.  April  7,  19  >1, 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
299 
in  fact,  all  the  great  experiments  which  are  quoted  in  evidence 
of  this  great  physical  function  are  simply  and  solely  proof  of 
evaporation  and  condensation,  and  the  classic  experiments  of 
Krocker  show  nothing  else,  although  they  are  represented  as 
proving  the  extent  of  capillarity  in  soils  oyer  a  period  of  about 
two  years,  so  far  as  I  remember.  It  is  said  that  hoeing  breaks 
the  end  of  the  small  pipes,  makes  the- calibre  larger  at  the  top, 
and  thus  shows  the  rate  of  capillarity,  and  consequently  keeps 
tlte  surface  longer  moist.  It  does  nothing  of  the  kind.  It 
.simply  breaks  the  continuity  of  the  soil  mass,  and  thus 
diminishes  the  conduction  of  heat  from  the  surface,  with  the 
result  that  evaporation  is  slower. 
Just  a  few  words  in  regard  to  tillage.  The  old  views  are 
that  ridging  up  for  winter  causes  disintegration  of  the  soil 
particles,  and  liberation  of  plant  essentials  by  frost.  What  of 
the  ridging  up  in  tropical  countries?  It  is  too  absurd  a  subject 
to  follow  up  here,  and  therefore  I  will  clench  it  with  the  new 
views,  which  go  to  show  that  the  liberation  of  plant  essentials  in 
any  ordinary  .soil  cannot  be  accomplished  without  life,  for  if  we 
sterilise  a  .soil,  and  attempt  to  grow  plants  therein,  we  must 
fail  absolutely,  unless  we  adopt  water-culture  conditions.  I 
lines  of  exterminating  reducing  bodies  which  are  not  the  friend 
of  the  farmer. 
Now,  this  leads  me  to  say  just  a  few  more  words  about  the 
book-.science  of  soils.  There  we  have  again  pictured  mo.st  extra¬ 
ordinary  double  decompositions  going  on  in  soils,  resulting  in  the 
liberation  from  their  locked-up  condition  of  various  so-called 
essentials.  Take  lime  as  an  example.  Lime  is  said  to  liberate 
potash,  ammonia,  Ac.,  from  their  silicates  or  other  compounds 
-^the  lime  being  fixed  pro  tempore,  but  to  be  itself  afterwards 
liberated  by  that  extraordinary  trace  of  carbonic  acid  contained 
in  the  air.  Caustic  soda  would,  of  course,  also  be  liberated,  so 
that,  according  to  that  so-called  science,  we  have  in  soils — as  the 
result  of  adding  lime — a  blend  of  caustic  potash,  caustic  soda, 
and  other  death-dealing  bodies.  Such  reactions  are  absolutely 
impossible  of  accomplishment  in  soils  or  anywhere  else  where 
identical  conditions  obtain,  and  it  is  mo.st  lamentable  to  think 
that  to  the  present  day  those  doctrines  are  being  taught  in 
universities  and  agricultural  colleges  in  this  country. 
Another  function  of  lime  which  still  holds  its  place  in  books 
and  lecture  notes,  notwithstanding  my  criticisms,  in  universities 
and  out  of  them,  is  that  lime  is  an  oxidiser  of  organic  matter. 
Eucharis  amazonica  at  Carnatic  Hall,  Liverpool. 
should,  perhaps,  observe  here  that  repeated  tillage  of  soils — of 
fertile  soils — increases  enormously  the  amount  of  soluble  con¬ 
stituents,  because  of  the  shifting  of  our  indirstrious  organisms 
into  2>(istures  new.  That  also  is  a  fragment  of  new  soil  science! 
But  I  may  bring  this  germ  theory  quicker  home  to  the 
men  of  Renfrewshire  by  asking  them  a  que.stion.  Many  of  you 
are  interested  in  dairy  work.  Can  you  get  your  curd,  can  you 
ripen  your  cheese,  can  you  get  those — to  some — attractive 
moulds  without  the  advantageous  micro-bodies?  or  can  you 
keep  your  milk  sweet  unless  you  keep  out  the  disadvantageous 
bodies  which  are  the  terror  of  up-to-date  dairy  farmers?  No! 
And  so  it  is  with  all  classes  of  agriculturi.sts,  for  the  real  and 
the  only  true  science — which  necessarily  embraces  the  science  of 
manuring — consists  of  encouraging  and  feeding  the  advan¬ 
tageous  groups  of  soil  organisms,  while  we  study  to  keep  in 
check,  or  to  annihilate,  those  which  are  disadvantageous.  And 
why?  Becau.se  those  advantageous  groups  are  the  workers 
which,  by  night  and  by  day,  are  converting  iiusoluble  and 
1/iiassimiIable  bodies  into  bodies  which  are  soluble  and  diffusible; 
and,  if  the  conditions  which  favour  those  advantageous  groups 
are  maintained,  we  have  then  the  conditions  which  are  on  the 
Lime  in  soils  can  no  more  oxidise  their  organic  matter,  or  aiiy- 
thing  else,  than  if  can  oxidise  the  gold  wheels  of  the  fiery  chariot 
of  old.  It  is  but  right  I  should  say  there  is  one  writer  who 
in  recent  years  has  been  approaching  the  truth  in  his  books, 
and  that  is  Dr.  Fream,  but  he  is  the  only  one,  and  I  don’t 
exclude  continental  savants.  Again,  books  and  lectures  tell  u.s 
that  magnesia  in  soils  is  a  danger,  because  it  is  so  caustic- 
especially  as  compared  with  lime — that  it  destroys  the  roots  of 
plants.  "Gentlemen,  was  there  ever  anything  more  unscientific 
or  insane  than  that?  It  does  show  most  absolute  ignorance  on 
the  part  of  the  expounders  of  those  views  in  more  ways  than 
one.  It  shows  ignoranep  of  the  laws  of  chemical  combination, 
and  it  exhibits  an  entire  absence  of  knowledge  of  the  physical 
properties  of  the  bodies  mentioned.  It  shows  also  an 
entire  absence  of  knowledge  of  the  new  and  true  sciences 
of  agriculture,  which  teaches  us  in  what  combination 
magnesia  should  be  used,  because  of  its  great  importance  in 
nitrification,  its  importance  when  intelligently  applied  in  the 
nourishment  of  advantageous  organisms,  and  its  importance  in 
all  seeds  where  reproduction  is  the  intention. 
(To  be  continued.) 
