September, 1910.] 



231 



Scientific Agriculture. 



9hown that, when the extent to which 

 potash salts are to be added as manure 

 i9 being considered, allowance must be 

 made for the influence of phosphates on 

 the potash compounds already existing 

 in the soil. Soluble phosphates have 

 been found to make these compounds 

 soluble, and therefore more available for 

 the use of plants. This effect has been 

 proved to be increased by small appli- 

 cations of lime on account of the liber- 

 ation of potash brought about by it; 

 lime in large amounts, however, has 

 the opposite effect, in that it renders 

 the phosphates insoluble, and therefore 

 no longer to act on the potash com- 

 pounds. 



The amount of lime in the soil is also 

 subject to fluctuations, though these are 

 not likely to be as great as those of the 

 constituents that have been dealt with 

 already. The importance of this sub- 

 stance may be summed up in its effect 

 in preserving a good state of tilth, its 

 use in preventing acidity, and the 

 changes that it produces, in conjunction 

 with other manures. The loss of this 

 constituent from the soil is increased by 

 the use of sulphate of ammonia ; it is 

 decreased when pen manure or nitrate 

 of soda is employed. 



There is now left the examination of 

 the conditions for the best existence of 

 those living inhabitants of the siil 

 which produce beneficial changes in it. 

 Acidity and alkalinity have a great 

 influence in determining what, among 

 these, shall continue to exist and show 

 the greatest effect. In a soil which is 

 alkaline to the ordinary extent, the 

 changes are such as lead to increased 

 fertility ; in acid soils, as is well known, 

 changes take place which result in a 

 decrease of productiveness, and the 

 medium becomes unfitted for the sup- 

 port of plants- Among the chief causes 

 which tend to increase this acidity are 

 insufficient drainage, together with the 

 presence of large amounts of organic 

 matter, and the too great employment 



of ammonium sulphate as a manure. 

 Acidity is a condition that is most likely 

 to arise in heavy soils containing little 

 lime. 



It is a comparatively rape circum- 

 stance, however, that cultivated soils 

 are allowed to become so acid as to 

 prevent them from bearing adequate 

 crops. The conditions for the reduction 

 in numbers of the favourable organisms 

 are far oftener allowed to come into ex- 

 istence on account of insufficient tillage, 

 or even because of the careless appli- 

 cation of manures. The extent to which 

 such organisms are present, in compari- 

 son with that of the harmful ones, is 

 dependent upou the state of tilth or 

 texture of the soil, so that a sufficient 

 argument is provided for the exercise of 

 thorough cultivation. The same con- 

 sideration shows the necessity for care 

 and caution in applying manures, at 

 any rate to soils containing little lime. 

 Nitrate of soda reduces the condition of 

 such soils by becoming converted into 

 carbonate of soda which lowers the 

 power of the clay particles to form 

 fioccules- The remedy for this is the 

 use of superphosphates ; a preventive 

 measure is to apply some of the nitrogen 

 in the form of sulphate of ammonia by 

 mixing this with the nitrate of soda, 

 Common salt and potash manures also 

 cause injury to the tilth, because they 

 increase the alkaliuity of the soil 

 through the influence of the lime in it. 

 To prevent this occurrence, where it is 

 necessary, these manures should be 

 accompanied by superphosphate. 



The broad, practical interpretation 

 of these facts is that a properly treated 

 soil will remain productive, and if, as 

 is generally the case, it is expedient to 

 increase its productivity by the use of 

 artificial manures, the kinds and quan- 

 tities of these must be decided by con- 

 siderations of the extent to which their 

 use will be profitable, and of the effects 

 that they are likely to produce in re- 

 lation to the texture of the soil. 



AGRICULTURAL FINANCE AND CO-OPERATION. 



CO-OPERATIVE ORGANISATIOiN" IN 

 AGRICULTURE. 



By Charles Douglas ' of Auch- 

 lochan, lesmahagow. 



Prom Transactions of the Highland and 

 Agricultural Society of Scotland, 

 Vol. XXII.) 

 The development of town life and 

 industry, which so profoundly altered 

 society during the last half century, has 



had no consequence more far reaching 

 or more vital than its effect in producing 

 everywhere a tendency to combination 

 among those who have interests in 

 common. 



Individualism may be threatened os- 

 tensibly by legal enactment; but in large 

 regions of life its doom has been already 

 sealed by the growth of combinations, 

 whose apparently voluntary character 

 often throws only a thin veil over the 

 really compulsory power which they 



