1921.] BOTHAMSTED EXPERIMENTAL STATION. 777 



THE WORK OF THE ROTHAMSTED 

 EXPERIMENTAL STATION, 1918-20* 



E. J. Russell, D.Sc, F.K.S., 

 Director, Rothamsted Experimental Station. 



The object of the Bothamsted Experimental Station is to 

 obtain precise information about soils, fertilisers and the growth 

 of crops in health and disease, and to put this knowledge into 

 such a form that it can be used by experts, teachers and well- 

 trained farmers. The work is carried out partly on the farm 

 and partly in the laboratory, with the pot culture house as a 

 convenient bridge between them. No positive recommendations 

 would be issued to farmers on the basis of pot culture work 

 alone, because experience has shown that results obtained in 

 pots may differ from those in the field; but the method is of 

 great value to the investigator in enabling him to sort out the 

 more promising materials or possibilities with a view to trial on 

 the larger field scale. 



The Work on the Farm. — The purpose of the farm experi- 

 ments is : — (1) To increase the growth of crops; (2) To increase 

 the health or vigour of the crop; and (3) To reduce the cost of 

 production. 



Increased growth of crops can be brought about by the proper 

 use of artificial fertilisers; but by themselves fertilisers w r ould 

 not suffice, and farmers at any rate are not likely to forget that 

 other factors are equally necessary. At Bothamsted constant 

 stress is laid on the need for: — 



(a) Good cultivation, drainage and freedom from w T eeds; 



(b) Ample supplies of organic matter; 



(c) Sufficient lime to ensure freedom from sourness; and 



(d) Sufficient artificial fertilisers of the right kind, given 



at the proper time and in the proper quantity. 

 Cultivation (with which is included drainage) is the most 

 important of these for two reasons: without proper cultivation 

 it is impossible to keep down w T eeds or to secure a satisfactory 

 water supply, and unless it is well carried out all efforts to 

 increase crop production are likely to fail. The introduction 

 of the tractor has profoundly changed our ideas of what is 

 possible in the way of cultivation, and we do not yet know 

 exactly what can be done even with our present imple- 

 ments, while the enterprise of some of the makers is 

 perpetually leading to new modifications in the implements 



* For an account of the Parh'er work see this Journal, Vol. XXVI., 

 ;pp. 497-507. 



