SOILS FERTILIZERS. 827 



and iTup conditions in each casr. 'Plic .i;ro\\lli of Ix'cts on liuicd and ludinicd 

 plats is I'ecomniondod as a yood i)i-actical luoans of delerniininj; wiiL'thcr llio 

 soil is acid. The more j^cncrally useful results of IVrtilizci" cx[)eriiiiouts on 

 various croi)s at the Massachusetts Station are hrietly sunnnarized. 



Food for plants (\cir York: William S. Mijcrs, 1905, rev. ed., pp. 2-'il, fiffs. 

 .'/.i). — This is a new cdilion, with sniiplcnicntary notes, of this couipilatiou pre- 

 pared mainly from tlie \vritinj;s of Josepli Harris and from the work of the 

 various aj^ricultural experiment staticms. Xotes and tables ^'iviiii; miscellane- 

 ous information are included. 



Commercial fertilizers, (i. Uobkuts {(Uilifoniia Hhi. Bid. 119, pp. 57-8.3). — 

 This bulletin j^ives the results of fertilizer iuspectiou for the second half of the 

 fiscal year l!tOr>-(;, the results of the first half year having been pul)lished in 

 Bulletiu 17;^ of the station (K. S. K., 17, p. 1051). It reports examination of 

 230 samples of fertilizinj^ materials, of which "22 were sent by farmers luider 

 the two-dollar fee provision. .~)C. were tal<en l)y inspectors from purchasers' 

 jioods upon the request of the purchasers, and IC>I were lalven by inspectors 

 from f::oods in the hands of agents and manufacturers." The valuation of 

 fertilizers is brielly discussed and suggestions are made regarding the purchase 

 of fertilizers. 



Analysis of commercial fertilizers sold in Maryland, II. r>. McDonnell 

 ET Ai.. {.]/(!. Ai/r. Col. Qinirl.. 1901), Xo. .i.3, pp. 511). — Tables are given which 

 show the guaranteed and actual composition and comparative value per ton of 

 fertilizers inspected by the Slate chemist from February to July, 190G, inclusive. 



Analyses of commercial fertilizers, W. Frear (Penti. Dept. Ayr. Bid. I42, 

 Pit. 01). — This bulletin gives the results of fertilizer inspection in Pennsylvania 

 (luring the 5 months ended December .'>!, 100."). 



A review of jDrogress in the fertilizer industry for the year 1905 (Zlsclir. 

 AiKjew. Chem., 19 {1900), No. S2, pp. 1390-1392).— Thin is a Iirief review of 

 progress made, (»s[)ecially in Germany, during the year in enlargement of plants 

 and in development and improvement of milling and mixing machinery, methods 

 and processes, and products. Considerable progress was made during the year 

 in the enlargement of factories with their own sulphuric-acid plants, but the 

 l)usiness was handicajiped by a scarcity of labor and the profits were not large. 



The fertilizer season records, W. L. Summers {Jour. Dcpt. Agr. So. Aust., 

 10 (19(10). Xo. J. p. iS).— Statistics are given of the fertilizer trade in South 

 Australia for the period 1897-190G. It is shown that the use of fertilizers has 

 increased from .■J.OOO tons on 00,000 aci-es in 1897 to .59,000 tons on 1,321,000 

 acres in 1900. Of the fertilizers now used it is estimated that 95 per cent 

 consist of superphosphates in some form or otlier. 



Consumption of fertilizers, season of 1905-6 {Amer. Fort., 25 {1906), No. 

 2, pp. 12. 13). — Statistics are given for Mississippi, North Carolina, West A'ir- 

 giiiia. Kentucky, Florida, Missouri. Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, and California. 



Sludge treatment in relation to sewage disposal, J. D. Watson {Eiigiii. 

 Itec, 5.'t {1900), Xo. 9. i)i). 225, 2.'iG-2'i9). — The author reports experiments at 

 Birmingham, England, in which exceedingly satisfactory results were obtained 

 with the .septic tank treatment for separating suspended matter from sewage, 

 the sludge being disposed of on land. It is claimed that with the plant used 

 the sewage of 900,000 people is dis[)osed of without any object ionable odors at a 

 cost of about 5 cts. i)er i-ubic; yard of wet sludge. 



The sewage is allowed to flow through a series of septic tanks at an average 

 lineal velocity of about 1.2 ft. iici- mimite; "the street wash and other coarse 

 detritus are deposited in llie lirst <(impaitmenl of the septic tanks and removed 

 about once a week; a large j)ortiou of what might be termed 'grit chamber 



