Anbury ; and the Analysis of Diseased Turnips. 5 



In this subsoil, it will be noticed, there is a great deal of oxide 

 of iron, a constituent which is likewise more abundant in No. 2 

 than in No. 1. 



The amount of lime in all three is very trifling : in the surface 

 soils, especially, it is totally inadequate to meet the requirements 

 of a crop of turnips. We cannot doubt, therefore, that the de- 

 ficiency of lime in these soils has been the principal cause of the 

 failure of the root-crop on this field. 



That lime might have been applied to this field with great 

 success will appear from the following interesting circumstance 

 with which I became acquainted on my visit to this farm. When 

 walking over the field, Mr. Plumbe directed my attention to an 

 isolated spot, not many square yards in extent. On this spot the 

 turnips, though by no means large, were nearly all sound. On 

 stooping down and examining the soil, I picked up some bits of 

 whitish-looking substance, which appeared to me like dried gas- 

 lime, and I learned afterwards that on this very spot a cart of gas- 

 lime had been unloaded the year before. Mr. Plumbe likewise 

 pointed out to me a spot in the corner of the field : here, like- 

 wise, the roots looked quite healthy, scarcely one diseased turnip 

 being seen. 



I took samples from both spots with me, and submitted them 

 to analysis. 



Dried at 212 Fahrenheit, 100 parts of each yielded the follow- 

 ing results : 



No. 1. No. 2. 



Organic matter and water in combination .. .. 4'15 4*24 



Oxides of iron and alumina 4*01 4' 98 



Carbonate of lime 1'77 -93 



Alkaline salts and magnesia 1'12 '69 



Insoluble siliceous matter (chiefly sand) .. .. 88'95 89'16 



100-00 100.00 



No. 1 is the soil from the spot on the field where gas-lime was 

 distinctly visible. 



No. 2 is the soil from a corner of the field where the turnips 

 were quite sound. 



It will be seen that in No. 1 there was a good deal of lime in 

 the shape of gas-lime, and that in No. 2 there was also much 

 more lime than in the rest of the field where the root-crop failed 

 entirely. 



The larger amount of lime in the soil taken from the corner of 

 the field is probably due to a dungheap, which in previous years 

 had been set up on this spot. As all the other fields on this 

 farm abound in lime, the manure produced on this farm natu- 

 rally must contain more lime than is found in farmyard manure 



