SOILS FERTILIZERS. 725 



with this iii:itorial. prepared Ity fusing raw i)hospli:ite with sulphate, lime. saud. 

 and a little charcoal. Pot experiments by the author on hemp and mustard 

 are reported, in which Wolters phosphate gave results in every case somewhat 

 superior in case of hemj) and inferior in case of nuistard to those yielded by 

 superphosphate. 



Comparative fertilizer tests with Thomas slag and agricultural phosphate, 

 Brandt {Hannover. Land u. Forstic. ZAg., 58 {1905), p. 1226: abs. in Centbl. 

 Agr. Chem.. 35 (1!)0(!). \n. 11, p. 784). — Field experiments with oats. rye. and 

 clover are reported wliicb indicated that the Thomas slag was more effective 

 than the agricultural i)Iios|)bate (fine-ground raw phosphate). 



Experiments with Thonias-aninionium phosphate, Raciimann (Fiihling\'< 

 Landir. Ztg., 55 (HXXl), \o. 23, pp. 808-81.'f). — Experiments on rye, oats, and 

 moor meadow gi'asses are reported which show that the separate application 

 of anuiioniuni sulphate and Thomas slag gave much better results than the 

 Thomas-amm()nium-i)hosphate. 



The stimulating effect of phosphatic fertilizers, Clausen ilUiis. Landtv. 

 Ztg., 25 (1905), \o. 35. pp. 327, 328; abs. in Centbl. Agr. Chem., 35 (1906), No. 

 11, pp. 783, 784). — The author concludes from the results of a number of years 

 experiments with various fertilizing materials that both Thomas slag and sui)er- 

 phosphate exert a stimulating effect on plants, the effect of the phosphate on 

 the young plants being more marked than that of nitrogenous fertilizers, but 

 being observed especially in case of sandy and moor soils which are poor in 

 j)hosph()ric acid. 



On the natural changes which manure undergoes, Van der Zande (Dent. 

 Landw. Tiersucht, 1906, No. 2',, p. U; abs. in Centbl. Agr. Chem., 35 (1906), 

 No. 11, pp. 721-725). — Experiments with two well compacted heaps of strawy 

 cow manure, each containing about 7,000 kg. of material, which lasted from 

 June 4 to April 9 of the following year are reported. 



The heaps rapidly lost in volume during the first months of the period, but 

 the temperature was never very high, in no case exceeding 28° C. as compared 

 with the 40 to 50° commonly observed in a fermenting heap of mixed manure. 



An analysis of gas? from the interior of the heap showed 22 per cent carbon 

 dioxid and 15 per cent of marsh gas, apparently resulting from the decomposi- 

 tion of carbohydrates, particularly pentosans and cellulose. The principal 

 product of the decomposition of the nitrogenous matter was ammonia, which 

 was transformed into nitrates only on the surface of the heaps and never ex- 

 ceeded one-fiftieth of the total nitrogen. 



Analyses of the material at the beginning and at the end of the experiment 

 showed that there had been a loss of 20 per cent of dry matter, 7.4 per cent of 

 nitrogen, 39 per cent of pentosans, 28 per cent of crude fiber, and 13.5 per cent 

 of crude fat. The unusually small loss of nitrogen as compared with the 20 

 to 40 per cent losses reported in other experiments is attriijuted to the fact 

 that unmixed manure w;is used and the heaps were well compacted. 



The fertilizing value of poultry manure, P. L.\rue (.lour. Agr. Prat. Vit. et 

 Econ. Rurale Midi France, 102 (1906), No. 5, pp. 203-217). — This article con- 

 tains a rather complete sunmiary of information regarding the history of the 

 use of such manures, factors which affect their composition, chemical com- 

 position of various kinds of manures, commercial value, preparation and 

 application, legislation relating to their use, and a table of analyses reported by 

 different investigators. 



Wastes at salmon canneries (Anier. Pert., 25 (1906), No. 5, p. 7). — ^This is a 

 cpiotation from an argument in favor of the enactment of laws to prevent the 

 taking of food fishes for fertilizer purposes in Alaskan waters. 



