212 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [25 Apeil, 1917. 



in terms of sulphate of ammouia, superphosphate and kainit, used in 

 Great Britain and Germany per acre of cultivated land: — 



Per acre of cultivated laud 



Fertilizer. 



Nitrogenous Manures, expressed as Sulphate of Ammonia . 



Phosphatic Manures, „ ,, Superphosphate 



Potasaio Manures, „ „ Kainit . . . . ' ' 1 4 



It will be seen that the German farmer uses on an average twice 

 as much nitrogen, one-third more phosphoric acid, and five times as 

 much potash as the British farmer. 



Germany has a great deal of light, sandy land to maintain in good 

 condition, and this no doubt accounts for the comparatively large 

 quantities of potash used. 



The chief factors leading to the enormous increase in consumption of 

 artificial manures in Germany have been the exact investigations at the 

 experiment stations which established the uses and limitations of each 

 fertilizer, and the information supplied by these institutions in the 

 form of bulletins, leaflets, &c. 



Large areas of poor sandy lands have been reclaimed and made 

 wonderfully rich by growing lupins and other leguminous plants, and 

 fertilizing them liberally with phosphates and potash. The crops 

 were ploughed in and the soil rapidly brought into a condition for 

 growing heavy crops of rye and potatoes. 



Tracts of low-lying moor land, which are very rich in nitrogen, but 

 incapable of supporting plant growth owing to defective soil aeration, 

 were drained, covered with sand, limed, and liberally manured with 

 potasn and phosphates. These moors then produced fodder crops and 

 root crops equal to the best arable land in Germany. 



The most remarkable achievements of all were those obtained in the 

 improvement of 2>lants and animals by the adoption of systems of breed- 

 ing which aims at a definite end. New varieties of rye, barley, oats, 

 wheat, potatoes, and sugar beet were produced, which increased the 

 yield of crops by 40-50 per cent, compared with the old sorts. 



The case of sugar beet has already been dealt with. Thus in 1876 

 it was necessary to produce 11.62 tons of beet to obtain a ton of sugar. 

 In 1912 the beets had been improved to such an extent that less than 

 6 tons of beets were needed to produce a ton of sugar. 



In addition, the Agricultural Engineer kept pace with the Agricul- 

 tural Scientist, and supplied the farmer with up-to-date ploughs, seed- 

 drills, binders, tractors, all of which helped the farmer to be less and 

 less dependent on labour. 



The aim of the educational policy was to impart to the farmer a 

 better scientific understanding of the laws of nature, so that he would 

 know the ideal conditions of soil for the best growth of each type of 

 farm crop, and endeavour to realize these conditions in practice. 



Germany established several important industries in direct associa- 

 tion with her agriculture, and these have a considerable influence on 



