146 THE SPIRIT OF THE SOIL 



signs of improving their present lead; already 

 2 ounces more of pods had been pulled from the 

 treated than from the untreated plants, and their 

 increased vigour was manifest. 



A chance experiment conducted casually outside 

 one of the houses gave an astonishing result. Mr. 

 Holmes told me that he remembered reading some 

 years ago of some French experiments in which 

 ordinary moss had been used as a medium for 

 growing plants, while the plant food had been sup- 

 plied in the form of liquid manure. It had occurred 

 to him that it would be interesting to try the effect 

 of growing potatoes in moss, moistened from time 

 to time with the water extract of humogen. He 

 planted four potatoes in sterilized moss in a shallow 

 box, I5-J- inches long, 6 inches wide, and 4 inches 

 deep. No special care was given to the potatoes. 

 As a start the moss was soaked in humogen extract ; 

 they were watered from time to time, and occasion- 

 ally were sprinkled with the water extract of 

 humogen. The box, as we saw it, showed a luxuriant 

 growth of leaves standing about a foot from the 

 level of the box, but when the plants were pulled 

 the roots were found to be crowded with tubers, 

 several being of considerable size, and the majority 

 being still immature. Their total weight was 

 2 pounds io ounces, all contained in an area of a 

 fifth of a cubic foot. 



Most of the field experiments here this year at the 

 time of writing are inconclusive, for the crops have 

 not yet been dug up. In several instances, how- 

 ever, it was possible to appreciate at a glance that 

 the potatoes, sugar-beet, etc., which had been 



