334  Final  Report  on  Grass  Experiments,  1895-1904. 
Experiment  8;  Basingstoke,  Experiment  11;  Bishop  Auckland, 
Experiments  13  and  14  ; Wilburton,  Experiment  21  ; and 
Hatfield  Peverel,  Experiment  22)  proved  itself  most  efficient, 
and  its  application  has  resulted  in  the  bringing  up  of  a quantity 
of  white  clover  where  this  was  not  apparent  before.  In  regard 
to  the  time  for  which  its  influence  will  last,  it  would  seem  that 
this  may  reasonably  be  put  at  five  years,  after  which  it  will  be 
well  to  apply  it  again.  Opinions  vary  as  to  the  quantity  of 
basic  slag  which  it  is  atlvisable  to  put  on  at  any  one  time. 
Mr.  Hornsby  at  Laxton  (Experiments  7 and  8)  is  strongly  in 
favour  of  5 to  6 cwt.  per  acre  at  most,  whereas  the  Wilburton 
experiment  (No.  21)  and  others  would  indicate  that  a not  less 
quantity  than  8 cwt.  per  acre  is  desirable,  while  even  10  cwt. 
per  acre  might  at  times  be  employed.  Eight  cwt.  per  acre 
seems  to  us,  on  the  whole,  a suitable  dressing  for  grass 
land. 
Lime. — Even  more  striking  than  the  benefits  derived  fi-oni 
basic  slag  are  those  from  the  use  of  lime  where  land  is  deficient 
in  this  constituent.  Nothing  indeed,  not  even  basic  slag,  can 
make  up  for  it,  and  it  is  clear  that  the  bad  condition  of  much 
of  the  land  of  the  country  has  come  from  the  abandonment  of 
the  “good  old  practice”  of  “ liming”  land.  As  shown  in  the 
cases  of  Tatton  Park  (Experiment  4),  Limber  (Experiment  G), 
and  Barnsley  (Experiments  15,  16,  17),  liming  has  been 
effectual  where  basic  slag  has  entirely  failed,  this  being  in  each 
instance  where  land  was  actuallj*  deficient  in  lime,  having, 
say,  0’25  per  cent,  of  lime  or  less.  But,  as  shown  in  other 
instances  (Bishop  Aiickland,  Experiment  12  ; Wilburton, 
Experiment  21),  liming  needs  following  up  with  manure, 
unless  where  the  land  is  heavily  stocked.  The  main  influence 
on  the  herbage  is  to  sweeten  it  and  make  it  more  palatable  to 
stock.  Then,  too,  as  pointed  out  already,  it  has  a most  potent 
action  in  destroying  the  accumulation  of  matted  creeping  stems 
of  twitch  which  so  often  are  found  on  inferior  old  pasture,  and 
the  existence  of  which  tends  to  sourness  in  the  soil  and  the 
prevention  of  germination  of  the  seeds  that  fall  upon  the  land. 
The  lime  works  into  this  mass  and  destroys  it,  ultimately 
removing  it  from  the  surface  of  the  good  healthy  soil.  A 
consequence  of  this  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  the  land  receives 
more  moisture,  which  enables  the  roots  of  the  grasses  to 
penetrate  down  into  the  soil,  whereas  the  matted  creeping 
stems  absorb  the  moisture  and  employ  it  for  their  own  growth, 
leaving  a dry  and  parched  soil  below.  As  regards  the  duration 
of  lime,  it  is  clear  from  these  experiments  that  where  4 tons 
of  lime  to  the  acre  have  been  put  on,  the  influence  has  lasted 
all  through  the  nine  years  of  the  experiments,  and  does  not 
seem  as  yet  exhausted,  so  that  one  can  reasonably  count  upon  a 
