782 



[Dec, 



At Rotharnated considerable attention is being paid to the 

 possibility of substitutes for farmyard manure. In a recent 

 article in this Journal* Messrs. Richards and Hutchinson 

 described the work in the laboratories on the decomposition of 

 straw by artificial means, whereby a substance is produced 

 resembling farmyard manure. The results obtained with this 

 product on the light land at Woking are quite promising, and 

 the method is bein<? developed. The conditions necessary for 

 the decomposition are fortunately obtainable on the farm; 

 they are proper air and moisture supply, suitable temperature, 

 freedom from acidity and the addition of proper proportions 

 of soluble nitrogen compounds. 



A second method of increasing the supply of organic matter 

 on the farm is by the use of green manuring. Attempts were 

 made at Rothamsted to develop this method some years ago, 

 but as the only implements then available were those worked 

 by horses it was not found possible to sow a catch crop after 

 the harvest, and without this, green manuring is hardly an 

 economic possibility. With the tractor, however, greater 

 rapidity is possible, and for the last two seasons it has been* 



-ible to sow green crops immediately after harvest and to 

 obtain a certain amount of growth before ploughing in. The 



3 of 1920 grown in this way were an excellent crop. 



The third possibility is to obtain manure from sewage. An 

 extensive experiment has been carried out at Rothamsted 

 during the last three years, showing that the new method 

 known as the " activated sludge " treatment gives a fertiliser 

 of high value, very considerably better than anything yet 

 obtained. The method is effective so far as purification is 

 concerned, and yields in addition this useful fertiliser. 



The Growth of Clover. — As clover is such an important op 

 in arable husbandry, it has received particular attention during 

 the past two years at Rothamsted, and the work is being 

 extended. The significance of the crop lies in the fact that it 

 not only yields valuable hay, but greatly enriches the soil in 

 organic nitrogen compounds which markedly benefit the suc- 

 ceeding crops. Tt is one of the most difficult crops to grow 

 well, and few farmers would claim that they obtain satisfactory 

 yields as frequently as they wish. The difficulty arises from 

 the fact that the plant depends for success on the activity of 

 certain bacteria in its roots, and the conditions must therefore 

 be favourable both to the plain and to the organisms. 



* August, 1921, p. 398. 



