320 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



had been added somewhat less nitrate was formed in the subsoils than in the 

 surface soils during the first 3 months but later there was less difference 

 in this respect. 



There was a decided loss of nitrogen due to escape of ammonia when caustic 

 lime was added to soil containing ammonium sulphate. A smaller loss resulted 

 when calcium carbonate was added. The addition of caustic lime checked nitri- 

 fication of ammonium sulphate to a marked extent, but in unfertilized soil 

 increased the formation of nitrate from the soil nitrogen as long as it remained 

 in caustic form. 



Investigations on the behavior of ammoniacal nitrogen in limed and 

 unlimed soil, O. Lemmermann et al. {Landw. Jalirh., 4I {1911), A^o. 2, pp. 

 163-216; ahs. in Chem. Zcntbh, 1911, II, No. 2o, pp. 1879, ISSO).— The investi- 

 gations here reported consisted of a series of pot experiments with different 

 kinds of soil and varying amounts of lime (calcium carbonate), ammonium 

 sulphate, and a mixture of ammonium sulphate and superphosphate, to deter- 

 mine the transformations and loss of the ammoniacal nitrogen under the vary- 

 ing conditions. 



With the additon of 1 per cent of calcium carbonate to a sandy soil there was 

 a loss of soil nitrogen, due perhaps to the fact that the ammonium sulphate 

 was applied very soon after liming. When 0.6 per cent of calcium carbonate 

 and 10 mg. of ammoniacal nitrogen per 100 gm. of soil were applied the loss 

 was slight. On the limed soil, the ammoniacal nitrogen applied was trans- 

 formed to large extent to nitrate and albuminoid nitrogen in the course of 42 

 days, although there was still some ammoniacal nitrogen in the soil at the end 

 of that time. The loss of nitrogen with heavy applications of calcium car- 

 bonate (1 per cent) and ammoniacal nitrogen (39.6 mg. per 100 gm. of soil) 

 decreased with the clay and claylike constituents and with the water capacity 

 of the soil. There was no loss of nitrogen when 10 mg. of ammoniacal nitrogen 

 per hundred grams of soil was applied to soils containing respectively 5 and 

 15.5 per cent of silt and clay and 95 and 84.5 per cent of sand 5 weeks after 

 liming with 0.6 per cent of calcium carbonate, but when these applications were 

 doubled, there was a loss of nitrogen. When superphosphate was used in con- 

 nection with ammonium sulphate, there was very little loss of nitrogen even 

 with the heaviest applications. Deep mixing of the ammonium sulphate with 

 the soil reduced the loss of nitrogen. 



In light soils containing 0.6 per cent of calcium carbonate, the ammonium 

 sulphate was largely nitrified. In heavy soils it was more largely converted 

 into organic nitrogenous compounds. In an unfertilized sandy loam soil there 

 was little change in total, ammoniacal, nitrate, and organic nitrogen during 

 77 days. There was no loss of nitrogen when heavy applications of ammonium 

 sulphate were made to an unlimed soil having a natural lime content of 0.14 

 per cent. An increased lime content was not always accompanied by an in- 

 creased loss of nitrogen, provided the absorptive power and conditions for 

 formation of organic nitrogenous compounds and nitrification were sufficiently 

 favorable. 



The general conclusion from these investigations is that there is little danger 

 of loss of nitrogen under the ordinary methods of liming and applying am- 

 monium sulphate, provided the ammonium sulphate is thoroughly incorporated 

 with the soil and does not follow liming too closely. 



The chemical nature of the organic nitrogen in the soil, S. L. Jodidi {Jowr. 

 Amer. Chem. Soc, 34 (1912), No. 1, pp. 91,-99). — In continuation of earlier work 

 (E. S. R., 25, p. 622), the author investigated additional plats of Wisconsin 

 drift soil with reference to the nature of the organic nitrogen contained in 

 them. The results agree with his earlier conclusion that the principal portion 



