SOILS FERTILIZERS. 23 



The physiological action of soil extracts, H. Fischer (Ccntbl. Bakt. [etc.], 

 2. Abt., 24 (1909), No. l--'i, pp. 62-7'/ ) .—Studies of the Lohnis-Remy method of 

 bacteriological examination which gave results unfavorable to the method are 

 reported. 



Soil culture in dry regions where irrigation is impossible, jNI. Kostritsine 

 {Ann. Gcmhloux, 19 (1909), No. 11, pp. 593-617, fig. i).— The experience of dry 

 regions of the United States and other countries is reviewed and discussed with 

 reference to application to Russian conditions. A short bibliography is given. 



Observations on the value of stall manure, T. Pfeiffer (FuhUng's Landiv. 

 Ztg., 5S (1909), No. 5, pp. 161-176). — Valuation based on the content of phos- 

 phoric acid, potash, and nitrogen is discussed. 



The influence of fertilizers on the composition of plants (Engrais, 24 

 (1909), No. JfO, p. 1108). — This is a note based upon investigations at the experi- 

 ment station of Pas-de-Calais on the effect of superphosphate and a mixture of 

 superphosphate and potash on three varieties of wheat, and at the Agronomic 

 Institute of Paris on the effect of sulphate of ammonia and nitrate of soda on 

 the gluten content of grain. 



In the first experiments it was found that both the phosi)hatic and potash 

 fertilizers increased the yield but not the gluten content of the grain. The 

 results of the second experiments were not conclusive as to the effect of nitrog- 

 enous fertilizers in increasing the gluten content. 



Experiments with fertilizers and manure on tobacco, corn, wheat, and 

 clover in the Miami Valley (Ohio 8ta. Bui. 206, pp. 21, dgniti. 3). — "These 

 experiments were begun in 1903 on tobacco, grown both continuously and in 

 rotation with wheat and clover, and in 1904 and 1905 on corn and wheat, 

 grown in a rotation of corn, wheat, and clover. A description of the soil and 

 the plan of the experiments with tobacco are given in Bulletin 161 of this sta- 

 tion [E. S. R., 17, p. 245], and a continuation of the work with tobacco up to 

 1905 is reported in Bulletin 172 [E. S. R., IS, p. 138]. The rotation of corn, 

 wheat, and clover is in part reported in Bulletin 182 [E. S. R., 19, p. 315], and 

 the statistics of all the crops up to 1906 are given in Bulletin 184 [E. S. R., 20, 

 p. 428]." 



This bulletin contains data for 1907 and 1908. The results for the whole 

 period l)ring out the general fact that the judicious use of manures and fer- 

 tilizers will greatly and profitably increase the yield of crops on the upland soils 

 of the Miami A'alley. These soils were originally very fertile but have been sub- 

 jected for many years to a course of agriculture which involves systematic soil 

 exhaustion. " They show that the most effective manure is that which has not 

 been subjected to the losses which occur in the open barnyard, and they indi- 

 cate that the most effective fertilizer is one containing nitrogen, phosphorus, 

 and potassium — all three. 



" No urgent need of lime has as yet been developed in the soil under these 

 experiments, and this was to be expected from its geological history. It has not 

 yet been demonstrated, however, that moderate applications of lime may not be 

 useful, especially upon those fields in this region which have been longest under 

 cultivation." 



Fertilizers for cotton soils, M. Whitney (U. S. Dcpt. Agr., Bur. Soils Bui. 62, 

 pp. 24, fig. 1). — This bulletin gives a compilation of yields of cotton on ferti- 

 lized and unfertilized soils of various kinds obtained in 2,802 tests reported by 

 the state agricultural experiment stations during the period from 1887 to 1907. 



Comparing the yield with various fertilizing materials singly and combined 

 in various ways with the yields obtained on unfertilized plats of the same soil,, 

 deductions are drawn as to the effectiveness of single substances and mixtures, 

 the effect of various amounts of fertilizers, and relation at fertHtzei: effect to 



