A visrr TO ROTHAMSTKi). 2:^0 



engaged ciilculaliiig, taliulaiiiig, icconliiig, and lianscribing llie 

 resufts of the investigations. The anionnt of sucli work in 

 connection with field experiments, however simple, is very great, 

 and the extraijnhiiary niannscript lihrary in connection witli 

 the Uothanisted ex[)erinients is a marvel of patient lahonr. It 

 is so complete that there seems scarcely any question that can 

 he asked in connection with any series of experiments which 

 cannot he immediately answercil hy icference to a statistical 

 table drawn uy as if for its special elucidation. In addition to 

 the stair already noticed, the assistance of scientific cliemists, 

 l)oth at home and abroad, is constantly being obt;iiiu'(l lor ash 

 analysis, and also for the investigation of questions of scientific 

 interest which arise from time to time ; and in and out of the 

 laboratory there is always eniplo}ed a \arying staff of general 

 servants. This is a large establishment, maintained at a cost of 

 about £4000 per annum. 



On the experimental farm, although many new investigations 

 have been taken up from time to time, yet the old experiments 

 laid down in 184:5 have not been ahamloned. Accordingly, a 

 visitor at Iiothamsted will see in ])rogress experiments which 

 are now nearly forty years old. Among these there may be 

 some wliicli might now be considered superannuated. That is a 

 very ditlicult matter to decide, and one which may well be left 

 to the discretion of those who have planned them, — who have 

 watched their progress, and are intimately acquainted with their 

 history. A plot which has been similarly treated annuall}' for 

 forty years, and whose produce has been carefully recorded, is 

 pedigree land constituting a basis invaluable for experiment, 

 but, like an old tree, if once destroyed it cannot be restored. 

 That such land should be allowed to fall out of cultivation, or 

 to be carelessly cultivated, would be more than a national loss ; 

 but fortunately it is secure against any such misfortune, for 

 the founder, with praiseworthy liberality, has provided for its 

 preservation by setting apart £100,000 to maintain it in all 

 time as an experimental station for the advancement of the 

 science of agriculture. 



The work carried on at Eothamsted may be classed mider 

 three heads : — 



1. Field experiments for the investigation of various 



questions regarding vegetation and agriculture. 



2. Feeding experiments with animals. 



3. Scientific investigations in the laljoratory. 



The general scope and plan of the field experiments is said to 

 be, "To grow some of the most important crops of rotation, each 

 separately, year after year for many years in succession on the 

 same land, without manure, with farmyard manure, and with a 

 great variety of ch.emical manures, — the same description of 



