SOIL SCIENCE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 9 August 1928, Page 6

SOIL SCIENCE

EXPERIMENTS IN ENGLAND

AT -ROTHAkiSTF.iI STATION

LECTURE BY'SIR JOHN RUSSELL

.Sir John Russell, director of the Rothamsted Experiment .Station, England, is a gifted man. He. is gifted, 1 first, with a great knowledge of the soil, of its mysterious, slow processes, its minute life, its fragile germinations, its delicate temper; and above all other things, perhaps, with that peculiar, rare chemical gift which enables a few men to transmute whatever they.speak of to a vivid, absorbing liveliness. It was only to be expected therefore, that a crowded and intensely interested audience—among whom were many farmers— greeted the noted soil scientist at the School of Music last evening , when lie delivered the annual Cawthron 'Lecture. Sir John’s subject was “The Work of the Rothamsted Station and the Influence of its Founders on the Development of Scientific Agriculture.” Mr F. G. Gibbs, chairman of the Cawthron Trust Board, who presided, extended a very cordial welcome to Sir John. , He was inclined to think that . . duritig the course of the lecture it woiild-’be bom upon the audience that the Cawthron Institute was; a very small one of its kind, and that they would be listening to the representative of one of the oldest of all. They must ask themselves whether the success of the Cawthron Institute was not due to Rothamsted. The Institute was adapting to local needs and conditions some of the Discoveries, made : by the research workers'of' Rothamsted'. They were also indebted in a personal extent to its present’direction fo-r bis work “Soil conditions and plant life.” Farming all the world over owed a great debt to the Rothamsted Experimental Station. (Applause.) Sir ‘. John Bussell before- commencing his lecture, said it gave him very great pleasure to-come to Nelson. It was of interest ,to him perhaps for several reaaumrig them that Nelson possessed a.- closely parallel station which in many respects resembled Rothamsted Experimental Station; and secondly that the a Bothamsted- was almost exactly the »■ same age as-the town of Nelson, it being established in 1843, whereas he understood N'elscii-jwas founded in 1842. f (, The vßothamsted experiments, said Sir John, .were started ink-1844 -by John Beiinet Lawes, dn English country squire, who lived in the beautiful old manor-house of of the stately homes, of England (a photograph of which was thrown upon tire screen). The Juries were had _for farmers and v Lawes..depended I ,on farming: his* hope was io get more out, of the land. At that time the yield of wheat on the estate was about 20 bushels per acre, probably like of England as' a whole, but in some seasons it fell much lower. Lawes had a taste for making agricultural experiments, and great luck in that his ekperifaents irearly always succeed l ed. He knew a-little of chemistry and something about the composition of farmyard/.manure,,. ' then the regular manure on all farms and still one of the best, and he had found by experiment that one of its constituents, nitrogen, could advantageously be given to 1 crops in th,e fprm of sulphate of am- : in Hie manufacture ' of coal,,gas. He further experimented . witaib.piies which had worked maryels . on some .of tlie English pastures, but 1 had failed,, at'Rdthamsted': he found , that if. they were treated with, sulphuric ' acid/tHey/became effective, being con- • verted into;, the Sphst'ance then called ; superphosphate of Time. At that time ’ bonek were deaf, but rock phosphate; 1 which had only just been discovered, * was. cheap, and Lawes showed that on j treatment with sulphuric acid it yield- ! ed-the same superphosphate of lime as 1 did the more expensive bones. So lie ‘ patented, the process, set up a fac-toiy near , London and made artificial niafiures, for . the first time .in history. j Eer many years he had the whole ! superphosphate industry in his hands, | and he Jliade a considerable fortune. ‘ "But he cbiitinued the field experiments ■ on his home farm and brought to Roth- j airistfe’da voting chemist, Joseph' Henry ‘ Gilbert. 1 " 1

