Lysimeter Experiments 



65 



of bases are doubtless a factor in the effects produced on the soil by 

 fertihzers and other inorganic salts. 



One marked difference between the effect of hme and that of potassium 

 sulfate applied to this soil, is that an application of the former resulted 

 in a decrease in the total quantity of the bases calcium, magnesium, 

 potassium, and sodium in the drainage water, while the appUcations of 

 potassium sulfate increased the total quantity of these bases. The fact 

 that the appUcation of potassium was combined with a strong acid 

 (sulfuric), whereas the hme was in the form of an oxide, would probably 

 account at least in part for this, as the quantity of sulfate was larger 

 in the drainage water from the soil that received potassium sulfate. 



OTHER EXPERIMENTS ON LOSS OF BASES 



Experiments were conducted at the Jonkoping Experiment Station in 

 Sweden by Von Feihtzen, Lugner, and Hjerstedt (1912), with lysimeters 

 having an area of 80 by 80 centimeters and a depth of 50 centimeters. 

 All the lysimeters were filled with muck soil containing about 60 per cent 

 of organic matter. The crops raised were oats, potatoes, and rutabagas. 

 The average loss per year of calcium and potassium in the drainage watea* 

 for four years, calculated to pounds per acre, was as follows: 



65 



