No. 4.] MANURIAL PKOBLKMS. 191 



Dr. Wheeler. I think, from the fact that the o^entleman 

 says the clover grows, the soil cannot be excessively acid, 

 though it might be acid enough to interfere slightly with the 

 growth of timothy, and still permit a growth of clover. So 

 the soil might be acid enough to interfere to a certain degree 

 with the maintenance of timothy, but 1 think this trouble is 

 because he has not used nitrogen enough. lie nmst be sure 

 there is phosphoric acid and potash there, or all the nitrogen 

 in the world would not avail. I think if he takes the land 

 before the timothy has disappeared, and top-dresses with the 

 formula we have describt^d, he will retain tin; timothy for a 

 series of years ; particularly if he would lime it with wood 

 ashes and use the formula, I am sure that would be the 

 result. 



Mr. Thayer. About five years ago I went into the straw- 

 berry business, and sorrel grows on my land a good deal, 

 and bothers me in the strawberry bed. I read about liming 

 in the papers, and I put about 2 quarts of air-slacked lime 

 onto a piece 10 feet square. That I think was five or six 

 years ago. Last year was the first time I saw any sorrel on 

 that piece of land, but it is coming back now. 



Dr. Wheeler. I am surprised that it all disappeared, 

 but that it became less is natural. We found that after 

 liming we would only get one-third as much sorrel. Where 

 we used sulfate of ammonia we brought about such a condi- 

 tion that Ave had a crop of sorrel which was the most mag- 

 nificent one that I had ever seen. In some places where it 

 was limed and treated in a rational maimer only here and 

 there was sorrel to be seen. 



Mr. Thayer. The little piece of land I referred to I set 

 out to blackberries, and cultiv^ated it every year, and this 

 last season I saw that sorrel was coming in again. 



Dr. Wheeler. Did the lime help the blackberries? I 

 should doubt if it did. 



Mr. Thayer. The blackberries are as ffood on that end 

 of the field as on the other. 



Professor Brooks. The gentleman spoke of raising straw- 

 berries . I would like to ask whether he put strawberries on 

 before the lime on that little piece 10 feet square, and whether 