MAN OF GREAT VISION , Ldwfcs ‘ and Gilbert were strikingly different. Lawes was a man of great vision, who could lay -down the general lines and work out the bold outlines of a scheme, but lie had little capacity for detail. His note books were mainly blank spaces, where he‘meant to enter observations, but did not. Nevertheless as one read through the notes, in spite of their brevity it could be seen exactly what he was trying to ; do. And although the;observations were short, one could tell from them pretty well how the investigations were going. The record, however, lacked the precision that gave high scientific value;; but it indicated clearly the solution of a practical problem. , v Gilbert- was entirely different in character. He lacked imagination and the Eower of laying down bold outlines, but e had a'wonderful aptitude for detail. His note books were a mass of figures so crowded that one could not tell what the investigation was about or what he was striving to accomplish. But the figures were accurate, the' observations carefully made and carefully recorded. He had no faith in short cuts, and to the. end of Jus days would never touch logarithms i. I all calculations were done by long multiplication and division.

an Ideal combination _ The combination of Lawes and Gilt bert was almost ideal for scientific purposes; They worked ’ together for 60 years, the longest partnership in history; Lkwes’ ideas, with Gilbert’s pains-' taking skilful’work and close attention to every detail, ensured that the greatest accuracy possible at the time was attained in all the experiments. This fine Combination of two distinct sets of qualities gave the Rothamsted expert-' merits, the that they have always possessed. For' the first 12 years they worked ii\ a barn fitted up as a laboratory; here the first superphosphate was made from imported mineral phosphate and sulphuric acid; it was tested on the field —now well known as Barnfielcl—that lay just outside. MUch valuable work was done for agricultural chemistry there, illustrating a fact well known in the history ol science, that the foundations of a sub- ' ject have often been laid by men working under conditions apparently hopelessly impossible, using rough apparatus and laboratories sadly lacking in equipment. While these conditions had sometimes sufficed for the pioneering work they were entirely unsuitable for the systematic development that came afterwards. In the history of any important subject there were two stages. First, the discovery or the foundation observation was made: often with simple means. Secondly, it was investigated thoroughly, tested at every point and studied with scrupulous accuracy. This subsequent work necessitated the best appliances, and that was why modern scientific laboratories were so expensive to equip and to maintain. MANURES AND FERTILISERS . COMPARED Lawes and Gilbert did not confine their attention to the laboratory but

made experiments in the field of .wheat, barley, swedes and grass, afterwards adding also oats and potaioes. In each field a comparison was made between farmyard niTuuuc and the new artificial fertilisers, Lawes’ superphosphate, sulphate of ammonia and sulphate oi’ potash. The artificials gave as good yields as the farmyard manure. We wore now accustomed to this .fact, but the farmers ijf that day were not., aiid koine of them were very scathing at the idea, that chemicals supplied m a. bag could ever benefit a crop. Lawes and Gilbert therefore grew the same crops year after year on the same land applying always the same fertilisers, and allowing Visitors to see the, experiments at any time. The farmers had to admit the striking results, but they would not allow them any practical value, asserting that the chemicals would sooner or later poison the land. Lawes and Gilbert boldly continued the field experiments and showed that all these fears were groundless. They went on for 20 years before they published much, and then they wrote up a full account of the experiments. Nowadays it would be impossible for any experimenter to continue so long without publication, but Lawes and* Gilbert were quite independent of any Government or other organisation, everything being done at Lawes’ expense: lienee they were able to please themselves. Then they continued the experiments for another 20 years, and at the end of 50 years they wrote an elaborate account of their results. Having done the field work for 50 years they continued it to ■the eiicl of their lives. In 1902 Sir Daniel Hall was, appointed director, and he continued the experiments till he left. The lecturer followed him in 1912 and,had continued them ever since, and as a result they were growing the 86th crop of wheat, the 76th crop of barley, the 72nd crop of hay and the 50th crop of mangolds, the treatment of each plot being the same year after year. This long continuance of the experiments on the same ground was the distinctive characteristics of the Bbthamsted field plo(s. Nowhere else in the world was'there a s6t anything like as extensive or as old, the nearest being some many years younger at Wooster, Ohio; at State College, Pennsylvania; and at Illinois; ancl at'Woburn in England, started under Lawes’ and Gilbert’s supervision and now brought hack under Rothamsted management.

TV HEAT EXPERIMENTS Of all these fields the one attracting most visitors was the Broadbalk wheat field, which had been in wheat every year without break since 1843; there had been a few partial fallows, one-half of the plot being fallowed one year and the other half the next; but no year had passed without a crop. The result was a. mass .of data about the growing of wheat unequalled in the xvlioje world. This was now being examined in the Statistical Department and correlations made with the numerous weather and other data.

