SOILS — FERTILIZERS. 21 



Lysimeter investigations, 1910, E. Kkuger (Mitt. Kaiser Wilhelms Inst. 

 Landw. Bromhcrg, 3 {1911), No. 3, pp. J63-n/f). — From results of investiga- 

 tions in which the relations between precipitation, leaching, and evaporation 

 were studied with soils receiving normal amounts of potash, phosphoric acid, 

 and nitrogen fertilizei'S, and using rye as a crop, the author concludes that the 

 amount of water leached out of a fallow soil for the year was 55 per cent of 

 the rainfall, as compared with 20 to 25 per cent for a cropped soil. 



During the months of greatest crop growth the amount of water leached out 

 was from 1 to 3 per cent of the rainfall for the cropped soil as compared with 

 CO per cent for the fallow soil. During the time of heaviest application of 

 water (in May) only 0.02 mm. was leached out. which indicates that during 

 the period of plant growth large quantities of water may be applied to the soil 

 without danger of leaching. The amount of water evaporated was much 

 greater in the cropped than in the fallow soil, being 3.7 mm. and 0.9 mm. per 

 day respectively. The amount of water evaporated for the year was 70 per 

 cent of the precipitation. 



The amount of water transiiired by the plants was small during winter but 

 considerable during the growing period. From October to June an average of 

 4S8 lbs. of water was required for the production of 1 lb. dry matter, as com- 

 pared with 348 lbs. of water from April to June. The amount of water trans- 

 pired by the plant from October to June per pound of plant substance produced 

 was 234 lbs. as compared with 219 lbs. from April to June. 



The water requirements of the plants increased rapidly with their gx-owth. 

 'i'he amount of water evaporated from the soil after harvesting was greatly 

 reduced by cultivation, and such reduction of evaporation from the soil in- 

 creased leaching. 



Investig'ation on tlie adequacy of nutrients in forest soil, H. Vater [Tha- 

 rand. Forstl. Jaltrb., 59 {1909), .AY>. 2, pp. 2l3~2(jO; Xafurw. Ztchr. Forst u. 

 Landw., 8 {1910), A'o. 12, pp. 570-577). — The law of minimum, especially as 

 applied to plant food in forest soils, is discussed, and experiments during 2 

 years with fertilizers on a forest soil on which spruce and pine seedlings were 

 grown are reported. 



As a rule nitrogen was the element present in minimum amount in the soils 

 experimented with, and next to nitrogen phosphoric acid was the most deficient 

 constituent. The growth of spruce and pine seedlings on unfertilized soil 

 varied between 7 and 48 per cent of that on fully fertilized soil. The results 

 from liming were irregular and inconclusive. The aijplication of fertilizers 

 reduced the amount of water required to produce a unit weight of growth. 



The absorptive capacity of soils from, the physico-chemical standpoint, 

 U. Pkatolongo {R. 1st. Lombardo Soi. e Let. Rend., 2. ser., 1,3 {1910), No. 16, 

 pp. 542-555; at)s. in Chem. Zentbl, 1910, II, No. 2k, p. 1773).— The author con- 

 cludes from his investigations that the compounds which determine the ab- 

 sorptive capacity of soils may be divided according to the phase rule only into 

 solid solutions and absorptive compounds. A study of their behavior toward 

 solvents indicates that they are entirely or almost exclusively absorptive com- 

 pounds. 



Tests of an osmotic theory of plant distribution, G. Gola {Ann. Bot. 

 [Rome], 8 {1910), No. 3, pp. 275-5^8, pis. 2).— This article sets forth at length 

 the author's investigaticms on the relation between the natural distribution 

 of plants and the composition and concentration of soil solutions in its bearing 

 upon osmotic pressure. He proposes an elaborate classification of soils and 

 plants on this basis. 



