Woburn Continuous Wheat
- Experiment Code: W/XW/6
- Experiment Site: Woburn
- Objectives: To test the effects of fertilisers and manures on the growth of continuous winter wheat
- Description: This experiment is almost identical to the Broadbalk Wheat experiments at Rothamsted, but at Woburn. It started in autumn 1876, on Woburn Stackyard field. There is a parallel experiment on Continuous Barley which started in 1877, 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: 1876
- 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)).
Keywords
- arable farming, experimental design, farmyard manure, fertilizer, grain yield, liming, long term experiments, nitrogen content, rothamsted research, soil organic carbon, soil ph, wheat, woburn continuous wheat experiment
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: 1876 - 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 |
|---|---|
| Winter Wheat |
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. | winter wheat |
| Nitrogen Content | kgN/ha | annually | SpecifiedCrop | N content of wheat grain 1883-1926. Not all plots. | winter wheat |
| Total Soil Nitrogen | % | infrequent | Soil | Measured in 1876, 1888, 1898, 1916, 1919, 1927, 1932. | |
| Soil pH | infrequent | Soil | Measured in 1876, 1888, 1898, 1916, 1919, 1927, 1932. | ||
| Soil Total Carbon | % | infrequent | Measured in 1876, 1888, 1898, 1916, 1919, 1927, 1932. | ||
| Exchangeable Calcium | infrequently | Measured in 1876, 1888, 1898, 1916, 1919,, 1927, 1932. |
Description
- Same design as the Woburn Continuous Barley 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 |
|---|---|
| Winter Wheat |
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. | winter wheat |
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 |
|---|---|
| Winter Wheat | |
| 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 wheat 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 Wheat Experiment yields 1927-1942 | 2022 | https://doi.org/10.23637/wxw6-yield2742-01 |
01 |
| Woburn Continuous Wheat Experiment yields 1943-1966 | 2022 | https://doi.org/10.23637/wxw6-yield4366-01 |
01 |
| Woburn Continuous Wheat Experiment yields 1877-1926 | 2022 | https://doi.org/10.23637/wxw6-yield7726-01 |
01 |
Soil data | |||
| Woburn Continuous Wheat Experiment soil data 1876-1932 | 2022 | https://doi.org/10.23637/wxw6-soil7632-01 |
01 |
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License
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Plans and treatments details
- Treatment details 1876-1926 Woburn Continuous Wheat experiment treatment details and plan, 1876-1926. Details of the fertilizer treatments, lime applications, plot divisions, plot areas and plan. doi: 110.23637/wxw6-treats-01
Key References
2022
- Glendining, M.J.(2022) "Woburn Continuous Wheat Experiment treatment details and plan, 1876-1926 ", Electronic Rothamsted Archive, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK
DOI: 10.23637/wxw6-treats-01 - Philcox, D. , Kimori, J. and Glendining, M.J.(2022) "Woburn Continuous Wheat Experiment yields 1927-1942", Electronic Rothamsted Archive, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK
DOI: 10.23637/wxw6-yield2742-01 - Philcox, D. , Kimori, J. and Glendining, M.J.(2022) "Woburn Continuous Wheat Experiment yields 1943-1966 ", Electronic Rothamsted Archive, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK
DOI: 10.23637/wxw6-yield4366-01 - Glendining, M.J.(2022) "Woburn Continuous Wheat Experiment yields 1877-1926 ", Electronic Rothamsted Archive, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden UK
DOI: 10.23637/wxw6-yield7726-01
2017
- Watts, C.W. , Glendining, M.J. and Castells-Brooke, N.I.D.(2017) "Woburn Experimental Farm Soil and Field Maps", Electronic Rothamsted Archive, Rothamsted Research
DOI: 10.23637/ws-soil-maps-01
1994
- Barnett, V.(1994) "Statistics and the long-term experiments: past achievements and future challenges", Long-term experiments in agricultural and ecological sciences, Proceedings of a Conference to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Rothamsted Experimental Station, 14-17 July 1993. Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, 165-183
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. ", Rothamsted Experimental Station Report for 1975 , 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. ", Rothamsted Experimental Station Report for 1974 , Part 2 , 45-60
Get from eRAdoc: ResReport1974p2-47-62
DOI: 10.23637/ERADOC-1-33159 - 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", Rothamsted Experimental Station, Report for 1974 , Part 2 , 29-44
Get from eRAdoc: ResReport1974p2-31-46 - 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", Rothamsted Experimental Station Report for 1974 , Part 2 , 61-77
Get from eRAdoc: ResReport1974p2-63-79
1936
- Voelcker, J.A.(1936) "Chapter III. The Continuous Growth of Wheat 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, 26-44
- 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
- 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 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
- 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, 01-Jun
1929
- Voelcker, J.A.(1929) "Woburn Experimental Farm. Reports for 1926-7 and 1927-8. 1: Continuous growing of wheat and barley (Stackyard field). ", Rothamsted Experimental Station Report for 1927-28 , , 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