Several important' results had emerged. It was shown that wheat would grow quite well on the same land year after year provided it was properly cultivated and supplied with the necessary fertiliser. The yields varied from season to season, and they 'fell off on the manured or improperly manured land.' But there was no evidence of “wheat sickness” or other deterioration resulting from continued cropping. The experiments further showed that wheat could not be killed by starvation. Part of the land bad received ho manure since 1839, 90 years ago, yet the. individual heads j of wheat were perfectly normal. The miller detected no unusual feature in the grain nor the-baker in the flour. The only visible difference between these plants and those properly fertilised was that these gave only one stem and one head per plant instead of four or five as was usual, but the head was normal. However much one might try to starve the plant it would look after the seed, its next generation. But although the .wheat plant could not,be killed or greatly altered by starvation, it could be speedily killed by weeds; and the lesson. to cultivators "was that the surest way of reducing the output from the land was to let the weeds grow. The experimenters had demonstrated the great importance of nitrogenous fertilisers for wheat and indeed for all other crops: lewt. sulphate of ammonia per acre gave an additional 4 bushels of wheat, 5 of barley, 6 of oats, 20cwt. of potatoes or of mangolds. The effect of nitrogenous fertilisers was more uniform than that of any others. Superphosphate had a marked effect'on root development, early growth and tillering of cereals; that was comnionly of great advantage to the plant. Further, it improved the feeding value of pastures. Potassic fertilisers had a special influence oil the production of sugar by the leaf: they were therefore very effec-

tive for crops like potatoes, mangolds, sugar licet, especially in sunless seasons. They also greatly benefited the leguminous plants. The RotliamsU'd plots demonstrated hotter than any others the properties of fertilisers, and much of the information they had yielded had jiow .passed into current, knowledge. Por ' many years the slandar! secogniscd fertilisers, the nitrogenous, the .phyviphatie. ,and the potassic, vi’ciie regarded as sufficient for all crops. In. recent years, however, both at Rothamsted and elsewhere; ai go-oil deal of scientific wto'lc had been clone on the .influence of other elements on the growth of the. crop. The effect of using ammonium chloride instead of the sulphate on tlie barley crop was. to give a larger yield of _ grain, the chloride apparently stimulating the tillering; the increase had varied from 3, to B.bushels per acre and had been obtained with wheat, barley and oats.

INFLUENCE OF SEASON ON

GROWTH

Considerable, attention was being paid now to the relationship between season and fertiliser efficiency. During the 86 years of the Broadbalk experiments on wheat there had been 86 kinds of season: 'the results therefore were of special value for showing the influence ol' season on growth. Tlie yields varied from year to year, but the. amount of variation was less with some fertiliser schemes than with others, it was-least with farmyard manure and low with complete. dressings of artificial fertilisers; it was greatest with incomplete fertilisers, but it was also large on the unmanpred plot. This accorded with general experience that proper manuring increased not only the yield but the certainty of a yield, and it emphasised the need of proper field experiments to guide farmers in their choice of fertilisers and save them from errors which might prove costly. Lawes- and Gilbert confined their field .work entirely to .artificial 1 fertilisers. Jn those days labour was, cheap and'cultivation was an art well understood and practised. But now things were different: labour was no longer cheap nor was it always efficient: reliance had, to be placed more and more on- the machine and therefore the art of cultivation was more and more having to be charged to a science. The Rothamsted experiments had therefore been widened so as to include cultivation: to find out what was .meant by good tilth, what "pud cultivation did, and why it needed to be done: Suitable soil treatment reduced the vfork to ho done better knowledge of -the work should enable the * engineer to improve the implements. Dealing with Iho recent, work on soil microbiology, Sir John Russell said that Lawes and Gilbert in Jheir experiments on nitrogenous.i fertilisers used chiefly. sulphate of ammqjiia, it being, currently believed that ammonia was the form in which plants assimilated nitrogen; About 1860 the French chemists showed that tlie ammonia rapidly changed to- nitrate in the soil, and they set up the hypothesis, which gradually became accepted, that nitrate, • and not ammonia, was' the true plant food. The problem then arose, however, how did the nitrate get form? War- . ington, one of tlie Rothamsted staff, , spent ten years in trying to isolate the j organisms but without success: the pro- ] b'lein was solved by a young Russian , bacteriologist working along .entirely , different lines. Slowly it became recog- ■ nised that the micro orgaiijsms brought about many changes that determined , soil fertility. < It -was . shown that farmyard manurfe and green manure j were not themselves plant foods: in- , deed, in themselves they were harmful • Lo plants. But once in the soil, tljey , went through a remarkable series of ; changes to end up by being of great value to soil fertility, and these changes ; were caused by soil organisms. The , organisms were present in great num- ( bers: they were indeed so numerous j that a salt-spoonful of them might £ contain many millions of them, yet they j were so small that they could be seen j only imperfectly.. Some of them changed the useless residues of dead plants into ( humus and- valuable food for the next

