HIGH FARMING IN GERMANY

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1686, 22 June 1904, Page 60

HIGH FARMING IN GERMANY

ARTIFICIAL MANURES AND THEIR, - USES-

(By J L. Bashford in the “Empire Re-

view.”)'

!A! glimpse at the methods of husbandry systematically carried out m a great part of the German Empire for the purpose of increasing the yield, of the soil, may perhaps be instructive as well as useful. Six months ago I took part in a tour of inspection in West Germany organised to show a number of British specialists in agriculture the results attained in Germany by the adon-

tion of certain methods of high farming; and my present purpose is to give a description of what I saw and heard. BRITAIN AND GERMANY COMPARED. It was submitted that Britain consumes per hectare (roughly 2* acres) about one-th'ird only of the quantity of mineral manures —phosphates and potassium—consumed in Germany. In comparison with this calculation, tlie cultivated area of Great Britain ard Ireland was declared to be 19.5 million hectares (48 million of acres), whilst ihet of the German Empire is 32 million he ctares (79 million acres). Germany spends £12,000,000 per annum on artificial manures, and claims to obt.rn an increase or value to the crops, estimated at £200,000,000. And as a result of her methods of high farming, Germany, it is said, feeds nine-tenths of her population.

According to Mr Francis Foljambe, the average production of food in England far exceeds that either on the con fcinent of Europe or in America per acre. “Our farmers/’ he says, “on an average, produce something like eight bushels of wheat per acre more than our continental rivals. If you turn to barley and oats, I think yon will find similar results.” As regards the relatively small amount of land used for the cultivation of wheat in England this is true; but such a statement can easily be misleading. Stress should rather be laid upon the facts that the results obtained under existing conditions in England could be greatly increased; and that much land which at the present time is not high farmed might with considerable profit be brought into that condition. We should not cite the average results of the whole of the German gram harvest as deserving of special notice, K—cause a great deal of land of poor value in East Pomerania. West Prussia and Silesia is taken into cultivation. IMPORTATION OF WHEAT.

At the present time Great Britain and Ireland import 65 million cwt of wheat per annum ' from the United States out of a total of 108 millions, whilst 25 millions of the balance reaches us from the colonies and British India. The time will come, and quicker perhaps than some of us imagine, when the United States will not be able to supply Great Britain with this amount of corn, or certainly not to supply it ac the same price. The home demand in America will be greater, and the cost of production wall be greater. A quarter of a century ago Germany furnished England with about one-tenth rf her wheat supply; whereas now we import only a small quantity of wheat from Germany, for that country absorbs the produce of her own soil, for her own population. Why, therefore, should not the British Empire he put in a position to grow the main, if not the whole, portion of the food required for its inhabitants, just as the German Empire does for its. people? Our Empire could do so under better meteorological conditions. In the West of Germany the subject of high fanning is very attractive to farmers. The soil there is poorer than it is in Saxony, Hanover, Mecklenburg or Rhenish-Prussia. It was interesting, therefore) to learn what agriculturists had done there for the amelioration of the soil by the help of tnineral manures. For a long time there was more high farming in West Germany than in other parts of the Empire, especially in the East, where people are somewhat behindhand in matters of husbandry; but during the last ten years changes have also taken place in the East, so it may now be said, speaking generally, that about half of the cultivated surface of the German Empire is under high culture.

