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ROYAL HOETICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 
XVI. Second Report of Experiments made in the Gardens of 
the Eoyal Horticultural Society at Chiswick on the Influence 
of Various Manures on difierent Species of Plants. By Dr. 
M. T. Masters, E.E.S., F.L.S. 
In a previous Report made to the Society by Dr. Gilbert and the 
present writer, and published in the Journal, vol. iii. p. 20, 
the object and mode of conducting these experiments during the 
year 1869 were detailed. In that Report was also given a sum- 
mary of the observations taken at intervals on the growth and 
development of the several plants from the time of germination 
up to the maturation of the seed. These observations were 
strictly comparative, and were also considered in relation to tem- 
perature and rainfall. In the second portion of this Report the 
chemical analyses of the herbage, so far as regards weight, dry 
matter, and ash, were given by Dr. Gilbert, and certain infer- 
ences were drawn which seemed to be warranted by the facts 
detailed. 
The present Report is intended to carry on the history of these 
experiments during the season of 1870. 
For this purpose the condition of the plants in the 72 boxes 
on 1st of April, 1870, is first of all noted. The last systematic 
observations on the plants had been made in the preceding 
October, as already mentioned in the previous Report. The 
plants remained untouched in the boxes throughout the winter, 
till it became necessary to prepare for the second season's ex- 
periments, by emptying the contents of the boxes and replant- 
ing. 
Before so doing, however, the following observations on the rela- 
tive condition of the several plants were made by Mr. Willis, 
and, strictly speaking, should have accompanied the obser- 
vations on root-development made at the same time by myself and 
already recorded in the former Report : — 
Notes on the Condition of the Plants of the Former Season's 
Growth on April 1st, 1870. 
i. Dactylis glomerata. 
Box 1 (unmanured). Surface covered with healthy plants j leaves 
averaging 2 in. long, g in. wide. 
