No. 2. September, 1920] SOIL SCIENCE 299 



eating a more active nitrification result in^ from the change of reaction. On adding the two 

 soils to nitrifying solutions, nit rifieat ion was found to be more acl ive in the limed I h:m in the 

 unlimed soil. The aerobic nitrogen-fixing organisms, Azotobacter, were found in the limed 

 soil, but not in the unlimed soil. The unlimed soil contains 0000 bacteria and 5000 molds 

 (spores and pieces of mycelium) per gram, while the limed soil contained 20,000 bacteria and 

 1500 molds per gram, showing the decrease in acidity resulted in an increase in the bacterial 

 and a decrease in the mold flora." [Author's abstract of paper read at scientific session, 

 Soc. Amer. Bact.] — D. Rcddick. 



2287. Whiting, Albert L., and Warren R. Schoonoyku. The comparative rate of de- 

 composition of green and cured clover tops in soil. Soil Sci. 9: 137-149. 1920. — Green clover 

 at the rate of 50 tons per acre or cured clover in equivalent amounts was mixed with a brown 

 silt and incubated in tumblers or 1 gallon pots. Under aerobic conditions the green and cured 

 clover underwent the same type of decomposition but the curing retarded the decomposition 

 as measured by ammonification, nitrification and loss of carbon. Under anaerobic condi- 

 tions, the types of decomposition of green and cured clover were very different. — W. J. Robbins. 



FERTILIZER RESOURCES 



2288. Anonymous. German potash production. Amer. Fertilizer 52 : 70. 1920. — During 

 January, 1920, the potash production in Germany was 550,000 tons. — J. J. Skinner. 



2289. Bancroft, Wilder D. [Rev. of: Lloyd, Strauss L. Mining and manufacture of 

 fertilizing materials and their relation to soils. 19 x 14 cm., vi+158 p. D. Van Nostrand Co. : 

 New York, 1918. $2.00.] Jour. Phys. Chem. 23: 442. 1919. 



2290. De Turk, Ernest. Potassium-bearing minerals as a source of potassium for plant 

 growth. Soil Sci. 8: 269-301. 1919. — Applications of 2 tons per acre of orthoclase, microline, 

 leucite and alunite to limed peat soil increased the yield of buckwheat from 20 to 35 per cent. 

 Lepidolide was detrimental probably due to an excess of soluble lithium. The potassium in 

 dune sand crushed to pass a 100 mesh sieve (100 meshes to an inch) will produce 0.114 pound 

 of soluble potassium. — W. J. Robbins. 



2291. Frost, A. C. The phosphate production in Algeria. Amer. Fertilizer 52 : 70. 1920. 

 — There were 201 ,013 tons of phosphate produced in Algeria for the first three quarters of 1919. 

 — /. J. Skinner. 



2292. Smith, T. A. J. The importance of lime in agriculture. Jour. Dept. Agric. 17: 

 682-683. 1919. — The forms of lime are described. Large deposits of limestone are found in 

 Northern, Northeastern, Western and Gippsland Districts of Victoria. — J. /. Skinner. 



SOIL ANALYSIS 



2293. Ames, J. W., and C. J. Schollenberger. Calcium and magnesium content of 

 virgin and cultivated soils. Soil Sci. 8: 323-335. 1919. — Determinations of the total calcium 

 and magnesium, the calcium and magnesium soluble in 0.2 normal nitric acid, the carbonates 

 and the reaction of virgin and cultivated soils from 23 locations in Ohio show that there is a 

 concentration of readily soluble calcium and magnesium at the surface in most virgin soils. 

 When the proportion of the total bases which is soluble is high the soil is likely to contain more 

 carbonate and to be more basic to tests. — W. J. Robbins. 



2294. [Tansley, A. G.] Investigations on soil. [Rev. of: Hibbard, P. L. Changes In 

 composition of the soil and of the water extract of the soil following the addition of manure. 

 Soil Sci. 7: 259-272. 1919.1 Jour. Ecol. 7: 214-215. 1919. 