The Germans draw a distinction between “intensive Wirthschaft” and “extensive Wirthschaft.” By “intensive Wirthschaft” is meant high _ farming, that is, every inch of land is fanned so as to obtain the highest possible yield out of the whole faring and under this system, no land ever remains fallow. By “’extensive Wirthschaft” is meant pasture farming, land on such estates being periodically allowed to remain fallow. Where the system of high farming is adopted, manure must be used in sufficient quantities to replace what has been taken out of the soil, and the whole of the land must be used every year for cultivating purposes. The advocates of high farming .and high manuring in Germany submit that, if this system were extended to a still larger area of the Empire, the products of the land would be increased in proportion to the greater amount of artificial manure used. The best-farmed portions of the German Empire are Saxony, Kanover, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, West Pomerania and the Plane Province,; whilst the worst-fanned parts are West Prussia, East Pomerania., Posen, Thuringia and Hesse-Nassau. TEACHINGS OF LIEBIG. I visited the Experimental Station for Agriculture at Darmstadt, which is under the management of Professor Paul Wagner, a name very well known in Great Britain. .Not far. from his residence is a statue of Liebig, the father of agricultural chemistry. Darmstadt was Liebig’s birthplace, and the wreaths at the foot of the monument placed there in honour of the recent centenary of bis birth were hardly faded. Liebig

always impressed upon his hearers his conviction that the ruin of the great nations of the past was merely due to the fact that their soil lost, its fertility. When it became exhausted it was. not replenished as it should have been, with the nutrients absolutely necessary for the growth of plants; and consequently the food of the people had to be imported from other lands. This is what we learn from the history of Greece, Rome and Mediaeval Spain.

Mr Eltzbacher has cited ’ Professors von Treitschke and Mommsen in support of protective tariffs. These authorities, however, draw wrong inferences from the Roman import of cheap grain from Africa. They said that protective tariffs should have been imposed, and that then the rural population would not have disappeared, nor would the Oampagna, surrounding the capital, have become a vast desert. But a little consideration will show that the rum could not have been averted by tariffs. The Roman farmers, as Liebig taught his generation, were punished because they had disregarded the laws of nature. Now Liebig proved that farmyard manure was only efficacious in so far as it contained phosphoric acid, kali salt and nitrogen, and inferred herefrom that these elements would be supplied artificially. He made a phosphate himself for this purpose, but unfortunately overlooked the fact that the phosphoric acid must he given in such a chemical form to the soil that the loots of the plants can assimilate it." As his phosphate did not do this, the peasant farmers, who had listened to him in Hesse, were very angry, for they used it and obtained no results. Consequently, for the next twenty years there was no disposition in West Germany to have anything to do with phosphate manures. But as time went on, it became more and more evident that, as sufficient manure must be given to the soil, it was necessary to use the artificial as well as farmyard product. At Professor Wagner’s agricultural station I was able to ascertain what use lias been made of artificial manure in Germany. Mr Eltzbacher- also repeats the prevailing opinion that Germany is a poor agricultural country and will always remain so. I have no doubt that, in their present temper, German agriculturists will fully endorse this view; but future generations will alone be able to decide whether the endeavours now being made to utilise the powers of science to counteract the natural poverty of the sod have been successful. Besides the institution at Darmstadt, there are nine other similaNinstitutions in Germany, at ITalie, Jena. Gottingen, Bernburg, Bremen, Posen, Ivoslin and Mocksrn (near Leipzig) in addition to some twenty establishments of the nature of laboratories only. At Darmstadt there is an experimental garden as well as a laboratory. And here may he found some two thousand pots, in which experiments are made with all kinds of grains, vegetables and garden plants. One of the primary aims is to determine whether the soil contains enough of the elements necessary for obtaining a maximum yield out of it. Several elements are indispensable to the life of plants which agricultural science must supply if deficient. But I propose to confine my attention to those elements communicated by the aid of artificial manures, namely, phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen and calcium. If any one of these properties be wholly wanting in a given soil, no plant can grow there, even if the proper quantity of the other elements be present. When sufficient of each of these elements is in the soil, it is said to be fertile. Any less quantity must be supplied artificially. In general, it is phosphoric acid that .is wanting in a soil; next to that, kali may be wanting to a certain extent ; less frequently it is nitrogen, and lastly, lime. PROFESSOR WAGNER-S METHODS. Complaints often arise that after manuring with one of these elements, no perceptible results follow. When that is the case, the explanation can be threefold. Either there has not been sufficient warmth or water, in other words, the season was unfavourable —cold or dry—or the required manure was not given in sufficient quantity, or the soil was deficient in other elements as well, besides the one used. As the last named is generally the correct cause, the utility of an establishment like that of Darmstadt jumps at once to the eyes. The farmer requires advice, and Professor Wagner supplies it. Farmyard manure does not, as was formerly believed to be.the case, contain as much phosphoric acid as the farmer must put into the soil to produce the crop he requires. This can be explained by a simple object lesson. If four crops—wheat, oats, roots and clover —be taken off the land, they absorb out of .it about 1501 b of phosphoric acid per acre, whereas if 15 tons of farmyard manure per acre be put on the land, that quantity only replaces about half the 1501 b of phosphoric acid; for one ton of farmyard manure contains only from 4 to G lb of phosphoric acid, and, therefore) 15 tons contain only from GO to 901 b, The other half must be replaced by artificial manure, if the land is not to become impoverished. German farmers supplemented their farmyard manure with artificial manures in accordance with recognised tables. For example—phosphoric acid, nitro-

