January 20, 19 16] 



NATURE. 



583 



i< suit is obtained for several seasons running, one may 

 ),<■ sure of being right. 



All that is old; it is, of course, Ville's method over 

 again. The new part consists in trying to extend the 

 results to other soils. For this purpose a soil survey 

 of the area, usually the county, is arranged. In this 

 way a collection is made on one hand of the agri- 

 cultural properties, on the other of the chemical, 

 bacteriological, and physical data, of typical soils. It 

 is obvious that the possession of these standard soils 

 helps the analyst and expert adviser very considerably ; 

 if a farmer asks for information it is much easier and 

 safer to compare his soil with the standard than to 

 attempt any absolute measurements. Moreover, these 

 soil surveys are greatly facilitating advisory and 

 analytical work. 



They do far more than that, however. The normal 

 case of crop production can never be decided on purely 

 laboratory methods because there are always two or 

 three varying factors, whereas in the ideal laboratory 

 experiment there is only one factor varying. We are 

 not, however, confined to the ordinary laboratory 

 methods. Statisticians have to deal with problems in- 

 volving two or three variables, and they have worked 

 out a method — the method of correlation — which, when 

 intelligently applied, gives valuable results. It is 

 hoped to apply this to crop production. The necessary 

 masses of data are slowly being accumulated, ancl 

 it is anticipated that very interesting results will be 

 obtained. 



The ordinary laboratory method, however — the one 

 factor method — may still on occasions work satisfac- 

 torily. It sometimes happens in nature that one of the 

 various interacting factors overshadows all the rest 

 and virtually eliminates them, so that here, too, it is 

 possible to apply laboratory methods with satisfactory 

 results. 



For example, on a certain type of clay soil the 

 whole situation is trontrolled by the circumstance that 

 phosphates are almost absent, whilst the need of the 

 plant for phosphates is particularly great. The addi- 

 tion of basic slag in these circumstances has caused 

 most remarkable improvement. The best instances 

 are seen at Cockle Park, and the results are given in 

 their bulletins. 



Another illustration is furnished by our work on the 

 partial sterilisation of soils. The simplest explanation 

 of the phenomena is that the soil population can 

 roughly be divided into two groups : one favourable 

 to the production of plant food, the other not. The 

 useful population is, on the whole, more resistant to 

 adverse circumstances than the harmful organisms, 

 and therefore survives more drastic treatment. Hence 

 any method that kills some, but not all, of the soil 

 population effects an improvement and leads to good 

 results. .A continued spell of favourable conditions, 

 however, enables the harmful organisms to establish 

 some sort of superiority. This hypothesis throws im- 

 portant light on the behaviour of the soil in natural 

 conditions, and it reveals another factor in crop pro- \ 

 duction. 



We have not yet succeeded in making much of it 

 in the normal case ; indeed, we have scarcely attempted 

 to do so, because there are so many interacting factors. 

 There are, however, cases where this one factor largelv 

 dominates the situation. In glasshouses run at a high 

 pitch, where the soil temperature and water content 

 are high, and where large dressings of organic manures 

 are used, the bacterial efficiency falls off so much that 

 the plants begin to suffer. The soil, in the picturesque 

 language of the practical man, is said to become 

 " sick." This sickness proved so difficult to deal with 

 in practice that the soil was thrown out and new soil 

 brought in to take its place. 



NO. 2412, VOL. 96] 



It was not difficult, however, to suggest a remedy. 

 The reduction of bacterial activity seemed clearly due 

 to an excessive development of the detrimental organ- 

 isms. It was only necessary to adopt partial sterilisa- 

 tion to get rid of these and to give the useful organ- 

 isms a better chance of action. The basis of a suitable 

 method was already in existence ; steam had been used 

 to kill insect pests in the houses, and by suitable modi- 

 fication this process was successfully used for the treat- 

 ment of sick soils. 



The most fruitful ideas for working out the develop- 

 ment of our subject have often been got from abnormal 

 cases brought in by the growers. Practical men have 

 the great advantage that they are com{Delled to keep 

 their eyes open for nature's problems ; thev cannot 

 shirk them, or they find their crops suffering and 

 themselves losing money. The close association of 

 science with an industry is, therefore, a great advan- 

 tage, because it brings in new problems which, if 

 properly investigated, may prove extremely valuable in 

 opening up new fields of knowledge. There is an 

 exhilarating freshness about all this work that one 

 often misses in the more academic investigations. 



.Ml the same, while speaking in praise of applied 

 science, one must recognise that science cannot be 

 applied until it is developed. We have seen, and in- 

 stances might have been multiplied, how the hydrolysis 

 of protein throws light on the proper management of 

 a manure heap, and how the adsorption isotherm 

 worked out for charcoal and dilute acids clears up a 

 difficulty in the manuring of turnips. It is impossible 

 to set any limit to the value of good work in science 

 honestly carried out. The fact is that science and 

 creative industry are one and indivisible, and any 

 attempt to divorce them may only end in disaster. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE, 



The Morning Post of January i8 announces an 

 anonymous gift of ten thousand guineas to King 

 Edward's Hospital, Cardiff, towards the cost of new 

 extensions. 



The Times of January 14 announces that Sir Alex- 

 ander M 'Robert has given to Aberdeen University an 

 endowment of about 750/. per annum for a Georgina 

 M 'Robert lectureship on pathology, with special refer- 

 ence to malignant diseases. 



The National Diploma Examination in Agriculture 

 of the National .Agricultural Examination Board will 

 be held at the University of Leeds on .\pril 14 and 

 following days, and examinations in the science and 

 practice of dairying will take place in September at 

 the British Dairy Institute, Reading, and at the Dairy 

 School, Kilmarnock. Entries for the first-named ex- 

 amination must be sent in not later than March i, and 

 those for the latter ones not later than August 15. 



The December issue of the Reading University Col- 

 lege Review is largely a record of the continued effect 

 of the war upon the work of the college. .All the 

 conditions during the first year of the war have 

 affected also the first term of the present session, but 

 in greater measure. The number of men day-students 

 at the beginning of the term had fallen to about forty, 

 and of this number some left at the end of last term 

 in order to undertake military service. More members 

 of the academic staff have undertaken military or 

 Government service, and others are likely to follow 

 their example. Wantage Hall is again in military 

 occupation, and the council has agreed to place roonil 



