46 



soiling may bring about a substantial improvement ; sub-soiling at 

 Rothamsted was followed by an increased yield per acre of lo cwt. of 

 potatoes. 



All the above soils can be still further improved by proper treat- 

 ment with fertilisers. There comes a pointy however, where further 

 increases in fertiliser dressings cease to be effective, because the plant 

 cannot grow any bigger, or it cannot stand up any longer, or its 

 resistance to disease is weakened ; here, therefore, new varieties must 

 be found that can grow bigger or stand up better or are more resistant 

 to disease. Consideral:)lc improvements may be anticipated from a 

 closer co-ordination of crop variety and soil and climatic conditions. 



It is also necessary to reduce the cost per acre and to increase the 

 certainty of production. One of the most hopeful ways of attacking 

 this problem is to increase the efficiency of the manurial treatment : 

 the whole of the fertilising constituents applied to the soil are never 

 recovered in the crops, but by arranging a proper rotation and pro- 

 ])erly balanced manurial dressings the loss can be reduced. 



Economy is also possible in the management of farmyard manure, 

 and of the soil ; where there is no crop there is loss of valuable nitrates 

 during the winter, the heaviest loss occurring on the best manured land. 



Again, it is necessary to keep close accounts so as to replace 

 unprofitable crops by profitable ones. Steps must be also taken to 

 raise by educational methods the ordinary farmers to the level of the 

 good ones. 



There is, however, a factor which operates against increased crop 

 production, which we can never hope to see entirely destroyed. -The 

 farmer has to get his pleasure as well as his work out of the countryside, 

 so that trees, hedges, and copses are left, pheasants are bred, foxes and 

 hares preserved, and rabbits spared. It would be wholly unreasonable 

 to expect the farmer to lead a life of blameless crop-production un- 

 relieved by any pleasure. The amenities and pleasiures of the country- 

 side will proVjably always be kept up, and we must maintain the best 

 equilibrium possible between them and the crops. 



XLI. " Chalking, a useful Impvovemeut for Clays overlying the 

 Chalk. '^ ¥.. J. Russell. Journol of the J^oard of Agri- 

 culture, 1916. 23, 625-632. 



This paper contains a description of the method of applying chalk 

 to the land as adopted in Hertfordshire and neighbouring districts, 

 where a layer of heavy soil overlies the chalk. The method has the 

 advantage that it requires very little materials, no horses and only a 

 minimum of skilled labour. A well is sunk to the chalk and excavation 

 is continued until a bell-shaped chamber is formed ; the chalk is 

 hauled to the surface, carried in wheel-barrows to the proper position 

 in the field, and then spread. One well furnishes sufficient material 

 for three or four acres. The cost of sinking the well is usually 6d. per 

 foot depth, and it is commonly necessary to go down about 20-25 ^t. 

 Hauling, harrowing, and spreading cost 7d. per load of 20 buckets, 

 each bucket holding approximately a bushel. The total cost is about 

 £2 to £3 for a dressing of 50 to 60 loads per acre. 