gen, kali and lime are extracted from the soil as follows: —f

R 2 <v <1 fen .-§ j i i £ M .M A harvest of— lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. 33cwt. of wheat per aero extracts 90 38- 63 15 29cwt. of oats per aero extracts 56 23 63 17 200cvvt. of potatoes per acre extracts 83 37 128 28 500 cwt. of mangolds per acre extracts 125 50 285 33 lOOcwl. of farmyard manure per acre gives 66 56 150 246 200 cwt. of farmyard manure per acre gives 132 56 153 246 The balance is supplied by artificial manures, and in tlie eighties of last century Professor Wagner came to the conclusion that basic slag (called Thomas Mehl or Thomas Schlacke in Germany) was the best artificial manure for supplying the deficiency of phosphoric acid in soils of all kinds and for every sort of plant. The scientist instructs the farmer as to the proportion of this or any other artificial manure to be used on a given soil and for a given plant; or he can put the farmer into a position to find this out for himself. A simple analysis of the soil is not sufficient; it is necessary to watch the growth of the plant itself. Professor Wagner thus explained his method, as he conducted us through his experimental garden, with its long rows of pots containing various plants:—I take (lie said) four large pots such as you see here, each containing twelve litres (21.12 pints) of the same kind of soil. In the first I mix with the soil the three kinds of elements presumably wanting, phosphoric acid (basic slag), kali (kainit), and nitrogen (saltpetre): in the second I only mix phosphoric acid (basic slag) and nitrogen; and in the tliaxl kali (kainit) and nitrogen; the fourth contains no manure at all. My method is an indirect one. Pot No. 1 invariably shows the highest yield, and No. 4 the lowest.

By comparing the yields in Nos. 2 and 3 with that in No. 1, I am able to infer whether the soil be more clefi'ou'iit in kali or in phosphoric acid; the yield will be less in proportion as the soil is by nature poor in the particular element in question. By this method I have been able to establish what kind of nutrient a given soil requires for a given plant, and therefrom to increase its yield two and threefold: I make experiments of this kind every year in all kinds of soil with all kinds of plants—wheat, oats, barley, rye, potatoes, turnips. mangolds, with cabbages, tomatoes, carrots and other vegetables; with bush and standard fruit-trees, and with garden plants. Besides the two thousand experiments in pots in his garden, Professor Wagner makes some four/thousand similar experiments on about sixty-five farms in various parts of West Germany so as to compare results. Every large farmer in Germany sets aside a small plot on his farm for experiments of this kind, namely, for testing the effect of artificial manures. Further, a large number of the provincial corporations in the Empire have started similar experimental fields, because it is difficult to get the ordinary peasant farmer to experiment on his own account or to abandon has old ideas of husbandry. The State pays for the maintenance of these experimental fields. The importance of artificial manures for the farmer is fully recognised throughout Germany, whilst the effects of farmyard manure, especially for heavy soils, are not underrated. Professor Marker, Professor Wagner and Dr Schultz-Lupitz have proved by practical evidence that artificial manure can replace a large portion of farmyard manure. VALUE OF DIFFERENT MANURES. The value of different manures is estimated experimenetaily by Professor Wagner, just as ho determines by experiment the deficiency of those elements in the soil that are essential for the fertile growth of plants. Ho prefers to administer phosphoric acid by means of basic slag, but does not underrate the value of superphosphates. His reputation, indeed, as one of the leading German agricultural scientists, rests on his having been one of the first to appreciate the value of basic slag as a phosphate manure. A great advantage of basic slag is that its effect remains for a long time in the soil.

