the surlace soil by steam tackle in the 'sixties and 'seventies, and 

 the waste arising; from improper use of manures and feeding stuffs 

 in our own time, liave involved the farmint^' community in losses 

 imountini>- in the aggreg-ate to millions of pounds sterling, and 



[voided had more accurate knowledi 



they could have 

 been avaihible. 



It is for this reason that the Station is staffed with highly 

 trained scientific workers accustomed to critical examination for 

 the detection of errors and equipped with appliances capable of 

 giving very accurate results. The rapid development of general 

 science and engineering during" the past thirty years calls for a 

 cM)rresponding development of agricultural science so as to ensure 

 that the farmer should derive the full benefit of any new improve- 

 ments and at the same time be protected against proposed improve- 

 ments which, as a matter of fact, are of no advantage to him. 



The farm on which many of these experiments are carried out 

 is the old Home Farm of Rothamsted — 289 acres in extent — which 

 was taken over by the Experimental Station in 1911. It is bounded 

 on the south side by a wood, in which a certain amount of game is 

 preserved, and in every field there are large trees, which, while 

 adding to the picturesqueness of the landscape, detract from the 

 productiveness of the farm. The soil is a poor stony clay (clay 

 with flints) . Under good management and moderate manurial 

 treatment it is capable of yielding about 28 bushels of wheat and 

 barley, 32 bushels of winter oats, 25 tons of mangolds, 6 tons of 

 potatoes, and 10 tons of swedes per acre. Spring oats rarely 

 succeed by reason of the spring droughts, which also adversely 

 affect the yield of swedes. Clover is apt to make only moderate 

 growth and to fail in patches over the field. The farm is thus one 

 where the cultivator sees more of the difficulties than the profits of 

 farming. It is, however, typical of much of the second rate land 

 of England, and, as experience shows, the experimental results 

 hold very generally throughout the country. For some time past 

 attempts have been made to reduce the cost of production and to 

 increase the yields. 



POSSIBILITY OF REDUCTION IN COSTS OF 

 PRODUCTION. 



Full accounts of expenditure^^ are kept and these, when 

 analyzed, give the following results per acre : — 



L>y (XiKiuliture is niL-ani (lie .-irlual iiiuiu-y cxpiiuKn! on the crop. No allowaiu'e is made 

 liere lor interest on ca])l(.'il or lor remuneration to tlic farmer beyond thft sum of £1^^ per 

 amuim (rising to ;;;i75 in 1921) allocation for sni)ervisioti and spread oV(?r 178J acres. 



