i8o THE SPIRIT OF THE SOIL 



attend to beside that of undertaking the extremely 

 difficult work of accurate measurement. To have 

 carried such work out on a satisfactory scale from 

 the standpoint of exact science would have required 

 a large number of highly trained workers, and even 

 had that policy been pursued there would have been 

 people to raise the objection that the results were 

 results obtained by the laboratory man, and not 

 by the practical worker. Several cases where exact 

 measurements have been taken will be found re- 

 corded in Appendix B, and as regards the results 

 which follow here the statement may be made that 

 authority can be given for each generalization made. 

 In some cases the deductions are based on a single 

 experiment, but in most instances the claims put 

 forward can be endorsed by evidence obtained from 

 several growers. 



A characteristic of supreme importance from the 

 material standpoint will be noted. The majority of 

 the results refer to experiments carried out by horti- 

 culturists rather than farmers. So far bacterized 

 peat has been tested chiefly by the horticulturist, 

 the man who stands midway between the experi- 

 mental botanist and the farmer. The value of soil 

 inoculation effected by means of bacterized peat 

 has been proved conclusively in the laboratory. 

 The experiments conducted at Kew Gardens and 

 those carried out by horticulturists and market 

 gardeners, both under glass and in the open, have 

 endorsed the laboratory experience. Such experi- 

 ments as have been made under farming conditions 

 indicate that there is every reason to believe that 



