^5 



WAR WORK AT ROTHAMSTED. 



Scjiiic i>l" ihe problems dealt with at Rothamsted during the 

 War were described in the last Rtport (1914-1917). A connected 

 account is now given so as to complete the record. 



During the first year of the W'ar (1914-15) very little direct 

 War work was done at Rothamsted. Food was still coming into 

 the country in large quantities and there was no great interference 

 w ith food production at home. Supplies of fertilisers and feeding 

 stuffs were ample. There was, however, fear of unemployment, 

 and three schemes were examined at the request of the Board of 

 Agriculture with the view of ascertaining whether they could use- 

 fully employ any considerable number of men, and if so, whether 

 they would contribute to the national jjrofit. These were a pro- 

 loosed development of I^^oulness Island in Essex, the suggested 

 afforestation of the spoil heaps and pit mounds of the Black 

 Country, and the reclamation of Pagham Harbour in Sussex. 

 None of these schemes was further developed, though two of them 

 — the planting of the spoil heaps in the Black Country and the 

 reclamation of Pagham Harbour — possess aspects of permanent 

 interest. The spoil heaps are useless and unsightly ; they can, 

 however, be planted with trees, when they take on a very different 

 appearance, as shown by Reed Park, Walsall. Although the 

 financial returns may not be great, the improvement in the ameni- 

 ties of the district would be considerable. The proposition is not 

 agricultural, however. 



The most important work began in 1916 w lien the food situa- 

 tion gave cause for much ajixiety. The position was really very 

 serious. The submarine menace was looming before us, terrible 

 in its un familiarity, conjuring up visions of food shortage, if not of 

 slarvatio!! : the only way out of the situation seemed to be the 

 production of our own food in our own country. At the time we 

 were producing only one-half of our total food — the remainder was 

 coming from abroad. When the list was examined in detail the 

 position was found to be more serious than it looked. The food 

 jjroduced at home included more of the luxuries than of the essen- 

 tials; it included, for instance, the whole of the highest quality 

 meat, but only one-fifth of tfie bread. The farmer was therefore 

 called upon to perform a double task — he had to produce more food 

 and different food ; to give us, not one loaf out of every five that 

 we eat, but three or four put of every five, and to do this without 

 causing too great shortage of milk, meat, and if possible, beer. 

 The situation presented many difficult administrative, financial and 

 technical problems. The technical problems involving soils and 

 fertilisers were dealt with at Rothamsted. 



The fertiliser problems arose out of the necessity for making 

 the very best use of the limited stocks of the ordinary fertilisers to 

 which the farnier was accustomed, and of examining any and every 

 substitute that promised help in eking out the supplies. P'ortun- 

 ately, a good deal of information could be drawn from the Rotham- 

 sted and other experiments as to the best way of using fertilisers 

 on particular crops. This was systematised and put in order in a 

 little handbook called " Manuring for Higher Crop Production," 



