Experiment station bulletins. 865 



For full description of the growth of plants in the field on this soil, see 

 Rhode Island Bulletin No. 160. Before growing barley in this soil the 

 past winter, a liberal amount of K N and P was added to the soil. Ko. 

 2 received in addition C. P. CaCOg at the rate of 3 tons per acre, area 

 basis. No. 3 received in addition a solution of H3PO4. 



Soils No. 4 to 6 came from the benches in the greenhouse where the 

 carnations are growing at the present time. All had received stable 

 manure for the last three years and Nos. 4 and 5 have had tie stable 

 manure supplemented with large amounts of chemical manure. Nos. 

 7 and 8 are sand in which carnations are growing for the third season 

 and the chemical manures added during the three years have exceeded 

 the amount added to Nos. 4 or 5. 



Soils No. 200 and 201 came from the vetch-clover area of the corn acre 

 this spring but the samples were taken about four weeks apart. Nos. 

 202 and 203 came from the fallow area of this same field at the same 

 time as No. 200 and 201. We speak of the ''corn acre" because this field 

 has been planted to com each year for about twenty years. One section of 

 the field has crimson clover and winter vetch sown at the last cultivation 

 of the corn, while on what we term the fallow section, the corn receives 

 clean cultivation throughout the season, and the section remains fallow 

 the rest of the year. 



Carnation plants put into Nos. 4 and 5 last fall failed to make much 

 growth, and have done very poorly since early winter in. sand No. 8. In 

 No. 2 the growth of the barley was much improved by the addition of 

 CaCOg while the addition of H3PO4 depressed the growth only 19%" 



The values of the lime requirement of the different soils as shown in 

 table 14 are of very great significance in the light of the facts contained 

 in the above communication. According to Mr. Pember's letter, for 

 instance, soils No. 1, 2 and 3 came from the same plot and consequent- 

 ly they should be quite unifonn texturely. They all received liberal 

 applications of K P and N. Soil No. 2, however, received in addition, 3 

 tons of CaCOj. This soil, therefore, shows much less lime requirement 

 than soil No. 1 which may be taken as a check. Soil No. 3, received, in 

 addition to K P and N, also a solution of H3PO4. This soil shows a far 

 greater lime requirement than the other two soils. 



Soils No. 4, 5 and 6 received stable manure, and soils No. 4 and 5 

 received in addition large amounts of chemical fertilizers. The lime re 

 quirement of soils No. 4 and 5 which received the chemical fertilizers 

 is much greater than that of soil No. 6. 



Soils No. 7 and 8 are almost quartz sand and although they were 

 treated with large applications of fertilizers, their lime requirement is 

 very small, since quartz, sand usuallv takes up very little, if any, lime. 



Soils No. 200 and 203 came from the same field but soils"^ No. 200 

 and 201 came from the "corn acre" and Nos. 202 and 203 from the fallow 

 area. The former two soils show a greater lime requirement than the 

 two latter soils. 



The failure of the carnations to grow in soils No. 4, 5 and 8 is not 

 due entirely to the lack of lime, but to the tremendous concentration 

 of the solution of these soils. These soils have received, evidently, such 

 large applications of chemical manures that the concentration of their 

 solution is really tremendous. Thus, at a very high moisture content, 

 almost at the point of saturation, these soils gave a depression of over 

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