It was objected on belialf of some farmers in England that no results had been attained by them after using basic slag. To this Professor Wagner replied that the land in question must have been particularly deficient in phosphoric acid or the quantity of .basic slag used cannot have been sufficient. If, he informed his hearers, the store of phosphoric acid in the soil was exhausted, or nearly so, a considerable quantity would have to he put into the soil again to replace what had been taken out. When the store was again replenished, it would only be necessary in subsequent years to add a smaller amount, say a fourth of what was at first put in, to replenish the store,'

tin this table tlie cwt. represents the German leutner—loo German lb—so kilograms. The lb is the German lb. which is a trifle heavier than the English lb (i.e.j, l German 1b—1.102 English lb).

"When once placed in the soil, thephosphoric acid contained in basic slag re- . mains there in a form' that can be assimilated lay the plants. This was shown by experiments that had been made on cabbages. Six years ago the Professor had taken two pots, one of which contained soil mixed with a large quantify of- superphosphate, the other with a quantity equal in weight of basic slag. Cabbages were planted in each of the ' pots during each year since then. The difference in the appearance of this year’s plants was most striking. Those in the pot which had contained superphosphate were poor and miserable to look at, as the whole of the manure had obviously been exhausted; while those in the pot in which basic slag had been *• mixed were strong, large, and healthy plants—fully six times as large as the others. •

The Professor calls this.method “thorough” or “store” manuring, and considers it one o? the most important steps made in agricultural progress. To the very natural . question of the farmer whether, instead of putting in this large .store of manure at once, he couldI*not 1 *not use a small portion of basic slag every .. year, the Professor says emphatically: “No; the large store must be put in first, and then the annual supply after.wards can be gradually diminished.” He adds that by the method of store manuring the land is able to bear any

plant whatever during five or six years, , s j that you thereby are no longer tied down to any special sequence of crops : in other words,, grain and root-crops can be planted alternately without any pause. IS ext to basic slag the use of kali was discussed. Kainit is that form of kali used . in England which contains 12-14 per cent, of kalium. The German xkali industry has ..succeeded .within the last five years in introducing a kali salt containing 40 per cent, of kalium... It is, however, mainly a question of transport when distinguishing between the two kinds. After examining the contents of the pots in which kali had been used for the purpose of experimenting, we found that most, especially mangolds planted in sandy soil mixed with kali, had derived immense benefit. The use of nitrogen in all its forms was afterwards talked over, in Germany nitrogen is used in the form of Chili saltpetre. About eighty millions of marks’ worth, roughly £4,000,000, is imported every year, the sale price being' eighteen marks (18s) per double ewt. —six times as much as phosphate or kali. Ait this price it would be impossible for German farmers to purchase the whole supply of nitre they require, so that the discovery made by *a farmer named Schultze from a place called Lupitz in Lusatia (the Lausitz), was a god-send to German agriculturists, . He found out that nitre could be supplied to the land by the nitrogen-col-lecting plants and leguminous plants—clover, pease, beans, lentils, and lupins. His : method is known as the S’chultzeLupitz. method. Professor Wagner made a number of experiments in pots according to this method, and finally demonstrated that by manuring in sufficient quantities with clover, lucerne, or lupins ploughed into the land, sufficient nitrogen would be given to the soil, and that the crop following rberef’.om would exceed in value that from a very large quantity of farmyard manure.

