320 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The. second question, as to whether bacterized peat is likely to 

 increase growth provided sufficient water is present, is also answered 

 in the affirmative, as the following figures show : — 





Average weight. 



Average increase. 



No manure ...... 



Bacterized peat ..... 



Lb. 

 •8 9 

 •97 



Lb. 



} 08 



Lime ....... 



Lime and bacterized peat 



•96 

 1 03 



} '07 



The difference is, however, small compared with that shown by 

 the plants in pots, and its comparative smallness suggests, as did 

 the experiments in Series 2, that probably the increases obtained in 

 Series 1 were due rather to the amount of available nitrogen or other 

 earth salt added than to any continuing and abnormal activity of 

 bacteria in the soil. If this were the case a smaller addition of the 

 bacterized peat would naturally be accompanied by smaller results, 

 but even so if we assume the nitrogen content of the peat to be 4*3 per 

 cent, as the analysis published showed, the dressing of 1 ton applied 

 should have supplied more nitrogen thanks contained in the abnormally 

 heavy dressing of 6 cwt. of nitrate of soda to the acre. One or two 

 cwt. of nitrate of soda should amply suffice to produce marked results 

 in a crop of turnips. Judging by the results, nothing like this amount 

 of nitrogen was available for the crop, and this suggests that the 

 manufacture of the peat has not yet been standardized. 



Comparison of the value of this material with that of other manures 

 is under these conditions impossible, nor have we any information to 

 enable us to compare its value from an economic point of view, for we 

 are not told at what price the bacterized peat can be sold.* Until we 

 know this all lengthy discussion of the subject is futile, and it will 

 suffice to say that this series of experiments shows that the dressing 

 given will not take the place of a light dressing of farmyard manure 

 such as that used on the comparative plots, as the following figures 

 show : — 





Average Weight. 



Water applied : 



Bacterized peat .... 

 Farmyard manure .... 



Lb. 

 •97 



I-02 



Lb. 

 -05 



No water applied : 



Bacterized peat .... 

 Farmyard manure .... 



•85 

 •92 



-07 



We are not certain that the bacterized peat used in the second 

 series of experiments was the same in composition as that used in the 

 third, but it was similar in appearance. Assuming that the composi- 



* Seep. 326. 



