December, 1909.] 



531 



Scientific Agriculture, 



Variety 



row sown with untreated seed. The""pre- 

 paration of the culture material and the 

 inoculation of the seed were performed 

 precisely according to the instructions 

 given, and, in all details, inoculated and 

 uninoculated rows were treated in an 

 identical manner. 



The following table gives the results, 

 showing the total weight of pods ob- 

 tained from each pair of rows, expressed 

 in grams. 



Soil Manured and Trenched. 



tt ■ , Seed not Seed 



vaiiety. Inociffated. Inoculated. 



Grams. Grams. 

 Early Morn ... 9,889 8,010 

 Yorkshire Hero ... 14.780 14,295 

 Broad Beans ... 13,142 12,091 



Poor Soil Unmanured. 



Seed not Seed 

 Inoculated. Inoculated. 

 Grams. Grams. 

 Eight Weeks ... 6,126 6,490 

 Early Morn ... 5,694 5,291 

 Yorkshire Hero ... 11,760 11,097 

 Broad Beans ... 10,427 9,098 



The " Eight Weeks " Peas on the good 

 soil were somewhat damaged by pigeons, 

 and the crop was not weighed. It will 

 be seen that the produce from the inocu- 

 lated rows in every case but one weighed 

 less than that from the corresponding 

 uninoculated rows. Throughout the 

 growth of the plants no difference 

 between treated and untreated rows 

 was distinguishable ; both lots formed 

 nodules on their roots to about the same 

 extent, and the untreated rows came to 

 maturity quite as soon as the others. 

 There was no evidence of any kind to 

 show that the slightest benefit had 

 been obtained by the use of "Nitro- 

 bacterine " on either type of soil. 



The experiment was on a small scale, 

 but so far as it goes, is conclusive, and 

 serves to confirm many results obtained 

 with "Nitro-bacterine" this summer. 

 Further trials on a larger scale on a 

 " seeds " mixture are in progress on the 

 College farm. 



By Fred J. Chittenden, P.L.S., 

 Director, R. H. S. Laboratory, Wisley. 



(From the Gardeners' Chronicle XLV., 

 No. 1153, January, 1909.) - 



In the interesting comments in the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle of January 9 and 

 16, upon the experiments carried out at 

 the Royal Horticultural Society's Garden 

 at Wisley, upon the value of nitro- 

 bacterine in garden soil, attention is 



particularly directed to the remarkable 

 fact that, in many cases, the produce 

 from the plots which had received 

 inoculated seeds was less than that from 

 the plots which had received uninoculat- 

 ed seeds, but which had otherwise been 

 similarly treated. 



It should be poiuted that an error has 

 crept into one of the paragraphs in the 

 summary of the report bearing upon 

 this point. The error makes the differ- 

 ence appear materially greater than it 

 actually was. The yield from the whole 

 of the plots receiving inoculated seed 

 was 495 lbs. (not 450 lbs.), while the total 

 from the plots in which uninoculated 

 seed was sown was 515 lbs. The unino- 

 culated seed, therefore, gave a crop 4 

 per cent, (not 14 per cent.) heavier than 

 the inoculated. The weights are correct- 

 ly given in the body of the repoi t, but 

 the error appears in the "Summary," 

 from which quotations are made. 



Perhaps the most remarkable part 

 of the result, however, lies in the fact 

 that 31 rows out of the 48 which were 

 sown with inoculated seed gave a 

 smaller crop than the corresponding 

 rows sown with uninoculated seed. It 

 is suggested that it would be interesting 

 to see how far and in what direction the 

 average yield of the plants which had 

 been inoculated varied from that of the 

 uninoculated. The details concerning 

 this point are already in the press, and 

 will appear in the Journal of the Society 

 shortly to be issued, along with some 

 other details bearing upon the use of 

 nitro-bacterine. 



Unfortunately, the figures relating to 

 the numbers of plants in the rows of 

 two of the varieties were accidentally 

 lost ; but we have those relating to the 

 other two varieties used in 48 rows, 

 the seed in 24 of which was inoculated, 

 and in 24 not. For details as to the 

 number of plants in the separate rows, 

 reference may be made to the forth- 

 coming report, but the main results 

 may here be noted. In six rows of the 

 Ne Plus Ultra, in cultivated ground, 

 grown from uninoculated seed, there 

 were 353 plants which bore fruit, yield- 

 ing, on an average, 98*7 grammes of pods. 

 In the corresponding six rows, which 

 were grown from inoculated seed, there 

 were 384 plants, which yielded an aver- 

 age of 89*2 grammes of pods. Thus the 

 average yield of the inoculated plants 

 was 10 per cent, below that of the un- 

 inoculated, and four out of the six rows 

 showed a decrease, In the six, un- 

 inoculated rows of the variety Main- 

 crop, on the same soil, there were 266 

 plants, which bore an average of 110'5 

 grammes, and in the corresponding, ino* 



