160 THE SPIRIT OF THE SOIL 



manufactured at a reasonable cost, its value will be 

 immense to those who go in for intensive cultivation, 

 to market gardeners, to horticulturists, to farmers, 

 and for use on golf greens." 



Eastern Daily Press, May 8, 1915 (Mr. F. I. Cooke). 



" In the course of our Bournemouth experiments 

 it was clear to me, a fairly old campaigner in manurial 

 experiments, scientifically conducted, that there 

 must be some other key to our remarkable results, 

 and to the far more extensive ones at Kew Gardens. 

 All who are scientifically acquainted with the sub- 

 ject, and have studied it in practice, know very well 

 that amongst the foods of plants the only one 

 hitherto shown to be an excessive stimulant is 

 Nitrogen, in one or other of the forms in which it is 

 usually applied. The various manures of mineral 

 origin, such as phosphates, potash, etc., are all mild 

 in their action, tending to sound and steady growth 

 to well-ripened seed, or fruit or wood, whilst too 

 much Nitrogen upsets the balance, and merely tends 

 to sappy growth and more abundant foliage than 

 can be properly matured. But the striking feature 

 of our experiments with the peat was that the entire 

 development of some of the plants, both above and 

 below ground, was almost doubled in the short 

 period of six weeks, and yet was perfectly sound and 

 well balanced. I felt sure, therefore, that some 

 factor previously unknown, other than the excess of 

 Nitrogen, provided by the peat, was thus indicated. 

 I do not mean that it had not been at work before, 

 but that its identity as a separate nutrient had not 

 been recognized or even suspected before. Later 

 developments of the peat investigations have appar- 

 ently shown this conclusion to have been fairly well 

 justified. The Professor was perhaps building better 

 than he knew, and was on the track of an accessory 



