342 



Liming. 



[July, 



(1) The great number of soil samples which the writer has 

 analysed in connection with the advisory work of the Agri- 

 cultural Department of the University College of Wales were, 

 with very few exceptions, practically devoid of carbonates. 

 Worse than this, a very high proportion of the samples were 

 found to be distinctly sour. 



(2) In practically every case where farmers, acting upon 

 the recommendation given in the reports of these analyses, 

 applied lime there followed a marked increase in crops. 



(3) In several districts the " Finger and Toe " disease of 

 the swede and turnip crop is very prevalent. 



A striking example of this trouble is given by a farm in 

 South Wales situated within three miles of a limestone quarry 

 and kiln. This farm has suffered severe losses of crops due 

 to the ravages of " Finger and Toe." The presence of an 

 easily accessible source of lime in this particular instance 

 brings out vividly the decline in the old custom of liming. A 

 sample of the soil from one of the affected fields on this farm 

 gave the following results when tested in the laboratory : — 



Hygroscopic moisture ... ... ... 213 per cent. 



Loss on ignition ... ... ... ... 8 03 ,. 



Carbonate Nil. 



Lime requirement (calculated as CaCOs) ... .. ., 



Action on litmus Strongly acidic. 



(4) In several cases where land has been laid down to grass, 

 it has been observed that the clovers have more or less failed. 

 Some of these cases have been specially investigated and have 

 provided data of some interest as regards the probable causa 

 of failure. The following example may be regarded as typical 

 of such cases : — 



A farmer made two unsuccessful attempts to lay a particular 

 field down to grass. The soil was regarded as a very fertile 

 loam and was apparently uniform in every respect throughout 

 the field; although the clovers flourished satisfactorily in parts 

 of the field there were isolated areas where they had failed 

 completely. Samples of the soil were taken from each of the 

 " failure areas " and also from the adjoining land on which 

 the clovers thrived. Both sets of samples were analysed. The 

 results showed that in mechanical and chemical composition all 

 samples were alike except that those obtained from the " failure 

 areas " were more acidic and had a higher Kme requirement. 

 This is shown in the following table : — C 