The results Professor Wagner claims to be able to obtain from his system of thorough manuring are in some eases, notably in the case'of mangolds and of potatoes, considered to be too high; but I will compare hisjtable with the es- , timate made by Mr Rider' Haggar J of the average crops in England during the last ten years:— ifPROFESSOR WAGNER’S TABLE. Wheat ... ... 32cwt. per acre Barley ... 30cwt. per acre >• , ' Oats 32c\vt. per acre "-Mangolds 800 cwt. per acre Potatoes 400ewt. per acre Clover hay ... 120 cwt. per acre Grass hay ... 80c\vt. per acre MR RIDER HAGGARD'S TABLE. Wheat 16c\vt. per acre Barley 15cwt. per acre Oats ... 14c\vt. per acr.e Mangolds 350 cwt. per acre Potatoes ... ... 95cwt per acre - Clover hay 31c\vt. per acre Grass hay ... ... 27ewt. pev acre By thorough manuring VProfessor "Wagner understands generally for ill a first year Bcwt of basic slag, scwt of kainit, and of nitre per acre. In, subsequent years this, quantity of basic slag would be gradually reduced to a half, a third, and finally a quarter. That British farmers attach weight to Professor Wagner’s views, I infer from a remark made to me in a letter from a \veU-knowiphiortli-country agrieultuKist with whom X had discussed this question a few months ago—“l have just bought a farm of 180 acres at the low price of £ll per acre, which only wants doing to it wliat you are investigating.” RESULTS OBTAINED. We were taken to a farm called the Schniftenbergei Hof, about thirty ■ miles south-east of JVXayence, situated a thousand feet above the level of the 'sea, which had actually been treated according to \ the . methods of Professor -Wagner. *1 purpose to give an account ' "of the results obtained. The farm is ' '286 morgen (175 acres) in size: its soil is by nature exceedingly poor —partially gandy, partially stony. The present . tenant took it over in 1884/ on an

eighteen years’ lease, when it. was in a most wretched condition. He subsequently prolonged the le*ase for another nine yeays. In 1884 the farm was notorious for its sterility, and Herr Sciiickert, the new tenant, was laughed at foi taking land which had ruined all immediate predecessors. Pie was a man of energy, however, a younger son of a well-to-do Hessian Gross-Bauer—a pea-, sant farmer—from the neighbourhood: and through Iris own diligence and application he had acquired a good practical knowledge of high farming. His prospects were not at first encouraging. His capital was small, the arable land was choked with weeds; it was impossible to grow clover; and the yield of rye. wheat, barley and oats was: rye 12.5 cwt per acre, wheat 5.5 cwt per acre, barley 20.0 cwt per acre, and oats 12.0 cwt per acre. After ploughing the land as deep as was possible, and removing the stones that came to the surface —in some parts of the farm about 130 cwt to the acre — he began to use artificial manure. But from 1884-86 he worked at a loss, and thereby consumed all his capital. Nothing daunted, and after obtaining assistance he set himself to think. He decided that he had not begun with sufficient manure. He had recourse to Professor Wagner's system of thorough or store manuring. During the first three years he had used 3 l-3rd cwt of superphosphate per acre, scwt of kainit per acre, and 24-cwt of nitre per acre.

This had cost him £450, and he had had no success. In 1887 lie had the soil chemically analysed, and himself made several hundreds of* experiments on every acre of the farm. He began then to enrich the land, and used basic slag, which had just then been introduced into * the market. He now manured thus: 13cwt of basic slag per acre, 7cwt of kali per acre, and 2} cwt of nitre per acre.

