320 The Woburn Pot- Culture Experiments, 1914. 



From these results it is seen that the benefit of the 

 Bottomley preparation was very marked in the case of mustard, 

 a slight advantage accruing with barley, and, so far as can be 

 judged, an advantage also with peas. The Fen soil proved 

 slightly better than the ordinary soil with mustard, but not as 

 good with the barley crop, and in each case it fell considerably 

 below the Bottomley preparation. 



Tomatoes. 



Simultaneously with the above, an experiment was tried on 

 tomatoes with the Bottomley preparation as against artificial 

 equivalents of the same. This was carried out in large earthen- 

 ware pots which were filled on April 9, 1914. The soil used 

 was made up from Wobui-n soil with old rotted turf and finely 

 ground limestone. The Bottomley Peat preparation was mixed 

 with the soil in the same proportions as before, namely, one 

 part to eight of soil. The experiment — which was in duplicate 

 — was arranged as follows : — 



1. No treatment. 



2. Bottomley preparation applied once. 



3. Bottomley preparation applied twice. 



4. Bottomley preparation applied once, with phosphate of potash, 2 cwt. 



per acre. 



5. Bottomley preparation applied twice, with phos})hate of potash 2 cwt. 



per acre. 



6. Nitrate of ammonia applied once. 



7. Nitrate of ammonia applied twice. 



8. Nitrate of ammonia applied once, with phosphate of potash, 2 cwt. 



per acre. 



9. Nitrate of ammonia applied twice, with phosphate of potash, 2 cwt. 



per acre. 

 10. Phosphate of potash alone, 2 cwt. per acre. 



The quantity of nitrate of ammonia used was such as to 

 give the same amount of nitrogen as the soluble nitrogen con- 

 tained in the Bottomley preparation. During the period of 

 growth it was noticeable that the tomatoes treated with the 

 Bottomley preparation invariably were of darker green colour 

 than the rest. There was a stouter growth and not the yellow 

 colour of the crops treated with artificials. This was more 

 particularly the case where the preparation had been applied 

 twice. 



The lots treated with nitrate of ammonia looked better 

 than the untreated, but were not the equal of the Bottomley 

 preparation, the no treatment and the phosphate of potash 

 giving apparently the poorest growth so far as stem, foliage, 

 and flowering were concerned. The plants were allowed to 

 grow on until the fruit ripened, and this was eventually 



