258 SOIL SCIENCE [Bot. Absts. 



Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. The work reported is preliminary to the 

 establishment of standards adapted to Canadian conditions, as regards safe limits of alka- 

 linity in the growing of various crops. — 0. W. Dynes. 



1776. Williams, C. B. Report of the division of agronomy. North Carolina Agric. Exp. 

 Sta. Ann. Rept. 41 : 22-35. [1919.]— See Bot. Absts. 3, Entry 1415. 



1777. Richter. [Rev. of: Seissl, Josef. Die Phosphorsaure im gegliihten Boden. 

 (Phosphoric acid in ignited soils.) Zeitschr. Landw. Versuchsw. in Osterreich 20: 212. 1917.] 

 Biedermann's Zentralbl. Agrikulturchem. 47: 241-243. 1918. — The phosphoric acid content 

 of the soils was determined both before and after ignition, to determine the relation of organic 

 to inorganic phosphate. In 24 samples analyzed the ignited soils showed from 20 to 40 per 

 cent more phosphoric acid than the unignited ones. The organic phosphoric acid was due to 

 decomposing vegetation. Aso and Yoshida found that, for barley, peas and rape, the nutri- 

 tive values of lecithin, phytin and nuclein were in this order, that of lecithin being greatest. 

 Lecithin was not inferior to sodium phosphate, phytin was similar to iron or aluminium 

 phosphate, while nuclein had the weakest action. The author favors the view that a certain 

 amount of organic phosphorus compounds is taken up by the plant from the soil. — F. M. 

 Schertz. 



1778. Volhard, J. [Rev. of: Strell, M. Neue Wege fur die Verwendbarkeit von Ab- 

 wasserklarschlamm als Dungemittel. (New ways for the application of waste-water clarifi- 

 cation sediment as fertilizers.) Landw. Versuchsst. 90: 257. 1917.] Biedermann's Zentralbl. 

 Agrikulturchem. 47: 311-313. 1918. — The author gives a historic review of the waste water 

 question. Nitrogen and phosphoric acid in waste-water sediment are in a much less assimil- 

 able form than they are in ammonium sulphate, superphosphate and in fish meal. The above 

 sediment is not suitable for plants which have a short growing period as potatoes, beets, 

 and rutabagas. A much greater quantity of sediment must be used than commercial fertili- 

 zers. Moisture and additions of lime apparently increase the efficiency of the sediment. 

 Natural sediment contains more moisture, more total nitrogen and more soluble nitrogen 

 than the decreased sediment. The author presents a method for making more quickly avail- 

 able to the plant, the nitrogenous substances in the sediment. He studied the influence of 

 humus substances upon the nitrification of the organic nitrogen compounds. In this con- 

 nection "hawin," a black brown pasty mass obtained by treating brown coal with NaOH 

 solution, was studied. It dissolves in water to form a deep brown colloidal solution, when 

 2 to 3 cc. of a 10 per cent solution of "hawin" and 1.5 cc. of a 10 per cent aluminum sulfate 

 solution are added to a liter of water, coarse flocculent particles form at once and envelop 

 the finest and apparently dissolved organic matter of the water and carry it to the bottom. 

 "Hawin" solution was shown to have a favorable action upon the nitrifiability of organic 

 nitrogen compounds and was especially favorable to the activity of the nitrite forming bac- 

 teria. Nitrates were demonstrated to be present in the filtrates of the "hawin" sediment 

 but not in such constant quantities as the nitrites. The nitrification of organic nitrogen 

 compounds such as are present in large amounts in waste-waters and in stable manures is 

 decidedly accelerated by the admixture of humus-like substances. With additions of peat 

 nitrification was slight. — F. M. Schertz. 



FERTILIZATION 



1779. Anonymous. Las cenizas en el cultivo pratense. [Ashes for clover growing.] La 

 Informacion Agric. [Madrid] 9: 204. 1919— See Bot. Absts. 3, Entry 1331. 



1780. Anonymous. Molasses as a fertilizer for cane land. Australian Sugar Jour. 11: 

 200. 1919. — Results appear to indicate that the application of molasses has given an increased 

 yield of 3.7 tons of cane per acre. — E. Koch. 



