25 April, 1917.] German Challenge to British Agriculture. 211 



In 1910 the income of the chamber was over a quarter of a mil- 

 lion sterling, of which £160,000 represented a State subsidy, the 

 balance being raised from farmers by taxation. With these sums the 

 chamber assisted the State in carrying out its educational policy, and 

 in heJiping forward the technical development of German agriculture. 



The importance of the duties of the German Agricultural Council 

 has greatly increased. The Kaiser has personally attended tlie meet- 

 ing of the Council, and the Council has been handed important duties 

 by the Imperial Administration. 



The duty of dealing with political matters in the interests of far- 

 mers and of carrying on the political battle rests with the Association 

 of Agriculturists (Bund der Landwirte). This Association was formed 

 in 1893, and was a pressing necessity in order to rouse up the German 

 farmers, who by nature are very inert as regards political matters, and 

 to stir them up to a strenuous fight for those interests which had long 

 been neglected and were threatened afresh.* 



Technical Advances in German Agriculture. 



The eminent position occupied by German agriculture to-dav is 

 largely due to the technical advances made in the cultivation of the 

 soil, the feeding of stock, and the improvement effected in crops and 

 stock. 



The teachings of Liebig, the great German Agricultural Chemist, 

 who first suggested the manufacture of superphosphate from bones, 

 and established the importance of the mineral elements of plant food, 

 became not only part of the agricultural education given at the colleges, 

 but became part of the general knowledge enjoyed by educated far- 

 mers. iHis teachings formed a solid basis for scientific treatment and 

 fertilization of the soil. 



By carrying out Liebig's teachings to their logical conclusion, and 

 using liberal quantities of potash salts, and phosphates, poor soils were 

 raised to the rank of good soils, and good soils were made extremely 

 fertile. 



Germany, more than any other country in the world, appreciates 

 the value of artificial manures. In 1890, 1,600,000 tons of artificial 

 fertilizers were used. In 1912, with practically the same area under 

 crop, no less than 7,000,000 tons were used. 



The classic experiments of Lawes and Gilbert, at Rothamsted, ex- 

 tending over 70 years, demonstrate that high yields per acre can 

 only be maintained by liberal applications of artificial fertilizers. The 

 results of these tests have been summarized in neary every British 

 text-book on agriculture, and make the basis of most discussions on 

 artificial fertilizers. 



It will doubtless come as a surprise to many to learn that the aver- 

 age amount of nitrogenous manure, expressed as sulphate of ammonia, 

 used in r)ritain is less than 10 lbs. per acre. Similarly, barely 60 lbs. 

 of phosphates, and less than 16 lbs. of potash, are used per acre. The 

 following table summarizes the average amount of fertilizers, calculated 



• Von Schworin LSwitz, Deutsckian-i unUr Kaiser TVilhe!m IT. 



