654 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



careful investigation on the whole subject, and if his report is 



favourable we shall then consider whether any use can be made 



of Prof. Bottomley's offer. 



I think you will agree that it would be impracticable for 



a Government Department to encourage the sale of a substance 



as to the merits of which considerable doubt existed : that there 



is still room for doubt whether bacterised peat can be used 



agriculturally on a commercial scale is sufficiently evident from 



the report on the experiments at Wisley which appears in the 



current number of the Journal of the Royal Horticultural 



Society. 



Yours very truly, 



Sydney Olivier. 

 Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 

 4, Whitehall Place, 

 January 31, 1916. 



II. From Prof. T. B. Wood and Prof. R. H. Biffen 



Sir, — In the last issue of Science Progress, No. 39, January 

 1 916, page 489, under the heading of " Economy," the writer 

 of " Notes," referring to Prof. Bottomley's bacterised peat, 

 states that its discovery " has made it possible to double the 

 production of our food supply," and then proceeds to criticise 

 the Board of Agriculture for not " availing itself of this well- 

 timed boon." Any discovery which is capable of doubling the 

 production of food deserves serious consideration at the present 

 time, and we therefore hope that you will insert in Science 

 Progress the following remarks on the possibility that such 

 an achievement has been realised. 



In claiming for bacterised peat that it is capable of doubling 

 the production of food, we take it that the author of " Notes " 

 means that its use will double the yield per acre of the staple 

 crops of the farm. Yet we can only find the scantiest evidence 

 to indicate that any attempt has been made to find out whether 

 bacterised peat is of any practical use under farming conditions. 

 This evidence is contained in Chapter XIV of The Spirit of the 

 Soil (by G. D. Knox, published by Constable), and, lest any 

 doubt should be thrown on its accuracy, it should be noted that 

 this is vouched for in the foreword written by Prof. Bottomley 

 himself. 



Turning now to this evidence, we find that bacterised peat 



