320 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



nection with the work of other investigators and that considerable space 

 would be required to treat the subject satisfactorily it was considered in- 

 expedient and unadvisable to give a complete review of the subject literature 

 here. The work of Prescott (6) gives in a concise form the salient points 

 of the research in this field and the reader is referred to this work as being 

 representative of the general situation. A list of cited references to litera- 

 ture on the subject under discussion is given at the end of this publication. 



The whole field of experimentation along this line appears to be perme- 

 ated by three schools of though. Some investigators favor the claim that 

 the reaction between chemical compounds and soils and other substances 

 is in general a chemical process, while others are inclined to the opinion that 

 the phenomena involved can be explained by the action of physical forces, 

 and still others combine physical and chemical laws in explanation of their 

 results. 



EXPBTIIMENTAL 

 METHOD OF PKOCEDUiRE 



The research reported in this publication was designed primarily to study 

 reactions between neutral salts, bases and hydrolyzing salts and alkaline 

 and acid soils of various classes. In order to eliminate, as much as possible 

 the possibility of secondary and continuous reactions as undoubtedly occur 

 in percolation methods, the decantation method was used. The experi- 

 mental procedure, except where otherwise noted, consisted in bringing to- 

 gether 100 gm. of air dried soil and 500 c.c. of solution into intimate contact 

 at laboratory temperature in glass containers for a period of time of one 

 hour, and the soil solution separated by decanting and filtering through 

 paper. The soil extracts were analyzed by standard methods for the sub- 

 stance under consideration. Results are reported in grams except where 

 otherwise noted. Computations were based on 500 c.c. of extract. 



EFFECTS OF NEUTRAL SALTS 



Fixation of Potassium from KCl and Liberation of Calcium from a Series 



of Miscellaneous Soils 



The effects of a KCl solution on a series of miscellaneous soils were first 

 studied in an attempt to correlate the degree of fixation of potassium with 

 some soil characteristic. Table 1 contains the results of this investigation 

 obtained from 24 soils collected from the glacial formations common to 

 central Michigan. The table is divided into two sections based on the pre- 

 sence or absence of carbonates in the soils as determined by the HCl test, 

 and the results are presented in order of increasing quantities of potassium 

 fixed by the soils. These soils were dried in the air and passed through a 

 2 m.m mesh sieve. 