Half the land was ploughed in in the autumn, the other half was harrowed in in the spring; the kali was used in the spring, and the nitre was given to the land, one half immediately before tlie seed was sown in the spring, the other half some weeks later, when the seed began to shoot, in order to encourage its growth. This was regarded as store manure; in subsequent years lie gradually diminished the supply cf all his manures, and now keeps the land permanently fertile with only one-fourth of what he originally put in in 1887. The IScwt,. of basic slag were diminished in "1889 and 1890 to Bcwt per acre, and from 1891-95 to 7cwt-; now lie only uses from l-£ —2 cwt per acre. RYE, WHEAT, BARLEY, OATS. The history of his farming at the Schniftenherger Hof may he devided into three periods—firstly, that of experiment; secondly, that of store-man-uring • thirdly, that of maintaining the nutrients in the soil. The yield of these three periods may he summarised as follows: — First Period. 1884. 1885. 1886. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. per acre, per acre, per acre. Rye 12.5 19.6 22.0 Wheat 5.5 12.3 15.0 Barley 20.0 21.0 25.0 Oats 12.0 15.5 25.0 Second Period. 1887 1883 1889 1890 1891 1892 Cwt. Cwt- Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. per per per per per per ■acre. acre, aci-e. acre. acre. acre. Rye ... 23.4 22.9 25.9 29.0 20.0 32.0 Barley 27.5 29.0 30.0 33.0 ■ 35.0 29.5 Oats... 28.0 28.25 34.9 34.0 35.0 29.5 Third Period. 1895 1895 1897 1893 1889 1900 Cwt- Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. per per per per per per * ' acre, acre acre, acre acre. acre. Rye".... 26.5 32.0 23.5- 31.5 31.0 20.0 Barley 28.5 29.5 26.0 30.0 31.0 31.5 Oats'... 26.0 27.0 24.5 30.0 30.5 32.0 The results with mangolds and potatoes were also satisfactory. Whereas in 1834 the yield of mangolds was almost nothing, in the second period it amounted to sOocwt per acre. Potatoes yielded at least 200 cwt per acre, hut the land here is by nature not suitable for potatoes, nor is the climate good for clover. Lucerne, which was at first absolutely impossible to grow, now juelds 85cwt per acre. The total amount of manure in the first period cost 27s per acre, divided thus: Superphosphate, ss; kainit, 12s j nitre, 10s. In the second period the basic slag cost 275, per acre; kali, 255; and nitre, 17s. Total, 69s per acre. The present outlay for basic slag b 8s; kainit, 3s 6d; and nitre, 3s 6d per acre, a total expense of 15s. The summer farmyard manure is used on the land; and a large portion of the winter lot —about 1500 cwt—-is sold at 6d per cwt. The profits—comparing the yield of 1884 with the average for 1895-1900 —can he estimated for rye at £5 16s per acre; barley. £3; oats, £5; mangolds, £l2 10s; potatoes, £6 ss; lucerne, £8 10s. The income derived from the farm during the first three years was nil—'the tenant lost all his original capital; the net income now derived therefrom is from £6OO-£7OO per annum. INCREASED VALUE ALL ROUND.

The farm has now considerably increased in value; and the neighbouring owners, who at first ridiculed Herr Schickert, ended by following his example, with the result that land in the immediate vicinity, which formerly cost about £ls per acre,; can only be obtained now for from £3O-£7O per acre. In 1884 Herr Schickert had twenty head of cattle ‘ in his stalls, and was obliged

