Report  on  Wheat- Mildew.  65  ^ 
Results  of  the  Analyses  of  the  Soils  Dried  at  212°  Fahr. 
No.  1. 
No.  2. 
No.  3. 
No.  4. 
Medium 
Strong  Land. 
Light  Soil 
(Silt). 
Soil  Skirting 
the  Fen 
(Skirty). 
Dilands. 
*Organic  matter  and  water  of  ) 
combination / 
5-65 
6-38 
13-50 
15-23 
Oxide  of  iron  
4-53 
2-91 
5-31 
4-03 
Alumina  
8-13 
512 
8-52 
5-50 
Sulphate  of  lime  
•25 
•22 
•69 
•59 
Carbonate  of  lime  
4*67 
2-01 
1-80 
3-99 
Magnesia 
•50 
•23 
•50 
•26 
- Potash  
•68 
•50 
•81 
•52 
Soda 
•11 
•05 
•04 
•07 
Phosphoric  acid  
•18 
•15 
•23 
•25 
Insoluble  silicates  and  sand  . . 
75-30 
82-43 
68-60 
69-56 
100-00 
100-00 
100-00 
100-00 
* Containing  nitrogen 
•19 
•26 
•58 
•69 
Equal  to  ammonia  . . 
•23 
•32 
•70 
•84 
“ All  four  soils  are  richer  in  nitrogen  than  most  arable  soils,  and  No.  3 and 
No.  4 are  immensely  rich  in  nitrogenous  organic  matter. 
“ No.  3 you  will  notice  contains  over  1 of  a per  cent,  of  nitrogen,  and 
No.  4 in  round  numbers  ^ of  a per  cent.  7, 
“ The  proportions  of  nitrogen  are  fully  as  great,  if  not  greater,  than  in  the 
richest  arable  land,  as  in  the  celebrated  Russian  black  wheat  soils. 
“ In  a good  and  warm  season,  the  large  proportions  of  nitrogenous  organic 
matter  in  soils  like  No.  3 or  No.  4,  contribute  largely  to  the  heavy  crops  of 
wheat,  which  in  favourable  seasons  can  be  grown  on  such  soils ; but  in  cold 
wet  seasons  the  excess  of  nitrogenous  matters  is  a great  hindrance  to  the- 
wheat-crop’s  ripening  properly,  as  it  is  well  known  that  over-luxuriance  in 
the  flag  and  straw  of  the  wheat-crop  renders  it  more  liable  to  become  attacked 
by  mildew,  on  a sudden  change  of  temperature  or  long-continued  wet  weather. 
“Allow  me  to  direct  your  attention  further  to  the  fact  that  all  four  soils  are 
rich  in  potash,  which  is  another  constituent  which  has  a tendency  to  retard 
the  maturity  of  the  grain,  and  I certainly  cannot  advise  you  to  use  any 
potash  manures  on  any  of  these  four  soils. 
“ No.  1 and  No.  4 you  will  notice  contain  from  4 to  4j  per  cent,  of  car- 
bonate of  lime,  and  Nos.  2 and  3 about  2 per  cent.,  and,  roughly  speaking, 
none  of  the  soils  want  any  lime,  and  Nos.  3 and  4 are  richer  in  phosphoric 
acid  than  most  soils  noted  for  their  fertility. 
“ My  impression  is  that  the  richness  of  the  soils  in  nitrogenous  matters 
renders  them  all  more  or  less  liable  in  cold  wet  seasons  to  become  attacked 
by  mildew,  and  all  the  more  so  the  higher  it  has  been  farmed,  or  the  more 
dung  has  been  applied  to  the  land.  It  appears  to  me  probable  that  in  bad 
seasons  the  wheat  on  the  best  land,  especially  if  highly  manured,  is  more 
liable  to  suffer  from  mildew  than  on  soils  which  are  less  rich  in  nitrogenous 
organic  matters ; but  so  much  depends  on  previous  cropping  and  manuring 
that  the  experience  of  one  year  on  the  four  different  soils  which  I analyzed 
for  you,  may  be  entirely  reversed  by  that  of  another  season.  As  I have 
not  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  previous  agricultural  history  and  physical 
