SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.- M. 421 



On grass land the effect of artificial fertilisers is variously influenced by liming. 

 On heavy land, long-continued treatment with sulphate of ammonia and minerals 

 tends to produce acid soil conditions, and the production of a herbage composed of 

 the less desirable grasses and giving relatively low yield. Liming under these condi- 

 tions increases yield greatly, and changes the balance of composition in favour of more 

 desirable species. On the other hand, on the same soil liming has much less or no 

 beneficial effect with one-sided manures, such as superphosphate alone, or where the 

 soil is tending towards an alkaline reaction due to the use of nitrate of soda and 

 minerals. 



(e) Mr. A. R. Clapham. — Sugar Beet. 



Sugar beet is almost always grown on land which has received liberal dressings 

 of farmyard manure, and under these conditions the further response to artificial 

 fertilisers is small — much smaller than the effect of season and variety. Additional 

 nitrogen usually increases the yield of tops, and may increase that of roots also, but 

 to a smaller extent. Nitrate of soda is, generally speaking, more effective than 

 sulphate of ammonia. The increases in yield of tops are almost always associated 

 with a depressed percentage of sugar in the roots, and this is more pronounced when 

 the additional nitrogen is given as a top dressing than when it is applied with the seed. 



The response to additional potassic fertilisers varies a good deal with soil and 

 season, and there is often an increased yield of roots and an increase in the percentage 

 of sugar. The increase is greater with the low-grade potash salts than with either 

 potassium chloride or potassium sulphate. This result appears to be due to the 

 sodium content of the low-grade salts, for sodium chloride is often as effective as an 

 equivalent weight of potassium chloride. 



Phosphatic fertilisers may increase yield of roots, but rarely affect the percentage 

 of sugar to an appreciable extent. 



Perhaps the most interesting of these results are the nature of the responses to 

 additional nitrogen on the one hand and to additional potash or soda on the other. 

 It would appear that nitrogen acts by increasing the size and number of the leaves. 

 A considerable fraction of the products of photosynthesis is expended in the formation 

 of new skeletal material above ground, and is never translocated to the roots. Potash, 

 on the other hand, increases the efifioiency of the leaf as an assimilating organ, but has 

 a much smaller effect than nitrogen on the total leaf area. A large fraction of the 

 assimilated materials is therefore transferred to the root, and both the yield of roots 

 and the percentage of sugar in the roots are increased. As might be expected, the 

 effect of nitrogen in depressing the sugar percentage depends a great deal on the time 

 of application. If given with the seed it may result in an increased jield without 

 an appreciable lowering of the sugar percentage ; but if applied late there is a con- 

 siderable delay in maturity, as well as a decreased sugar percentage, and there may 

 be no compensating increase in yield. 



Afternoon. 

 Mr. T. Wallace. — Soil Surveys. 



Mr. T. SwARBRiCK. — Stock and Scion Relationship. 



Mr. F. TuTiN. — Investigations on Tar Distillate Washes. 



Mr. A. W. Ling. — Sugar Beet Investigations. 



Mr. C. V. Dawk. — The Work in Agricultural Economics at Bristol 



University. 



The work was begun in the late autumn of 1924. It was necessary to collect farm 

 accounts in order to arrive at the factors relating to farm finance. This led to making 

 a decision between detailed cost accounts and simple financial accounts, and because 

 of the limits of staff' at the University, the latter type of account was decided upon. 

 Both kinds of accounts have their advantages and disadvantages for advisory work. 



The method employed is to invite farmers to submit their simple accounts for 

 analysis and report. The farms have been grouped into soil and farming types, and 



