778 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



it bears greenish-white flowers which last six or eight weeks. The 

 labellum is pure white. After flowering the plant is kept dry. It 

 likes plenty of sun, and grows and flowers more vigorously as it 

 grows older. — S. E. W. 



Explosives. By H. C. Coggins (Agr. Gaz. N.S.W. vol. xxiv. 

 pt. v. pp. 375-380 ; 2 figs.) — Gelignite or blasting gelatine is recom- 

 mended for loosening the subsoil. The advantages of subsoiling 

 are that it improves the drainage, renders the plant-food and moisture 

 in the soil accessible to the roots, and admits air, thus making the 

 soil more fertile. — S. E. W. 



Fairy Rings (Gard. Mag. No. 3116, p. 537; July 9, 1913). — 

 Miss Baylis has obtained satisfactory evidence that Clitocybe gigantea 

 and Marasmius Oreades, which form these rings, are parasitic on the 

 roots of the grasses, which are killed by the toxic substance secreted ; 

 some secretion is also toxic to the fungi and prevents its reproduction 

 in the same position. The increased growth of the grass on the 

 margins is due to additional nitrogenous food set free by the action 

 of the fungi. — E. B. 



Farmyard Manure, Enrichment of, by Cake Feeding. By 



A. D. Hall (Jour. Bd. Agr., vol. xx. No. 8, pp. 665-672). — In an 

 article dealing mainly with the question of whether many farmers 

 might not with advantage reduce their feeding-stuff bill and increase 

 the amount spent upon nitrogenous artificial manures, the author 

 very clearly shows the relative value of dung made by bullocks fed 

 upon roots and hay only, as compared with that made by others fed 

 upon roots and hay plus an allowance of cake or other concentrated 

 food. 



Analyses showed (a) that " cake-fed " dung is richer in nitrogen 

 than ordinary dung, and (b) that most of the extra nitrogen is in a 

 soluble and active form. 



Experiments were commenced at Rothamsted in 1904 to ascertain 

 the relative crop-producing powers of equal weights of the two sorts 

 of dung, not only in the year of application, but in the three subsequent 

 years. Nine years' results are now available, and they are in exact 

 accord with the expectations one would form from the composition 

 of the two kinds of manure. In the year of application the " cake- 

 fed " dung has a great superiority, producing double the increase of 

 crop that the ordinary dung gives ; e.g., if the yield on the unmanured 

 plot was 3 qrs. of wheat, 16 tons an acre of ordinary dung would raise 

 it to 4 qrs., and 16 tons an acre of u cake-fed " dung to 5 qrs. The 

 second crops grown with the dung are, however, much more nearly 

 alike, whilst in the third and fourth years the superiority of the " cake- 

 fed " dung has entirely disappeared, though both kinds are still effective 

 in producing an increase of crop over the unmanured plot. 



The conclusion drawn from the experiments is that the extra 