to purchase food for them, as the clover he grew sufficed only for five head for eleven days! Now he keeps fifty-five head, and feeds them almost entirely from the produce of his own farm. The quality of the milk given by his cows has greatly improved under his management, and the quantity has more than doubled. The price of his butter has accordingly risen from 9d to Is 3d per lb, and is sent as far as Wiesbaden. Formerly lib of butter was obtained from 14 litres of milk (24.64,yunt5) • same quantity is now derived from 11 litres (19.36 pints.) Six horses are kept on the farm, and six male labourers, besides some four women, obtain almost regular occupation during the whole year. During harvest-time about fifteen extra'women are employed. The wages of the men are:—in summer, Is 8d per day—the day’s work lasting in general from six o’clock in the morning till seven in the evening. In harvest-time the men’s wages amount to from 3s to 3s 6d per day. the hours of work being from about 4 a.m. till dark. In winter the men earn Is 6d per day. The women’s wages are, in summer, Is 6d to 2s; in spring Is 2}d; iD winter, Is per day. Machinery is used as much as is practicable ; but, as the land is for the most part very steep, this is accomplished under considerable difficulties. The artificial manure, as well as the seed, is distributed over tlie ground by means of machines.

’ Herr Sciiickert diminishes I 13 7 about 25 per cent, tlie amount of seed sown, preferring, if necessary, rather to' manure with large quantities of nitre ; his drills of oats, barley and rye are up to 13 centimetres apart. Tlie development of individual grains was interesting; and, in view of the nature of the soil, remarkable. Selecting at hazard individual plants standing apart, one often came in August upon some with twentyfive stalks whose ears contained some four hundred grains!

BASIC SLAG,

A gentleman from the North of England expressed doubts as to the practical value of basic slag. He said that the average English farmer in his part of the country did not know what land to use it for. He had no notion as to wliat land or as to what crops—except grass—it was well to use it. He submitted that basic slag was not suitable for every land or for every crop, because it was not quick-acting; but he admitted that it was good for grass. To these objections the experience of the practical farmer over here was laid before him, just as the dicta of the scientist had been communicated to him by Professor Wagner at his station at Darmstadt. It was affirmed—Basic slag can be used with considerable advantage for all lands and for all plants; the assumption that there are some lands and crops for which it is not suitable is wholly erroneous. Further, it is quickacting; and if it has anywhere appeared to be not so, the explanation is, that an insufficient quantity of basic slag had been used, or the other elements necessary to a fertile soil were not in the soil in question in sufficient quantities.

It was addend, by the same gentleman that superphosphate was more used in England than basic slag, because it acted at once upon the crop put in, whilst basic slag did not act under six months; that after tlie application of superphosphate one would get a good crop of mangolds or potatoes, whilst with basic slag no effect at all would be perceptible in the crop. The German farmer’s opinion, like that of the scientist, was that it was wholly unimportant when the basic slag was put into the land> presided the quantity used J were sufficient; and the time of putting it into the land was equally unimportant, for the notion that basic slag did not act under six months was erroneous. It was affirmed positively that basic slag is a manure that, is good not for one year only, but if property used is one whose effects last for ever. WHY NOT IN ENGLAND!

The results of high farming in Germany are encouraging to husbandry, even if not attainable everywhere, under present conditions, by every farmer. They show what is possible' to he arrived at ; and I have purposely selected, as a test of the methods above described, a farm which was notably fruitless and unprofitable, and was converted precisely by these methods into one capable of bearing good crops and of yielding a failincome.

I sent the manuscript of this article to a well-known authority on agriculture in England. He wrote in reply:— “I have read what you say with pleasure. It is very much to the point, and I hope that it will do a lot. of good. I wish our county councils would wake up and show what can be done, not on their own farms, but on poor farms round each county. But what can we do for our farmers? They are i. v ot a rich lot; and, if they make their find good, up goes the rent!” It may he urged that f he conditions of soil and life in Germany arc different from the conditions of both in Groat Britain. That does not touch my argument. The above lines give a picture of what has been realised in •Germany, which, according to the fort cast of a certain school of British economists, was predestined alwavs to remain a poor

agricultural country. Our meteorological conditions are considerably, more favourable than those of Germany! Is it reasonable, therefore, to pretend that British soil cannot, under any conditions, contribute more for the support of the cultivators and the general population f*