of the laboratory and of the farm. For this purpose a grant of 

 ^3,100 was given by the Board of Agriculture out of the Develop- 

 ment Fund, and an equal sum was provided by the Society for 

 Extending the Rothamsted Experiments. In 1911, 230 acres 

 of land were taken on a 77 years' lease, and this, together with 

 the Trust land, gave a self-contained farm capable of being worked 

 with great advantage to the experiments. A new wing of the 

 Laboratory was opened on June 27, 1913, by the Rt. Hon. Walter 

 Runciman, M.P., President of the Hoard of Agriculture. 



The condition of the main laboratory, however, gives cause for 

 considerable anxiety. It was built in 1855 and some years ago 

 began to reveal certain structural defects. The Committee are 

 advised that it may not last much longer, and steps have been taken 

 to raise the sum of ^"12,000 for the erection of a laboratory suited 

 to modern requirements. The opening of this laboratory is to 

 commemorate the centenary of the birth of Sir J. B. Lawes in 

 1814 and of Sir J. H. Gilbert in 1817. 



The field experiments, which began in 1843, have on some of 

 the plots been continued without break or alteration up to the 

 present day ; on the Broadbalk Wheat Field certain rearrangements 

 were made in 1852, in which year also the Barley experiments on 

 the Hoos Field began. The leguminous crops on the Hoos Field 

 were started in 1848, the experiments on Roots have been continued 

 on the same field since 1843, and on the same plan since 1856. The 

 grass plots began in 1856, and the rotation experiments in 1848. 



It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of continuing the 

 experimental plots at Rothamsted without any change, as nowhere 

 else in the world do such extensive data exist for studying the effect 

 of season and manuring upon the yield and quality of the crop, and 

 for watching the progressive changes which are going on in the soil. 

 Year by year these plots are found to throw light upon new problems 

 in Agricultural Science ; in all directions they continue to provide 

 material for investigations upon points which were not contemplated 

 in the original design of the experiments, so that it is impossible to 

 foresee when and how they will not become useful and provide 

 indispensable material for the solution of problems undreamt of at 

 the present time. 



The maintenance, however, of the old data throws a heavy 

 burden on the Experimental Station. There are 210 plots, and 

 every year 243 samples have to be taken with proper precautions 

 and put into store for future reference. In addition, many analytical 

 determinations are made. During the present and the coming season 

 complete soil samples are being taken for analysis, to enable a com- 

 parison to be instituted with the set of samples taken in 1894, and 

 thus to study the soil changes that have gone on during the last 

 twenty years. A complete botanical analysis of the grass plots is 



n hand. 



It should be remembered that the object of the Rothamsted 

 Experiments in t<> study the soil and the crop, and only indirectly to 

 find tint most paying method of manuring; hence neither the nature 

 nor the quantities of material applied are to be taken as indicating 

 the manures winch should be used in practice. 



