Woburn Continuous Barley
- Experiment Code: W/XB/6
- Experiment Site: Woburn
- Objectives: To study the effects of fertilisers and manures on the yield of spring barley grown continuously
- Description: This experiment is almost identical to the Hoosfield Barley experiments at Rothamsted, but at Woburn. It started in spring 1877, on Woburn Stackyard field. There is a parallel experiment on Continuous Wheat which started in 1876, with the same plot numbers. The experiments were carried out by the Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) but with input from Lawes.
- Date Start: 1877
- Date End: 1966
Key Contacts
Margaret Glendining
- Role: Data Manager
- ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6466-4629
- Organisation: Rothamsted Research
- Address: West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, United Kingdom
Andy Gregory
- Role: Experiment Manager
- ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7123-0784
- Organisation: Rothamsted Research
- Address: West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, United Kingdom
Funding
- The e-RA database, including the published datasets generated from it, is part of the Rothamsted Long-Term Experiments - National Bioscience Research Infrastructure (RLTE-NBRI) , which also includes the Long-Term Experiments, the Sample Archive and Rothamsted's environmental monitoring activities including the weather stations and its role in the UK Environmental Change Network.
- The RLTE-NBRI is supported by the Lawes Agricultural Trust and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Grants BBS/E/C/00005189 (2012-2017); BBS/E/C/000J0300 (2017-2022); BBS/E/RH/23NB0007 (2023-2028)).
Experimental Design
Description
- 11 main plots, receiving different fertilizer and manure treatments. Some were split into up to 4 sub-plots with and without lime, as the soil became more acidic.
Design
- Period: 1877 - 1926
- Experiment Design Type: Demonstration strip design
- Number of Plots: 11
- Number of Replicates: 1
- Number of Sub-plots:
- Number of Harvests per Year: 1
Crops
| Crop | Years Grown |
|---|---|
| Spring Barley |
Factors
Factors are the interventions or treatments which vary across the experiment.
Liming Exposure
Description: Lime applied as treatments to some sub-plots where soils became acidic
Levels
| Level Name | Amount | Years | Frequency | Crop | Method | Chemical Form | Notes |
|---|
Nitrogen Fertilizer Exposure
Description: Testing different types of N (ammonium sulphate v sodium nitrate) in some plots, and different rates of N in others.
Levels
| Level Name | Amount | Years | Frequency | Crop | Method | Chemical Form | Notes |
|---|
Farmyard Manure Exposure
Description: 3 rates of FYM: 0, 10 and 20 t/ha.
Levels
| Level Name | Amount | Years | Frequency | Crop | Method | Chemical Form | Notes |
|---|
Measurements
| Variable | Unit | Collection Frequency |
Material | Description | Crop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grain Yield Trait | t/ha | annually | SpecifiedCrop | Grain and straw yields at field moisture content, approximately 85% dry matter. | spring barley |
| Nitrogen Content | kgN/ha | annually | SpecifiedCrop | N content of barley grain 1883-1926. | spring barley |
| Total Soil Nitrogen | % | infrequent | Soil | Measured in 1876, 1888, 1898, 1916, 1922, 1927, 1932. | |
| Soil pH | infrequent | Soil | Measured in 1876, 1888, 1898, 1916, 1922, 1927, 1932 | ||
| Soil Total Carbon | % | infrequent | Soil | Measured in 1876, 1888, 1898, 1916, 1922, 1927, 1932 | |
| Exchangeable Calcium | % | infrequent | Soil | Measured in 1876, 1888, 1898, 1916, 1922, 1927, 1932 |
Description
- Same design as the Woburn Continuous Wheat Experiment. Plots divided into four groups according to previous fertilizer and manure treatment in Period 1. Each group of plots received fertilizer N (39, 78, 118 kgN/ha) over a three year cycle. Plots 1, 3, 7 (previously no P or K); Plots 4, 6, 9 (previously PK); Plot 11b (previously FYM); Plots 10a, 10b, 11a (various treatments).
