September, 19J0.] 



229 



Scientific Agriculture. 



Woburn, have made it clear that land 

 natnrally poor in lime may soon be 

 rendered sterile by the continued use 

 of artificial manures. A nitrogenous 

 material, such as sulphate of ammonia 

 or nitrate of soda, is almost invariably 

 included in the artificial mixture, yet 

 Woburn has shown that in ten or a 

 dozen years certain classes of land re- 

 ceiving either of these manures — which 

 under suitable conditions give profitable 

 results — become acid and unproductive. 

 Lime is necessary as a corrective, and if 

 it is not present naturally iu the land in 

 sufficient quantity it must be applied 

 artificially, and nothing could prove 

 more clearly than the sulphate of ammo- 

 nia and nitrate of soda plots at Woburn 

 its merits as an ameliorating agent. One 

 of the most valued writers on agricul- 

 tural subjects in the second half of last 

 century insisted that lime was not in 

 itself a manure ; its functions, he argued, 

 were to correct the imperfections of 

 manures generally, to promote in the 

 soil conditions which made for fertility 

 and health. The farmer will not trouble 

 about the precise technical definition 

 of the influences of lime. It will be suffi- 

 cient for him to mark the effect pro- 

 duced upon the crops, and in this re- 

 spect Woburn spoke decisively. 



The teaching of Cockle Park is equally 

 instructive. A dozen or fifteen years ago 

 Dr. Somerville began at that station a 

 series of experiments with the view of 

 elucidating some of the mysteries sur- 

 rounding the finger-and-toe disease. 

 After ascertaining how easily the disease 

 was communicated from one field to 

 another through the medium of the 

 manure heap or by the transference of 

 earth adhering to plough or other im- 

 plements, he turned his attention to the 

 discovery of preventive or curative 

 treatment. Lime suggested itself as a 

 likely material, and the trials he inaugur- 

 ated to test its value have been continu- 

 ed and extended by Professor Gilchrist. 

 Dr. Somerville arrived at the conclusion 

 that lime, to be of any avail, should 

 be applied at least eighteen months 

 before the land was cropped with roots. 

 Professor Gilchrist's investigations con- 

 firm the soundness of this deduction, 

 and suggest that the action of lime upon 

 the germs of the disease is indirect. 

 Probably the disease might be destroyed 

 if heavy dressings of lime were applied, 

 but, if this course were adopted, the 

 last state might be little better than 

 the first. The great thing is to check 

 the disease without rendering the land 

 unsuitable for vegetation, and the Cockle 

 Park experiments show that this can 

 be done by judicious liming. The test 



described by Mr. Gilchrist in the new 

 report is more searching than any likely 

 to occur in ordinary practice, and occu- 

 piers of land subject to this disease can 

 take comfort from the fact that im- 

 munity eau be effected in the course 

 of a few years by the use of lime. — 

 Times, August 1, 1910, 



THISTLES AND OTHER WEEDS. 



(Home Paper.) 

 A good dral has been heard recently 

 regarding the profusion of thistles and 

 other weeds that are spread by natunl 

 agencies — the wind, birds, and so forth. 

 The ground of complaint is that in every 

 locality weeds find refuge on the hold- 

 ings of negligent farmers, and that in 

 consequence the efforts of others in 

 suppressing them are in a measure 

 nullified. It is a heartless business for a 

 farmer to expend labour and money in 

 exterminating these noxious plants when 

 his neighbour permits them to attain 

 maturity and to disseminate their seeds 

 throughout the district. There is no 

 remedy at present for this unfortunate 

 state of affairs, but some think that the 

 Government might without inflicting 

 undue hardship take a leaf out of the 

 Canadian book and impose upon farmers 

 and public bodies — for the roadsides, 

 commons, and wastes are fruitful sources 

 of infection — certain obligations in deal- 

 ing with the weed plague. In the case 

 of those weeds that are propagated from 

 seed the important point is to cut the 

 plants before they ripen. The task is 

 neither heavy nor expensive, and if per- 

 formed systematically would in course 

 of time effect much needed improvement. 



In reference to this subject the Rev. 

 T. Holland, The Vicarage, Hatfield, 

 Leominster, writes : — " As a small land- 

 owner myself may I draw the attention 

 of landowners, big and little, to the fact 

 that now is the time for thistles to be 

 cut on all grassland which has not been 

 mown for hay ? There is an old country 

 saying, ' Thistles cut in July are sure to 

 die,' which I commend to landowners 

 and farmers. Last year many thistles 

 were never cut at all, and the seeds were 

 carried over the country by the autumn 

 gales, to the injury of all men, while 

 thorns and rushes and other weeds were 

 also left untouched. Surely a landowner 

 who allows his land to grow weeds un- 

 checked is not doing his duty to King 

 and country, for, as Holy Writ saith, 

 ' The King himself is served by the 

 field.'" 



