320 Anbury , Club-root , or Finger and Toe in Turnips. 
other must be dependent, not upon the soil, but upon the actual 
presence of the fungus in the one case, and its absence in the other. 
A striking proof of the correctness of this assertion was brought out 
in the correspondence which followed. On neither of the fields the 
soil of which was analysed had any lime been applied for at least 
25 years. But it appeared that Mr. Thomas had carted on to the 
field now considered “ liable to disease ” farmyard manure made by 
cattle to which turnips attacked by “ finger and toe ” had been fed, 
he being then unaware that it was possible to convey in this way 
the fungus from one field to another. There is little doubt that the 
disease had been spread through this means, and that the reason for 
the existence of “ finger and toe ” on one field and not on the other 
was not any difference in the composition of the soils of the respec- 
tive fields, but the fact that the fungus producing the disease had 
been conveyed to one field and not to the other. Had it been simi- 
larly imported on to the soil considered “ not liable to attack ” there 
is little doubt that it would have spread there similarly, this soil also 
being very poor in lime. 
The foregoing and other cases which I inquired into led me to 
the conclusion that in the case of soils deficient in lime it could not 
be established that the alleged liability to, or immunity from, disease 
was traceable to the chemical constituents of the soils, or to the 
proportions in which they existed, but that one or the other soil 
may be equally liable, and that, where immunity from disease is 
reported, it is only because the fungus has not as yet been conveyed 
to the land. 
Having accounted thus for the reported differences between 
certain fields on the same farm, I turned next to a comparison of 
the soils of farms where the disease appeared to be unknown, and 
those where it was a constant source of loss. From analyses which 
I have made of different soils I select the following : — 
Soils not liable to 
“ finger and toe " 
Soils liable to “ finger and toe ” 
i 
ii 
in 
IV 
V 
VI 
VII 
1 Organic matter i 
and water of l 
combination J 
1301 
6 09 
905 
8-82 
5-13 
1 808 
1110 
Oxide of iron 
1-94 
3-16 
3-49 
2-49 
1-53 
1-96 
•72 
Alumina 
1-93 
1-80 
2-66 
1-47 
1-22 
1-05 
115 
Lime . 
1-44 
2-05 
1-62 
7-46 
•18 
•10 
•29 
Magnesia . 
•31 
•39 
1-32 
•86 
•64 
•18 
•22 
Potash 
•14 
•20 
■39 
•28 
•11 
•11 
•06 
Soda . 
•31 
•27 
•72 
1-86 
•24 
•12 
•74 
Phosphoric acid . 
•18 
•24 
•25 
•25 
•14 
•23 
•22 
Sulphuric acid . 
•10 
•07 
•09 
•05 
•07 
•06 
•07 
Insoluble sili- \ 
cates and sand J 
80-64 
85-73 
80-41 
76-46 
90-74 
88T1 
85-43 
100-00 
100-00 
10000 
100-00 J 
100-09 . 
10000 
100 00 
' containing nitrogen 
•409 
•171 
•283 
•32 
•196 | 
•232 
■322 
