Effect of Lime on the Production of a Toadstool (Omphalia maura (Fr.) Gill.)

Abstract

IN January 1956, as part of a wider series of experiments, a rectangular plot 10 yards × 20 yards was pegged out in each of three plantations of Scots fir (Pinus sylvestris L.), and dressed with lime at the rate of 0.81 ton per acre (2.03 metric tons per hectare). The firs are now about 25, 30 and 80 years old, are at the same altitude above sea-level (320 ft.) and are situated about 10 miles south-west of Reading. The soil, derived from Plateau Gravels which overlie Bagshot Sands, has a poor mineral status and is podsolized. The acidity is mostly in the range pH 3.5–4.5. Adjacent to each experimental plot, an exactly similar one was pegged out to act as a control, no treatment being given to it at all.