PRESS AND OTHER CRITICISM 163 



ance, the answers to which, according to the most 

 recent investigations, have hitherto been misleading. 

 Meanwhile we have Professor Bottomley's highly in- 

 teresting experiments with bacteria and peat or peat- 

 moss, showing that even soils which are considered 

 to be worthless for agriculture or horticulture con- 

 tain a rich supply of plant food which only requires 

 to be released by a process of inoculation to produce 

 abundantly. Evidence of this is gradually accumu- 

 lating as the result of experiments with farm and 

 garden crops by trustworthy persons. One of these 

 is Mr. R. Holmes, Tuckswood Farm, Norwich, to 

 whom we are indebted for the two photographs here 

 reproduced, showing the influence of humogen on 

 the potato and the tomato. 



" The tomato plant is a sample of a number that 

 were grown in ordinary garden soil, to which humogen 

 had been added in the proportion of one in eight. As 

 can be seen in the photograph (p. 146), the plant 

 grew vigorously, but did not develop large leaves, 

 as tomatoes grown with ordinary stimulating foods 

 generally do. On the other hand, it bore an excep- 

 tionally good crop of well-formed fruit, which ripened 

 perfectly, and when gathered weighed 16 pounds. 



' The potato plants were grown in a wood box, 

 21 inches by 6 inches by 4 inches, which was filled 

 with ordinary wood-moss that had been steamed 

 to sterilize it, and then saturated with a solution of 

 humogen. Four potato sets were planted in this 

 on May 18, and the box was placed on a border in 

 the open, where it was watered weekly with the 

 same solution. On July 22 that is, two months 

 after planting the contents of the box were exposed 

 and photographed. The new potatoes were clean 

 and well formed, and they weighed 3 pounds. No 

 doubt the moss contained a certain quantity of 

 plant food, and the sterilizing would improve it, but 

 no experienced cultivator would expect to get a 



