728 EXPERIMENT STATION KECORD. 



the preparation of potash. It is shown that these residues sometimes contain 

 as high as 1 per cent of ])otash, 1* jier cent of phosphoric acid, and a relatively 

 large percentage (over 20 per cent) of lime. They are, therefore, of consid- 

 erable fertilizing value, particularly on soils benefited by lime. 



The best method of applying lime to arable land, R. P. Wright (West of 

 Scotland Agr. Col. Bui. 55, pp. 197-216; ahs. in Mark Lane Express, 105 (1911), 

 No. 4i'i6, p. 3^5). — In comparative tests of different rates and times of appli- 

 cation of burnt lime and of the use of gas lime on cereals, fruit crops, and 

 hay, it was found that in the case of medium and light soils large applications 

 of not less than 4 tons per acre at long intervals of time wei'e much less 

 effective than the same arpount of lime applied in divided applications at shorter 

 intervals. Gas lime applied at the rate of 4 tons per acre for turnips produced 

 a much smaller increase than an equal amount of burnt lime, but in the 7 

 succeeding years of rotation its action was much more beneficial to crops. 

 " In that period it gave a total increase of more than 3 times the value of that 

 produced by burnt lime, and on account of its low cost and its efficacy it gave 

 much more profitable returns than any other lime dressing used in the 

 experiment." 



Relative economy of ground and slaked limes, R. P. Wright ( West of Scot- 

 land Agr. Col. Bui. 55, pp. 219-221; ahs. in Mark Lane Express, 105 (1911), 

 No. Jfl^S, pp. 217-221). — The general conclusion from the experiments here 

 briefly reported is that properly slaked lime can be as uniformly and com- 

 pletely distributed as ground lime and is more effective. 



Lime for agricultural purposes, A. J. Patten and J. A. Jeffery (Mich. Sta. 

 Circ. 11, pp. 79-82).— T\iis is a brief popular compilation of information on 

 this subject. 



Experiments with sodium cblorid as a fertilizer for sugar beets, F. Stboh- 

 MER and O. Fallada (Osten: Vugar. Ztschr. Zuckerindus. n. Laiulw., .'/O (1911), 

 No. 3, pp. ■i25-'t-'il). — The experiments here reported dealt particularly with 

 the use of a mixture of ammonium sulphate and sodium chlorid as a substitute 

 for sodium nitrate, and showed that such a mixture is fully as effective as 

 regards yield and sugar content of beets as nitrate of soda, and that the sodium 

 base left in the soil by the sodium chlorid fertilizer does not behave differently 

 from that resulting from the assimilation of sodium nitrate. The results 

 therefore indicate that the sodium-chlorid-ammoninm-sulphate mixture maj^ 

 j)rofitab]y replace sodium nitrate under certain conditions. 



The article contains a short Inbliographyof the literatur(> bearing ujion the 

 subject. 



The influence of molasses on soil fertility (Agr. Neios [Barbados], 9 (1910), 

 No. 222, p. 339; 10 (1911), No. 238, p. 179; abs. in Internat. Inst. Agr. [Rom^], 

 Bui. Bur. Agr. Intel, and Plant Diseases, 1910, No. 2, pp. 230, 231).— This 

 article briefly summarizes the results of experiments in Mauritius (B. S. R., 21, 

 p. 724), Antigua, and Hawaii (E. S. R., 24, p. 224), with molasses as a fer- 

 tilizer for sugar cane, indicating " that the application of molasses to fallow 

 land, or to land in which sugar cane is to be planted after several weeks have 

 elapsed, may have a beneficial effect in stimulating the action of the nitrogen- 

 fixing organisms and thus adding to the store of nitrogen for the crop that will 

 be growing after such a time has elapsed as will have allowed this stimulus 

 to have had its proper effect." 



The beneficial effect observed may also be due in part to the relatively large 

 percentage of potash present in the molasses. 



It was shown in the Hawaiian experiments " that molasses applied at inter- 

 vals to growing canes which have received artificial manure is likely to do 

 harm, either by destroying nitrates that have been already applied or by 



