764 



Loss of organic matter. 



DRY LAND SOIL, 



Original mixture 



After two weeks 



After four weeks 



After six weeks 



PADDY SOIL. 



Original mixture 



After two weeks 



After four weeks 



After six weeks 



Organic matter per 100 

 parts of mineral matter. 



Without 

 lime. 



36.00 

 36.28 

 3.^j. 95 

 35.71 



44.30 

 43.97 

 43.74 

 43.32 



With lime. 



34.64 

 32.02 

 30.96 

 29.94 



41.45 

 40.25 

 39.53 

 39.03 



Percentage of original dry matter 

 destroyed. 



Without 

 lime. 



1.69 

 2.57 

 3.24 



0.74 

 1.27 

 2.21 



With lime. Difference. 



7.55 

 10.61 

 13.58 



2 91 

 4.64 

 5.85 



5.86 



8.04 



10.34 



2.17 

 3.37 

 3.64 



The author concludes that "(1) lime accelerates the decom position 

 of organic matters in both dry land and irrigated paddy soils. (2) This 

 action is accomplished in dry land to a far larger extent and more rap- 

 idly than in irrigated soils." 



The formation of nitric acid and ammonia from nitrogenous manures in 

 dry land and paddy soils. — In a series of experiments made to study this 

 subject and the action of lime in the process, nine glass jars 8 inches high 

 by 6 inches in diameter were filled with sifted "dry-land soil," aud nine 

 with paddy soil. In the case of each kind of soil ammonium sulphate 

 and ground fish manure were each added to three jars, a mixture of 

 ground fish manure and lime to one jar, and two jars received no fertil- 

 izers. After filling the jars were sunk into the respective fields from 

 which the soil had been taken and large glass plates were suspended 

 over them to keep out dust and raiu. The paddy soil was kept sub- 

 merged about an inch in distilled water, and the dry-land soil was kept 

 at the same degree of moisture as the surrounding field. Tiie nitric 

 acid was determined in jars receiving the same fertilizers after 30, 84, 

 and 122 days. " The results plainly show (1) that in our dry-land soil 

 the nitrogenous manures were speedily converted into nitric acid, while 

 no such process took place in the irrigated paddy soil ; in the latter, 

 ammonia seems to be among the principal products of the decomposition 

 of nitrogenous organic fertilizers ; and (2) that the application of lime 

 distinctly favors on the one hand the nitrification in the dry land, and on 

 the other the formation of ammonia in the paddy soil." 



Action of lime in preserving the assimilahility of phosphoric acid. — To 

 study the influence of lime on the action of soluble pliosphatic fertilizers 

 in the soil, bottles were filled with two kinds of soil, one from paddy 

 fields and the other from the deeper subsoil of the dry lands. Lime 

 was added to some of the bottles in amounts varying from 0.25 to 5 per 

 cent of the soil at the outset. Each bottle received 20 c. c. of distilled 

 water, and 2 weeks later 0.05 gram of phosphoric acid in the form 

 of monopotassic phosphate. All were then placed under a bell glass 



