246 HUMUS — IIUMOGEN. 



moist until the whole mass has become saturated with them. It 

 is then dried, put up in bags like manure, and sent out for use 

 on the land. No further cultures have to be made by the farmer ; 

 all that he has to do is to apply the material to the land in a 

 similar manner tc~) which he would apply any other fertilizer. 



Tabic shozciiig Ihc Pcrccntaycs of Soluble Humus 

 ill the Mafrrials iiicniioncd. 



Raw i'eat 0.038 



Garden Soil 0.012 



Fresh Stable Manure 0-433 



Rotted Stable Manure 1.460 



One-year-old Peat Moss Litter . . . . 1050 



Bacterised Peat 1 5-194 



The outstanding richness of bacterised peat in soluble humus 

 needs no other emphasis than that afforded by the above com- 

 ])arativc figures. 14ie richness of rotted stable manure is also 

 W(jrth\- of note. 



Such, briefly, appear to be the circumstances that led Bot- 

 tomley to discover humogen. As to whether humogen possesses 

 all the virtues claimed for it remains to be seen. 



Reference will now be made to some of the ])ropertics of 

 this remarkable stibstance. 



In order to test its nitrogen-fixing pow-er, a mixture con- 

 sisting of 10 parts of humogen and 90 parts of Rothamsted 

 soil was inctibated at 26° C. The gain of nitrogen amounted to 

 .054 gram, [or the e(|uivalent of 28 cwt. of sodium nitrate per 

 acre, if the increase had been proportional throtighout to a deinn 

 of 3 inches]. This, according to Rottomley, in the Illustrated 

 Loudon NeiK.'s. 



it should be continuallx' borne in mind lliat it is more than 

 likely that this and similar experiments were carried out under 

 conditions favourable to humogen. In the ca^e just mentioned, 

 it should be noticed that the i>roportion of humogen to soil is 

 far greater than it would be possible to use in farming practice. 

 If. however, in ])ractice it would be possible to achieve even one- 

 thirtieth of this fixation, the result must be considered 

 remarkal)le. 



Thero would seem to be little room for doubt that the bene- 

 t'lcial (.'riects of humogen (or of rotted mantu-e) b\- no means 

 end with their plant-food constituents, or their jiower to stinni- 

 late nitrogen fixation, but extend to a ])Ower to render increased 

 amounts of ])lant-foo(l in the soil availal)le. (Such efifects are, 

 indeed, deducible from a consideration of the colloidal ])ro])erties 

 of soluble hunnis ; while, in adilition to these, the increased out- 

 put of car])onic acid conse<|ueni or, the increased l)acterial 

 activity must count for something.) 



It is claimed for hinnogen that it produces more vigorous 

 and earlier-maturing plants than any other fertilizing mixture, a 



