to the soil. The plots treated with farmyard manure alone shewed a deficit of 

 42 lbs. per acre, while, where complete artificials were applied along with dung, 

 a slight increase was indicated, in as much as here, by combined dressing of 

 dung and potash, quantities of potash much in excess of those used in every day 

 farm practice, have been administered to the soil, and further, in as much as certain 

 quantities of potash are washed out of the soil by drainage, it may with reason 

 be asserted, that in the farming of better class soils, so far as potash is concerned, 

 a system of soil impoverishment is practised. This soil impoverishment is perhaps, 

 to a limited extent, to be approved on richer land, but the fallacy of advocating 

 and practising it beyond that limit; of neglecting potash in the farming of better 

 soils, is exemplified in striking manner by the permanent experiments of the 

 Lauchstadt Station. Even when dunged with large quantities of the best farmyard 

 manure, the very richest soils will sooner or later shew unmistakable results of the 

 system of soil impoverishment followed. 



The illustrations shew: 



1. that in the case of Cereals, the crop is shorter and the period of growth longer: the 

 potash plots are of a golden yellow while the no-potash plots are still quite green. 



2. that in the case of potatoes, in the absence of sufficient potash, the leaves 

 assume a dark green colour which later changes to brown, while where potash 

 is present in sufficiency the leaves have a fresh-green appearance and retain 

 their colour until the crop is ripe. 



— 52 



