h e yield of M o h a w k w a s e x c e p t i o n a l l y s m a l l i n 1871, a n d m a k e s i t t h u s far t h e v a r i e t y g i v i n g t h e s m a l l e s t r e t u r n . T h e y i e l d of g r e e n b r u s h i n 1872 w a s n e a r l y 33 p e r cent, g r e a t e r t h a n in 1871, w h i l s t t h e i n c r e a s e i n c l e a n e d b r u s h is 75 p e r c e n t . T h i s is a c u r i o u s a n d p e r h a p s significant fact, as i t s e e m s t o s h o w t h a t t h e d r o u t h a n d c h i n c h b u g s i n j u r e d t h e e s s e n t i a l p a r t of t h e crop in a far g r e a t e r r a t i o t h a n i t s u n i m p o r t a n t p a r t s . T h i s r a i s e s t h e q u e s t i o n w h e t h e r , as a g e n e r a l rule, a d v e r s e conditions will first c a u s e t h e d e t e r i o r a t i o n of t h e specially d e v e l o p e d p a r t s of a p l a n t u n d e r c u l t i v a t i o n .

EXPERIMENTS IN FEEDING.

T h e following r e p o r t of e x p e r i m e n t s i n feedings m a d e b y E . L . L a w r e n c e , H e a d F a r m e r i n c h a r g e of t h e S t o c k F a r m , h a v e e x c i t e d a g r e a t deal of i n t e r e s t a m o n g s t o c k feeders, a l t h o u g h , as M r . L a w r e n c e w a r n s u s , c a r e s h o u l d b e t a k e n n o t t o come t o h a s t y conclusions, as t h e e x p e r i m e n t s s h o u l d b e s e v e r a l t i m e s r e p e a t e d t o f u r n i s h sufficient d a t a for r e l i a b l e g e n e r a l i z a t i o n .