Atmospheric Nutrition of Plants. 
531 
dry seedbed ; whereas, if they loft the land unemployed until tho 
spring, there was great uncertainty about it ; in the North of England 
particularly they could not get it ploughed early enough to put in 
the seed. 
Lord Berners, in proposing a vote of thanks to Mr. Hughes, said 
he could go a great deal further even than Mr. Howard in recommend- 
ing the use of the steam-cultivator and steam- digger. He had had 
many years' experience of their use ; and scientific gentlemen, when 
they visited his farm, said, " If you can work a plough up and down 
these hills on this strong tenacious clay, you can do it anywhere." By 
cultivating the old cloverdeys and everything he could get at in the 
autumn, the land was now in the most perfect state possihle. The 
greater part of it only required to he further harrowed down once, 
and to have the cultivator once passed through it, to fit it for 
all business purposes. Some years ago he adopted the Norfolk 
system known as the ten-furrow work, and had all his implements 
made to fit ; so that in ploughing, drilling, and other operations, 
the horses trod only in the furrows, and from seed-time to harvest 
never trampled on the land. He now found from experience that 
by deep draining and deep cultivation, especially autumnal culti- 
vation, he had no longer the slightest occasion for ten-furrow work. 
And there was this further advantage, that, whilst formerly upon 
his strong lands he could not work the reaper, he could now cut 
all his corn, beans, and everything with that implement in the most 
effective manner. To show the benefit of steam-ploughing more 
particularly, he might mention that just before last harvest he took a 
farm into his own hands, 80 acres of which were in the worst possible 
state, overrun with twitch and almost every thing that was bad. 
Having no horses to spare, he sent his steam-cidtivator on to the 
land, and before Michaelmas arrived he had every acre quite clean, 
some of it having been cultivated three and four times over ; the appli- 
cation of the rotary-harrows of Ashby of Stamford helped materially 
in getting the land into perfect condition. Now, if he had had any 
number of horses, it would have been impossible for them to have 
broken up the land, for it was as hard as the road. 
The vote of thanks having been put, Mr. Hughes in reply said he 
was by no means opposed to steam cidtivation, but looked forward 
hopefully to a time when he should be able to use it economically, 
even on his heavy clay farm. 
Weekly Meeting of Council, May 11, 1864. Mr. Batmond Barker in 
the Chair. Lecture by Dr. Augustus Voelcker. 
The Atmospheric Nutrition of Plants. 
Dr. Voelcker said : — Theoretical inquiries, as to the nutrition of 
plants, may at first sight appear of very little practical interest, but 
it will be found on reflection that questions of vital importance to the 
farmer depend very much on their accurate solution. 
Within the last year or two the controversy as to humus has bee" 