Design
- Period: 1927 - 1958
- Experiment Design Type: Demonstration strip design
- Number of Plots: 10
- Number of Replicates: 1
- Number of Sub-plots:
- Number of Harvests per Year: 1
Crops
| Crop | Years Grown |
|---|---|
| Spring Barley |
Factors
Factors are the interventions or treatments which vary across the experiment.
Nitrogen Fertilizer Exposure
Description: Three rates applied (39, 78, 118 kgN/ha) as nitro chalk, on four groups of three plots. The N rates were rotated.
Levels
| Level Name | Amount | Years | Frequency | Crop | Method | Chemical Form | Notes |
|---|
Measurements
| Variable | Unit | Collection Frequency |
Material | Description | Crop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grain Yield Trait | t/ha | annually | SpecifiedCrop | Grain and straw yields at 85% dry matter. | spring barley |
Description
- Various comparisons of variety, residual effects of P and K, soil structure, etc.
Design
- Period: 1959 - 1966
- Experiment Design Type: Demonstration strip design
- Number of Plots: 11
- Number of Replicates: 1
- Number of Sub-plots:
- Number of Harvests per Year: 1
Crops
| Crop | Years Grown |
|---|---|
| Spring Barley | |
| Spring Oats | |
| Spring Beans |
Measurements
| Variable | Unit | Collection Frequency |
Material | Description | Crop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grain Yield Trait | t/ha | annually | AllCrops | Grain and straw yields at 85% dry matter. |
Site: Continuous barley experiment, Woburn Stackyard - Woburn
- Experiment Site: Woburn
- Description: In grass for at least 50 years by the early 1820s, probably ploughed in 1830s. In arable crops in the 1860s. Four-course rotation of roots, barley, hay and wheat. FYM applied to the root crops.
- Management: Conventional management and tillage for the time.
- Visit Permitted?: No
- Elevation: 89 Metres
- Geolocation: 52.0003, -0.6149
Soil
- Type: Eutric Rubic Arenosol
Sandy loam, Stackyard series.
Soil Properties
| Variable | Value | Reference Year | Is Estimated | Is Baseline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soil total carbon | 1.5% (Percent) | 1876 | NO | YES |
| Total soil nitrogen | 0.156 (percent) | 1876 | NO | YES |
| Soil pH | 6.1 () | 1876 | NO | YES |
| Clay content | 11.7% (Percent) | 1876 | NO | YES |
Datasets available
| Title (hover for a longer description) | Year of Publication | Identifier | Version |
|---|---|---|---|
Crop yield data - Annual | |||
| Woburn Continuous Barley Experiment yields 1927-1942 | 2022 | 10.23637/wxb6-yield2742-01 |
01 |
| Woburn Continuous Barley Experiment yields 1943-1966 | 2022 | 10.23637/wxb6-yield4366-01 |
01 |
| Woburn Continuous Barley Experiment yields 1877-1926 | 2022 | 10.23637/wxb6-yield7726-01 |
01 |
Soil data | |||
| Woburn Continuous Barley Experiment soil data 1876-1932 | 2022 | 10.23637/wxb6-soil7632-01 |
01 |
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License
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Plans and treatments details
- Treatment details 1876-1926 Woburn Continuous Barley experiment treatment details and plans 1876-1926. Details of the fertilizer treatments, lime applications, plot divisions, plot areas and plan (not to scale). doi: 110.23637/wxb6-treats-01
Key References
2022
- Glendining, M.J.(2022) "Woburn Continuous Barley Experiment yields 1877-1926", Electronic Rothamsted Archive, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK
DOI: 10.23637/wxb6-yield7726-01 - Philcox, D. , Kimori, J. and Glendining, M.J.(2022) "Woburn Continuous Barley Experiment yields 1943-1966"
DOI: 10.23637/wxb6-yield4366-01 - Philcox, D. , Kimori, J. and Glendining, M.J.(2022) "Woburn Continuous Barley Experiment yields 1927-1942", Electronic Rothamsted Archive, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK
