Improvement  of  Old  Pasture. 
327 
County  Locality  Formation 
16.  Yorkshire  Barnsley  (“Long  Ing”)  Coal  measures 
This  field  diffei-s  somewhat  from  the  foregoing.  It  is  on 
higher  and  drier  land  ; the  soil  has  considerably  less  lime 
(0‘27  per  cent.),  0‘12  per  cent,  of  phosphoric  acid,  and  0‘35 
per  cent,  of  potash.  The  herbage  is  more  wiry,  and  the 
matting  of  surface  stems  is  quite  one  and  a half  inches  thick. 
The  field  is  always  grazed  by  milking  cows,  and  a great  deal  of 
money  had  been  previously  spent  on  it  for  cake-feeding,  with 
but  little  or  no  benefit  to  the  land.  The  applications  decided  on 
were  : lime,  4 tons  per  acre  ; basic  slag,  8 cwt.  per  acre  ; basic 
slag,  6 cwt.,  with  kainit,  2 cwt.  per  acre;  and  bone  meal,  4 cwt. 
per  acre.  A fifth  plot  was  harrowed  and  re-seeded.  Of  this 
experiment  it  is  sufficient  to  record  that,  while  re-seeding,  bone 
meal,  and  even  basic  slag,  have  failed  to  make  any  marked 
improvement,  a complete  and  most  remarkable  change  has 
been  effected  by  the  use  of  lime.  It  can  be  seen  almost  to  an 
inch  where  the  lime  has  gone,  and  this  plot  stands  out  from 
all  the  others  by  reason  of  its  fresh  green  appearance  and  close 
grazing.  Clover  is  abundant  on  it,  the  rov^gh  grass  has  been 
pushed  out,  and  the  cattle  are  always  to  be  seen  on  this  plot. 
Further,  the  thick  matting  of  surface  roots  has  entirely 
disappeared,  and  good  soil  has  taken  its  place.  A by  no  means 
exaggerated  valuation  puts  the  improvement  effected  at  15s. 
per  aci’e.  This,  as  the  outcome  of  the  application  of  a single 
dressing  of  4 tons  of  lime  per  acre  nine  years  ago,  is  most 
remarkable ; and  so  sharp  was  the  distinction  between  the 
limed  plot  and  the  adjoining  one,  that  a piece  of  turf  two  feet 
square  was  cut  out  of  the  pasture  just  at  the  junction  of  the 
two  plots,  and  the  difference  between  the  limed  and  the  unlimed 
plots  was  most  clearly  discernible,  alike  in  the  character  of  the 
herbage,  the  absence  or  presence  of  the  matting  of  creeping 
stems,  and  in  the  moister  condition  of  the  limed  soil,  whereas 
the  unlimed  soil  was  dry  and  parched.  This  specimen  was 
shown  in  the  Agricultural  Education  Exhibition  at  the  Park 
Royal  Show  in  June  last  and  attracted  much  attention.  That 
lime  should  have  done  so  much  better  here  than  on  “Low  Ing” 
is  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  soil  being  poorer  in  lime,  and  it  seems 
clear  that  where  soil  is  really  deficient  in  lime  even  basic  slag 
cannot  make  up  for  it. 
County  Locality  Formation 
17.  Yorkshire  Barnsley  (“  Castle  Field  ”)  Coal  measures 
This  field  is  practically  a repetition  of  “Long  Ing,”  showing, 
as  it  did,  the  marked  benefit  of  lime  on  a soil  poor  in  this 
constituent.  The  soil  contained  only  0’20  per  cent,  of  lime. 
While  basic  slag,  bone  meal,  and  basic  slag  with  kainit,  as  also 
harrowing  and  re-seeding,  have  done  little  good,  the  limed  plot 
