20 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



jibstraft of a paper prcscntcHl at the Sixth Iiitcniatioiial Coii.uress of Applied 

 Chemistry at Rome, lOOG. dealing espeeialiy with the water and air capacity of 

 cultivated soils in its relation to the bacteriological decomposition of calcium 

 cyanamid in the soil. It is noted especially that in humus soils, in which the 

 nitrification process goes on very slowly, calcium cyanamid shows very little 

 effectiveness as fertilizer. 



Vegetation experiments with " N " fertilizer in the year 1905, vox Lepei- 

 (-1////. JX'iit. Ldiitlir. GrsrlL, 21 (lUiiV)). Yo. .?, pp. l!)-2-U fi(jx. ')). — A series of 

 field and pot experiments with this material on various crops is I'eported. 



Previous exi)eriments ( E. S. R., 10. p. 8(;0) having shown no injurious effects 

 with the amounts of " N " fertilizer used, lield experiments with rye. oats, wheat, 

 potatoes, and beets, and pot experiments with barley, oats, maize, timothy, 

 buckwheat, mustard, and flax were undertaken in 1905 to further study the 

 limits of efficiency of this material as a fertilizer. 



The results confirmed those of previous years in showing a high fertilizing 

 efficiency for the " N " fertilizer on cereals and like crops ( at rates of 50 lbs. 

 per acre). Its value for hoed crops is, however, less certain. 



Green manuring experiments in 1905, Baessler {Mitt. Deut. Landtv. GeselL. 



21 (lUOn), No. 22. pp. 23.i-2S7). — I'lat experiments which have been carried on 

 in various localities for several years to determine (1) the l)est depth to which 

 to plow under green manures, (2) the relative merits of si)ring and fall green 

 loanuring, (3) the utilization of the nitrogen of green manures by the following 

 crop, are reported. Shallow plowing under (10 to 15 cm.) gave in general the 

 best results. Spring green manuring appeared to be as a rule more effective 

 than fall. The utilization of the nitrogen and the general effect of the green 

 manure was found to vary widely with conditions of soil, season, etc. 



Experiments with fertilizers, .7. II. Stewart and II. Atwood (Wcs!t Virf/itiia 

 f!ta. Bui. .'ID. pp. JS.j-2Jn. pis. 6'». — The results of ('> years' experiments with 

 various kinds and combinations of fertilizing materials on tcntli-acre i)lats on 

 the station farm are summarized. 



Mechanical and chemical analyses of the soil are reported. These show no 

 striking peculiarities as regards chemical composition, but that the soil is a 

 clay loam fairly well supplied with fertilizing constituents. The crops grown 

 during the different seasons included rye. clover, wheat, corn, and cowpeas 



The results show that the yields were uniforndy increased by applications of 

 phosphoric acid. The oidy case in which nitrogen was beneficial was in the 

 form of nitrate of soda ai)iili('(l as a spring top-dressing on rye. Potash in 

 form of sulphate was of little or no value, and a mixture of potash and nitrogen 

 gave like results. The indications are that the stock of available ])hosphorlc 

 acid in the soil is so low that this deficiency must lie supplied before either 

 nitrogen or potash can be of any particular value, and after the deficiency of 

 phosphoric acid is sui»plied the plants feel the lack of nitrogen more than that 

 of potash. Sta])le manure increased the yields materially and uniformly. The 

 re.sults of applications of liine were totally unsatisfactory, in many cases 

 reducing the yield. In general it was observed that the fertilizer combination 

 which gave good results with one cro]) in the series tested also gave good 

 results with the others. ■ That is, a fertilizer containing phosphoric acid gave 

 good results with all of the crojys tested. In a comparison of the effects of 

 commercial fertiiiz(>rs and barnyard manure it was found that corn responded 

 more favorably to a dressing of stable manure than it did to an application of 

 conniiercial fci'liiizcrs. wliile with cowpeas the opposite was true. It was 

 observed also lliat allliougli the roots of the cowi)eas were well .supidied with 

 nodules, the _vield was slightly increased by adding nitrate of soda to the 

 fertilizer mixture applied. 



