763 



districts of Japan larg'e qnantities of linio, up to 300 kiiwamine per tan 

 [over 10,000 pounds per acre], have been annually ai)plie(l to rice in tlie 

 paddy (ields, and continue to be resorted to, in spite of the conspicuous 

 injury which is caused by this habit, and aflt'ects both soils and crops." 

 With regard to the injury to the rice crop the author says, "the steins 

 become, in conse(iuence of too much lime, less flexible, and are thus 

 liable to be broken down by the wind; wherefore the straw is rendered 

 untit for various braiding: industries. The grain is even more aifected 

 than the straw. It acquires an inferior taste and luster and becomes 

 lighter, the hulls grow thicker, the white spots in the grain become 

 larger, and sensible losses are experienced during the hulling and 

 cleaning because the grains being brittle, break during these opera- 

 tions." 



Tlie results of a complete analysis of samples of several varieties of 

 brittle rice showed no difference between their composition and that of 

 rice grown on unlimed soil, except a somewhat lower (about 1.5 per cent) 

 content of protein. A comparison was then made in all samples of 

 the content of protein and the pressure required to break the grains. 

 The results of this comparison, although they show no exact proportion- 

 ality' between protein content and hardness, show that in these cases 

 brittleness and a decreased protein content went hand in hand. The 

 author concludes, therefore, that " the brittleness of the rice grown on 

 overlimed soil is due to an indirect action of the lime, which favors the 

 loss of nitrogenous nutrients from the soil, thus reducing the forma- 

 tion of albuminoids in the jdant and their accumulation in the grain." 

 But he adds that the brittleness of rice grains is not of necessity due 

 exclusively to the excessive application of lime, "but may be found 

 in all those cases in which the supply of nitrogen to the plant is insufl- 

 cient." 



To determine the action of lime on soils which are submerged by 

 water for several months in the year and retain mucli moisture the 

 remainder of the year, comparative trials were made as follows : Dry 

 sifted paddy soil and dry land soil, each mixed with finely ground 

 soja beans and water, with and without slacked lime, were placed in 

 glass bottles closed with a rubber stopper carrying two glass tubes, 

 through which air free from carbonic acid was conducted every two 

 days, but which were otherwise kept closed air tight. Samples of each 

 of these four mixtures were taken after two, four, and six weeks and 

 analyzed. The amount of organic matter and combined water per 

 100 parts of mineral matter free from carbonic acid and the percentage 

 of the original amount of organic matter destroyed were as follows: 