DOI: 10.23637/wxb6-yield2742-01 - Glendining, M.J.(2022) "Woburn Continuous Barley Experiment treatment details and plan, 1876-1926"
DOI: 10.23637/wxb6-treats-01
2017
- Watts, C.W. , Glendining, M.J. and Castells-Brooke, N.I.D.(2017) "Woburn Experimental Farm Soil and Field Maps"
DOI: 10.23637/ws-soil-maps-01
2003
- Blake, L. , Johnston, A.E. , Poulton, P.R. and Goulding, K.W.T.(2003) "Changes in soil phosphorus fractions following positive and negative phosphorus balances for long periods.", Plant and Soil, 254, 245-261
DOI: 10.1023/A:1025544817872
1994
- Jenkinson, D.S. and Coleman, K.(1994) "Calculating the annual input of organic matter to soil from radiocarbon measurements", European Journal of Soil Science, 45, 167-174
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2389.1994.tb00498.x
1976
- Johnston, A.E. , Mattingly, G.E.G. and Poulton, P.R.(1976) "Effect of phosphate residues on soil phosphorus values and crop yields. I. Experiments on barley, potatoes and sugar beet on sandy loam soils at Woburn England. ", Part 2 , 5-35
Get from eRAdoc: ResReport1975p2-5-35
1975
- Johnston, A.E. and Chater, M.(1975) "Experiments made on Stackyard Field, Woburn, 1876-1974. II. Effects of treatments on soil pH, P and K in the Continuous Wheat and Barley Experiments. ", Part 2 , 45-60
Get from eRAdoc: ResReport1974p2-47-62
DOI: 10.23637/ERADOC-1-33159 - Mattingly, G.E.G. , Chater, M. and Johnston, A.E.(1975) "Experiments made on Stackyard Field, Woburn, 1876-1974. III. Effects of NPK Fertilisers and Farmyard Manure on Soil Carbon, Nitrogen and Organic Phosphorus", Part 2 , 61-77
Get from eRAdoc: ResReport1974p2-63-79 - Johnston, A.E.(1975) "Experiments made on Stackyard Field, Woburn, 1876-1974. I. History of the Field, Details of the Cropping and Manuring and the Yields in the Continuous Wheat and Barley Experiments", Part 2 , 29-44
Get from eRAdoc: ResReport1974p2-31-46
1936
- Voelcker, J.A.(1936) "Chapter I. Historical", Fifty years of the field experiments at the Woburn Experimental Station. Rothamsted Monographs on Agricultural Science. (E.J. Russell and J.A. Voelcker (eds) - Longmans, Green and Co., London), No. 7, 1-6
- Russell, E.J.(1936) "Chapter XV. Soil deterioration under conditions of continuous cropping. ", Fifty years of the field experiments at the Woburn Experimental Station. Rothamsted Monographs on Agricultural Science. (E.J. Russell and J.A. Voelcker (eds) - Longmans, Green and Co., London ), No. 7, 236-260
- Russell, E.J.(1936) "Chapter XVII. The Nitrogen Content of the Grain of Barley and Wheat", Fifty years of the field experiments at the Woburn Experimental Station. Rothamsted Monographs on Agricultural Science. (E.J. Russell and J.A. Voelcker (eds) - Longmans, Green and Co., London), No. 7, 272-286
- Russell, E.J.(1936) "Chapter XVI. The Effect of Season on the Yields of Wheat and Barley", Fifty years of the field experiments at the Woburn Experimental Station. Rothamsted Monographs on Agricultural Science. (E.J and Voelcker Russell, J.A. (eds) - Longmans, Green and Co., London ), No. 7, 261-271
- Voelcker, J.A.(1936) "Chapter IV. The Continuous Growth of Barley on the Same Land", Fifty years of the field experiments at the Woburn Experimental Station. Rothamsted Monographs on Agricultural Science. (E.J. Russell and J.A. Voelcker (eds) - Longmans, Green and Co., London), No. 7, 45-54
1929
- Voelcker, J.A.(1929) "Woburn Experimental Farm. Reports for 1926-7 and 1927-8. 1: Continuous growing of wheat and barley (Stackyard field). ", , 103
DOI: 10.23637/ERADOC-1-85
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For further information and assistance, please contact the e-RA curators, Sarah Perryman and Margaret Glendining using the e-RA email address: era@rothamsted.ac.uk