The Effects of Radio-active Ores and Residues on Plant Life. 9 



SERIES 1 continued. 

 NOTES ON TOMATO EXPERIMENTS. 



Twelve days after planting, all the trials dressed with Complete Fertiliser 

 'showed greener and healthier growth than the remainder. 



TRIALS IN SAND. 



Notes during Growth. The two Controls dressed with Complete 

 Fertiliser were distinctly the strongest and best fruited plants, one set being 

 exceptionally good. Next in order of merit came the two Controls dressed 

 with Farmyard Manure and the trial with Complete Fertiliser and Radium 

 Bromide, between which little difference could be seen. 



The weakest and least-fruited were the First Control (unmanured) and the 

 trial with Chemical Mixture. 



Between the remainder (most of which were dressed with Radium) there 

 was not much to choose, except that the Pitchblende Concentrates section 

 was the strongest. 



The fact that the trial dressed with Complete Fertiliser and Radium 

 Bromide was not so good as that where the Fertiliser was used alone, may 

 perhaps indicate that the effect of the Fertiliser had been neutralised by the 

 addition of Radium. 



Final Notes. The unmanured Controls gave 9 ozs. and 13 ozs. of fruit 

 respectively. Five trials with radio-active materials alone exceeded the higher 

 of these weights, the best (Pitchblende Concentrates) being 2 Ibs. The 

 Duplicate Control with Complete Fertiliser gave a yield of 6 Ibs. i oz., and the 

 Duplicate Control with Farmyard Manure 4 Ibs. 8 ozs. 



TRIALS IN SOIL. 



Notes during Growth. On the whole the plants did well. Some appeared 

 to thrive better in untreated soil, or in soil and Radium, than in soil to which 

 both Radium and Farmyard Manure had been added. In the last named 

 section it may be that the plants suffered from over-feeding, through some 

 possible action of the Radium on the manure. 



Six of the trials dressed with Radium (without manure) were among 

 the strongest and best fruited, but these were equalled by the Controls dressed 

 with Fertiliser and with Farmyard Manure. The Duplicate Control 

 (unmanured) was superior to all other sections, probably as the result of 

 Radium emanations. 



The weakest were First Control (unmanured) and the trial with Chemical 

 Mixture. 



Final Notes. Taking the Duplicate Control (unmanured) as the 

 standard, it cannot be said that any of the plants growing in sterilised soil 

 benefited by the addition of Radium. But if the standard be set by the 

 First Control (unmanured) then Radium would appear to have proved beneficial. 

 The weight of fruit gathered from the unmanured Controls, however, shows 

 such a wide divergence (First) i Ib. n ozs. (Duplicate) 6 Ibs. 15 ozs. (the 

 heaviest yield of any section), that it is difficult to form any definite conclusion. 



6 Ibs. 1 oz. 4 Ibs. 8 ozs. 



COPYRIGHT 



DRESSING ! Compltte Farmyard Pitchblende Coal Chemical Plain 



USED. / Fertiliser. Manure. Concentrates. Bromide. Dllst ' Mixture. 



Tomatoes grown in Sand, 



