•IHE SOIL AND ITS EFFECT ON PLANT GROWTH. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE SOIL AND ITS EFFECT ON PLANT GROWTH. 



It will be convenient to commence this record of the progress 

 of agricultural research with an account of investigations that 

 are being conducted into the constitution of the soU, and" the 

 principles underlying the feeding of crops. The institution 

 concerned with this subject is the Rotha.msted Experimental 

 Station at Harpenden, Herts. Certain aspects of it are also 

 being studied at other centres, and will be noted as the occasion 

 arises. 



The Rothamsted Experimental Station is famous through- 

 out the world. It was founded nearly 80 years ago by the late 

 Sir J. B. Lawes, and was maintained up till 191 1 mainly from 

 the income derived from an endowment fund of £100,000 given 

 by him to the Lawes Agricultural Trust. In igii this income 

 was supplemented by a grant from the Development Fund, and 

 the State grant has gradually been increased until now it is four 

 times as large as the endowment income. The value of the 

 research carried out at the station is generally recognised. It 

 is not too much to say that the discoveries made at Rothamsted 

 in the past with regard to the appHcation of fertilisers to the soil 

 have completely revolutionised the system of manuring — and 

 hence farming practice — in this and other countries, and that 

 by making it possible to restore rapidly and efficiently the food 

 drained from the soil by the growing crops, they have been of 

 incalculable value to the world. If the peoples of the earth are 

 to Uve an existence under which the fight for food is not the 

 dominant issue of life — if, in other words, the increase in popula- 

 tion is to be accompanied by a corresponding increase in the 

 amount of food obtained from the soil — then, as an essential, 

 we must increase our knowledge of the structure and properties 

 of the soil, and of the conditions under which we can secure still 

 higher yields of the fruits of the earth. This, from the stand- 

 point of mankind, is the justification for all agricultural research, 

 or rather, the reason why such research must of necessity be 

 prosecuted. The British farmer cannot be expected, perhaps, 

 to view the matter from quite this broad standpoint ; but for 

 him a good and sufficient reason for the conduct of research is 

 that ultimately it will enable him to cultivate his ground to better 

 advantage, to secure an increased output, and hence to hold 

 his own against foreign competitors, and obtain better financial 

 returns for his labour. The old adage, " knowledge is power," 



A 4 



