Twelve-quart flower-pots, new from the warehouse, were filled as described below; the trials being made in duplicate:—
Pots 1 and 2 contained each 270 grammes of peat.
Pots 3 and 4 contained each 270 grammes of peat, mixed-with 10 grammes of ashes of young grass.
Pots 5 and 6 contained each 270 grammes of peat, 10 grammes of ashes, and 10 grammes of carbonate of lime.
Pots 7 and 8 contained each 270 grammes of peat, 10 grammes of ashes, and 10 grammes of slaked (hydrate of) lime.
Pots 9 and 10 contained each 270 grammes of peat, 10 grammes of ashes, and 5 grammes of lime, slaked with strong solution of common salt.
Pots 11 and 12 contained each 270 grammes of peat, 10 grammes of ashes, and 3 grammes of Peruvian guano.
In each case the materials were thoroughly mixed together, and so much water was cautiously added as served to wet them thoroughly. Five kernels of dwarf (pop) corn were planted in each pot, the weight of each planting being carefully ascertained.
The pots were disposed in a glazed case within a cold grapery,[7] and were watered when needful with pure water. The seeds sprouted duly, and developed into healthy plants. The plants served thus as tests of the chemical effect of carbonate of lime, of slaked lime, and of salt and lime mixture, on the peat. The guano pots enabled making a comparison with a well-known fertilizer. The plants were allowed to grow until those best developed, enlarged above, not at the expense of the peat, etc., but of their own lower leaves, as shown by the withering of the latter. They were then cut, and, after drying in the air, were weighed with the subjoined results.
VEGETATION EXPERIMENTS IN PEAT COMPOSTS.