CORRESPONDENCE 



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May I be allowed to quote one result taken from the " Report 

 on Potato Experiments " published by the Hants County 

 Council in December 191 5? These experiments were carried 

 out at the Farm Institute, Sparsholt, Winchester, on a f-acre 

 plot under field conditions. Bacterised peat was applied at the 

 rate of 15 cwt. per acre to one section of the plot and gave an 

 average increase, with seven varieties of potatoes, over the 

 control section of 2 tons 12 cwts. per acre. The exact figures 

 per acre are given in the following table : 



The report states : " The effect of the humogen (bacterised 

 peat) was very marked on all varieties, and if further trials 

 bear out these results this substance should prove of great 

 value to the potato crop, if the price is a reasonable one." 

 Evidently the question of price will be an important factor as 

 regards the extent of the application of bacterised peat. It is 

 this consideration which caused me to welcome the generous aid 

 which has been extended to me by the Manchester Corporation 

 and the owners of the Entwistle Peat Estates, in spite of the 

 unfortunate newspaper notoriety, for it is only by manufactur- 

 ing the material on or near the peat bog itself that the price 

 can be reduced to a minimum. 



As regards nitrobacterine the only " discovery " in con- 

 nection with this was the use of sterile soil as the best medium 

 for distributing pure cultures of nitrogen-fixing bacteria. This 

 " failure " has proved so successful in America that the United 

 States Department of Agriculture has adopted the method for 

 all cultures in connection with seed and soil inoculation for 

 leguminous crops. 



The question now is — can the results which have been 

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