120  Experiments  of  the  late  Mr.  James  Mason. 
cases  where  a good  })lant  of  lucerne  was  established  at  the  out- 
set that  the  field  shows  a profit ; but  whenever  the  field  was 
properly  managed  and  the  lucerne  established,  the  accounts 
provide  an  ample  justification  of  Mr.  Mason’s  ideas. 
It  will  be  seen  that  as  regards  this  field  (;I8ab)  a 
profit  of  11s.  9f?.  per  acre  was  secured  during  the  seven  years 
considered,  in  addition  to  a rental  of  20s.  per  acre  and  5 per 
cent,  interest  on  all  the  capital  employed.  At  the  end  of  the 
time  the  estate  was  in  possession  of  a valuable  pasture  instead 
of  an  arable  field,  a pasture  which  had  been  built  up  by  deej) 
cultivation  and  manuring  with  basic  slag,  and  which  was  then 
rich  in  the  accumulation  of  five  years’  growth  of  leguminous 
croj)S.  The  pasture  would  certainly  appeal  to  any  grazier  as 
superior  to  the  general  run  of  permanent  pastures  in  that  part 
of  Oxfordshire  ; it  consists  of  a vigorous  mixed  herbage,  full 
of  clovers,  and  had  no  signs  of  the  degeneration  into  a mass  of 
bent  grass  which  characterises  so  much  of  the  grass  land  on 
the  Oxford  Clay.  For  this  good  result  the  subsoil  cultivation 
is  to  a large  extent  responsible,  aided  by  the  deep  roots  of  the 
lucerne,  which  by  their  growth  and  decay  open  up  the  soil  and 
prevent  it  settling  down  into  the  intractable  surface  that  results 
in  an  impoveiished  shallow-rooting  vegetation.  Had  (he 
lucerne  been  laid  down  in  beans,  as  was  done  later,  the  loss 
on  the  first  year  would  have  been  much  reduced  and  the 
lucerne  growing  the  more  profitable,  as  we  learn  from  the 
balance-sheets  of  other  fields  laid  down  later. 
Another  example  of  Mr.  Mason’s  method  of  utilising 
lucerne  is  seen  in  the  field  (270a),  where  after  seven  years 
of  lucerne  the  land  was  broken  up  and  a crop  of  roots  followed 
by  oats  was  taken.  The  lucerne  more  than  j)aid  its  way,  although 
laid  down  at  great  expense,  at  the  same  time  it  accumulated  so 
much  fertility  that  two  nitrogen  consuming  crops  could  be  grown 
at  a very  small  cost  for  manures.  For  the  whole  period  of  nine 
years  the  land  showed  a profit  of  18s.  Id.  per  acre,  in  addition 
to  its  rental  of  20s.  and  5 per  cent,  interest  on  the  capital. 
In  the  light  of  these  balance-sheets  and  the  present  aspect 
of  the  land  we  are  justified  in  considering  that  Mr.  Mason  had 
solved  the  problem  he  set  himself — how  to  utilise  on  the  one 
hand  the  natural  resources  of  the  subsoil,  and  on  the  other 
the  nitrogen  fixing  power  of  the  leguminous  crops.  He 
showed  that  by  the  introduction  of  lucerne,  a crop  previously 
unknown  on  these  clay  soils,  a leguminous  growth  could  be 
obtained  which  would  endure  for  some  years  at  a small 
