Annual  Report  for  1910  of  the  Consulting  Chemist.  309 
yet  do  not  indicate  any  material  addition  of  manurial  value 
above  that  possessed  by  the  salt  itself. 
11.  Ground  Lime. 
Lime  ........  55-22 
Oxide  of  iron  and  alumina  ....  7 52 
Silica 459 
Magnesia,  carbonic  acid,  &c 32-67 
100-00 
This  was  an  imperfectly  burnt  sample  of  lime,  and,  in 
addition,  was  of  low  quality.  It  cost  16s.  per  ton  delivered. 
It  was  also  far  from  being  well  ground,  and  must  be  considered 
decidedly  dear. 
C.  Miscellaneous. 
1.  (a)  Soil  Needing  Lime. 
(b)  Soil  under  Elliot's  System  of  Laying-down  Grass. 
(a)  A sample  of  soil  was  sent  me  for  analysis  from  the 
Midlands.  The  farmer  complained  that  the  wheat  sown  on 
it  turned  brown  and  rusty,  and  gradually  died  off  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  he  had  treated  it  liberally  with  farmyard  manure. 
Clover,  similarly,  was  said  to  have  died  out,  and  to  have 
become  very  full  of  sorrel. 
The  analysis  of  the  soil  gave  the  following  results  : — 
(Soil  dried  at  100°  C.) 
Organic  matter  and  loss  on  heating  . 
4-44 
Lime  ....... 
•13 
Oxide  of  iron,  &c.  ..... 
4-58 
Insoluble  siliceous  matter .... 
90-85 
100  00 
It  is  clear  that  the  cause  of  the  infertility  of  the  land  is 
its  great  deficiency  in  lime,  and  that  nothing  but  liming  will 
effect  the  improvement  desired. 
( b ) A Member  of  the  Society  who  had  tried  Mr.  R.  H. 
Elliot’s  system  of  laying-down  land  to  grass,  as  adopted  at 
Clifton  Park,  Kelso,  sent  me  two  samples  of  soil  for  analysis. 
On  the  former  of  these,  “ A,”  Elliot’s  system  had  been  adopted, 
and  on  “ B ” an  ordinary  grass-seed  mixture  had  been  sown, 
to  which  basic  slag  had  been  given  in  addition.  The  sender 
wished  to  see  whether  there  was  any  difference  shown  in  the 
soil  as  between  the  two  systems  pursued.  The  following  are 
the  respective  analyses  : — 
