809 
An Infection Experiment ivith Finger and Toe. 
90 per cent, passed through a No. 100 sieve. When in this unusu 
ally fine state of subdivision quicklime rapidly absorbs moisture 
from the air, and in a fortnight or so becomes largely converted 
into the slaked or hydrated form. If it is to be used in the quick 
form, therefore, it must be applied within a few days after being 
ground, but whether it is less effective as a cure of finger and toe 
when slaked remains for the present undetermined. 
The experiment was carried out in duplicate as follows : Each plot 
consisted of a single drill comprising acre, and the first plot of 
each series received neither diseased soil nor lime. Plots 2 to 6 each 
received 20 lb. of soil, plot 2 getting nothing else, but plots 3 to 
6 receiving along with the soil 1, and 5 per cent, of the 
quicklime dust. Where both were applied, the diseased soil was 
first thoroughly mixed with the quicklime, and then the whole was 
distributed equally along the line of drill. The turnip seed (White 
Bullock) was afterwards sown without anything further being done. 
The roots were lifted, counted, and weighed on October 15, and the 
accompanying illustration gives a general view of the results. From 
plots 2 and 2a to plots 6 and 6a a gradual improvement will be ob- 
served, both in the illustration and in the table below, along the two 
sets of duplicate plots, the improvement, in fact, keeping pace steadily 
with the increase in the quantity of quicklime. The single plot, 
No. 7, without a duplicate, was hardly part of the experiment, the 
soil that remained over (50 lb.) after the other plots had been 
supplied being spread on a drill alongside plot 6a. 
Soil -inoculation Experiment on Finger and Toe, conducted in 1 894 
at the Durham College of Science, Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
Plots 
Quantity 
of 
infected' 
soil 
Quantity 
of lime 
Percent- 
age of 
lime to in- 
fected soil 
Average 
number of 
roots 1 
Number 
of 
diseased 
roots 
Number 
of souud 
roots 
Average 
yield 
per plot 
Equivalent 
yield 
per acre 
1 & lA 
lb. 
0 
oz. 
0 
0 
42 
0 
42 
lb. 
30 
OZ. 
(,) 
tons 
9 
cwt. 
10 
2 & 2a 
20 
0 
0 
31 
30 
1 
26 
10 
8 
8? 
3 & 3a 
20 
2 
1 
38 
35 
3 
36 
2 
11 
5f 
4 & 4a 
20 
4 
1 
33 
28 
5 
32 
2 
10 
Of 
5 & 5 A 
20 
31 
1 
36 
26 
10 
40 
10 
12 
14 
G & 6a 
20 
1G 
5 
40 
4 
36 
54 
2 
16 
18 
7 
50 
0 
0 
13 
13 
0 
12 
10 
3 
1 Avoiding fractions. 
As will be seen from the illustration on the opposite page, ex- 
tremely little variation was found in the duplicate plots, so that in 
the table I have thought it sufficient merely to state the average 
results obtained from the two sets of plots. 
The soil on which this experiment was conducted is a heavy loam, 
well drained, resting on boulder-clay. The accompanying analysis 
made by my colleague, Mr. Greig Smith, B.Sc., shows that the soil 
