24 TRANSACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE [Skss. lxi. 



Our experiences in the North of England appear to have 

 been much the same as those of the few other investigators 

 who have tried Nitragin in a practical manner in two or 

 three other parts of the country. Xor does a greater 

 measure of success appear to have attended the use of 

 the substance on the Continent. The manufacturers of 

 Nitragin recently sent a communication to the press, iij 

 which they contended that the many cases of failure that 

 had been brought to their notice were to be ascribed to 

 lack of care on the part of investigators, who, it was 

 asserted, had exposed the Nitragin to too much heat or 

 light, or had allowed the bacteria to be conveyed from 

 inoculated to uninoculated ground. Such an explanation 

 carries no conviction to the mind of anyone who is 

 acquainted with the inoculation of soil by bacteria. At 

 a recent meeting of the Associated Chambers of Agriculture, 

 held at Halle, Dr. Kiihn gave an account of the experiments 

 with Nitragin which had been carried out during last 

 season by himself, Menzel, and Falcke. All the more 

 important leguminous crops were made use of in these 

 investigations, with the result that in no case did Nitragin 

 produce an increase that could be said to be beyond the 

 range of experimental error admissible in field experiments. 

 In some cases the uninoculated crop was considerably 

 better than that which had been treated with Nitragin, 

 and Kiihn finishes his jmper by expressing the hope tliat 

 improvements in the methods of manufacture or application 

 may yet make Nitragin of service in agriculture and 

 horticulture. 



There is no doubt that Nitragin will next season get a 

 very careful and extended trial on the part of scientists 

 and practical farmers, altliough it would have ])een more 

 encouraging had the trials of the past season given more 

 successful results. 