generation, of plants. Others fixed nitrogen. from the air and built it up into complex, proteins by a process that no chemist could imitate or even understand. Others fed tlie valuable clovers and oilier leguminous plants. As yet Hie knowledge gained had not found much practical application, but ,bpgin ; iiings hail been made in making artificial higmyard .manure; inocujuliqn. for the grewfih qf .legpminoqfi pljuits; ,-thb treatment of 1 kick: soils, ancl making manure from sewage.

TRUE PURPOSE OF SCIENTIFIC

WORK.

The true purpose of scientific work, concluded tho lecturer, was to open up fresh knowledge: to reveal to mankind a few more, of the inexhaustible secrets of nature. An institute for the study of scientific agriculture .was one, of the best investments a patriotic donor could , make. Its work continued all through Hie years, gathering strength as it weiit. So long as tlie results were trustworthy arid alt the work honestly and conscientiously done it could not fail to bear fruit sooner or later. Perhaps the best lesson , taught by tlie Rothamsted experiments was the absolute necessity of leaving the investigator to get on with his work in peace, putting no pressure on him for immediate results; requiring only that lie should .honestly, conscientiously and diligeptly seek the truth, lie trusted his audience would remember this in connection \yith the work now going on at tlie Cawthron Institute.

Sir John Russell resumed his seat amid loud applause. Aii intensely interesting series of photographs and diagrams bearing on the experimental work carried out at tlie Rothamsted Experiment Station was thrown upon \the screen, the lantern being worked by Mr Davies, of tlie Cawthron Institute. Tlr T. Neale, in moving a vote of thanks to Sir John Russell, said he was sure that, had tile lecture been ‘delivered lint liny parC of the world'it' would have ■been received with enthusiasm, hut not more so than in New Zealand, which depended upon the products of tlie soil for its national wealth. The exports from the dominion could only continue with the aid of agricultural science, and in this connection lie instanced the value of phosphates. Mr Neale went on to speak in appreciative. terms of the wprk of the Institute under Professor Easterfield, and on behalf of the people of Nelson lie thanked the Board of Trustees. (Applause). The country had received enormous help from the Institute,‘aiid the value to the tomato industry, lucerne growing, and orchardists could hot be counted in pounds. He could not think of the work of the Institute without connecting the narne of Professor EaSterfield and those associated with him, (Applause). The leo ture had been a “real treat,” and on behalf of those present lie heartily thanked Sir John Russell.

' In seconding tlie motion, Mr John Carder, chairriian of the Waimea County Council, on behalf of the farming community, thanked scientists for the great help given the industry. The time had gone by when farmers refused to take notice of the scientists. The Dominion was very fortunate in having men of such standing as Sir John Russell to come here with the idea of helping the man on the land. Mr Corder hoped that some means would be devised whereby the quantity of fertiliser used could be reduced by one-half without affecting the results obtained. The motion was then put and carried with loud applause. In acknowledging the vote, Sir John Russell, said A'lr Corelei* had raised a very important point .regarding fertilisers. . .The question was beipg, studied very closely, and it wks .quite possible that something could be achieved in diis direction. Sir John reiterated the Importance of allowing the scientific workers at the Cawthron Institute to> ret on with their work without interference. It was 20 years before Rothamsted did ,v,ery much. The Institute was lacing difficult problems which others aad- not been able..to. solve. Hurried work was never ahy good. “I trust,” included Sir. John, “that you people will leave them to work in peace and ,'ou may expect good results.” The proceedings concluded with the singing of the National Anthem.