DOI: 10.23637/rcs10-rltlgrain-01
title: Dataset: Rothamsted long-term liming experiment grain mineral composition

description: The experiment tests the effects of four different amounts of lime (creating a soil pH range for approximately 4.5 to 7.5) with and without fertilizer P, on the grain mineral composition of three arable crops. The site is a silty clay loam soil at Rothamsted Experimental Farm, from 1962-1996. The dataset contains grain mineral composition for 20 different minerals (mg/kg dry soil), for individual plots, measured in 1978, 1981 and 1995. It includes details of the lime and fertilizer treatments, and crop yield. 


There was a parallel experiment on a sandy loam soil at Woburn Experimental Farm. This experiment was under grass from 1997-2019 and no treatments were applied. In April 2019 the experiment was revived, and is currently being used to investigate the effect of different lime, P and Zn treatments on macro and micro nutrient uptake of wheat varieties. For more details contact Dr SM Haefele. 

This dataset was partially funded by the BBSRC Institute Strategic Programme Soil to Nutrition (BBS/E/C/000I0310).
description: Grain mineral composition was determined, in 2019 and 2020, on archived ground samples grown in 1978 (barley), 1981 (oats) and 1995 (wheat). Macro-nutrients (Ca, K, Mg, Na, P, S) and Al, Fe and Ti were determined by open tube digestion with HNO<sub>3</sub>/HClO<sub>4</sub> and measured with ICP-OES. Micro-nutrients and trace elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn) were determined with microwave digestion with HNO<sub>3</sub>/H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>, then measured with ICP-MS.
description: ## Description

*Note* the included Excel file: _*01-RothLTliming-grain.xlsx*_ contains the same data as the below CSV files. The Excel file contains each of the below CSV files as an Excel worksheet and is provided for users who prefer Excel over CSV.
### Contents

|File|Dataset Name|Description|
|----|------------|-----------|
|README.html|Readme|File describing and explaining all details of the dataset (html)
|README.txt|Readme|File describing and explaining all details of the dataset (txt)
|grain_data.csv|Grain mineral data|The main data table containing grain mineral concentrations in barley, oats and wheat, 1978, 1981 and 1995. Includes treatments and crop yields. |
|crop_types_data.csv|Crop types|List of crops grown with Latin names and AGROVOC concepts.|
|liming_factor_data.csv|Liming treatment factor level descriptions|Describes the different liming treatment factor levels used, showing the total amounts applied over the experiment. |
|p_factor_data.csv|P treatment factor level descriptions|Describes the different P treatment factor levels used: Period 1 (1962-1980) when two P rates (0 and P) were applied annually; Period 2 (1981-1996) when four P treatments (P0, P1, P2 and P3) were applied three or four times only. |
|k_factor_data.csv|K treatment factor level descriptions|Describes the different K treatment factor levels used, 1962-1978|
|mn_factor_data.csv|Mn treatment factor level descriptions|Describes the different Mn treatment factor levels used, 1987-1990|
|notes_data.csv|Notes|Additional explanatory notes for records in the crop_data table|
description: The original archived grain samples were stored in the Rothamsted Sample Archive. The chemical analysis was carried out in the Analytical Unit of Rothamsted Research in 2019 and 2020.