224 



THE SPIRIT OF THE SOIL 



The rows of plants ran across each of these four plots. 

 As each crop matured careful weights were taken, and 

 are shown in the table on p. 225. 



The percentage increase of the produce from the peat- 

 treated plots over those with no manure, artificials, and 

 farm dung is as follows : 



It will be noticed that in all cases the yields are small. 

 This is accounted for by Mr. Machen in the following 

 notes : 



1. Sandy soil over gravel. No manure for nine years, 

 and had been continuously cropped with potatoes, 

 followed by brassica. 



2. The previous season (1912) crops were a complete 

 failure. Land as nearly exhausted as possible. 



3. The mixture of artificials used usually gives better 

 results than dung, but owing to the exceptionally dry 

 spring of 1913 the wet farmyard manure had an 

 advantage. 



4. All the crops were much below the normal owing to 

 (a) starved land ; (b) exceptionally dry season on a 

 hot, dry soil. Potatoes were all first earlies. 



5. The land was specially selected for testing food 

 values on an exhausted soil. 



In 1914 experiments were carried out on similar lines, 

 giving the results tabulated on p. 227. A striking feature 



