FIELD CROPS. 731 



it is advantageous on the luoro fertile soils to use kainit or 40 i)er cent potash 

 salt in growing barley and to ascertain in what (inantities and at what time the 

 application should he ni.uli' to he prolitahlc. 



In T) tests with barley and wheat on fertile clay soils a general ai)plieation of 

 super])hospliate and nitrat<' of soda. f>u-nishing 75 or 100 kg. of phosphoric acid 

 and '2:', kg. of nitrogen iier hectare, r(>spectively. was uiade, and in addition 00 

 kg. of i)otash was ajijilied in the form of 40 per cent ])otash salt or of kainit. 

 'riiese soils ranged in calcium carbonate from 0.10 to 1.0(j per cent and in potash 

 li-om 0.21 to (».4S per cent. With every test the potash apparently increased the 

 total yield, the Increase amounting to 552 kg. of grain and r)22 kg. of straw per 

 hectare. When potash was omitted the protein content of the gi'ain increased 

 and the starch content decreased. 



A gravelly soil containing 12.40 per cent of calciinn carbonate and O.IH per 

 cent of potash, producing iKstatoes and fertilized with I)arnyard manure the 

 year before, received an application i)er hectare of 00 kg. of i)hosphoric acid, 

 1.5 kg. of nitrogen, and SO kg. of potash in the forms of superphos])hate, nitrate 

 of soda, and 40 per cent potash salt or kainit, respectively. Applying the po- 

 tassic fertilizer some time before sowing the barle.v proved beneficial, iind under 

 these conditions kainit was the more effective. Tlie increase in the yield of 

 grain apparently due to the potash varied from 2.7 to 4.8 per cent-and that of 

 the straw from 3.4 to 9.3 per cent. 



The third test was made on a clay soil with 0.32 per cent of calcium carbonate 

 and 0.29 per cent of potash. A general application of 90 kg. of phosphoric acid 

 as superphosi)hate and 24 kg. of nitrogen as nitrate of soda was given per 

 hectare. In addition, 40 per cent potash salt was applied in quantities furnish- 

 ing 25, 50, 75, and 100 kg. of potash. The season was the third after the soil 

 had been fertilized with barnyard manure. Only the two smaller applications 

 of potash in this experiment were profitable. 



It is ijointed out that barley requires phosphoric acid, nitrogen, and potash 

 in a readily availal)le form and in proper proportions, and that the quantities 

 of potash given may be relatively small if the preceding crop was fertilized with 

 barnyard manure but that they should be correspondingly increased when 2 or 

 3 years have elapsed since the manure was applied. It is stated that barley 

 responds best to the use of kainit, but that on heavy soils 40 per cent potash 

 salt is preferred to avoid ci'usting of the surface. 



The author refutes statements of O. Reitmair with reference to his work and 

 points to residts secured by other investigators to prove his point. 



Fertilizer experiments with fodder beets, C. Dusserre and E. Chuard (Bill. 

 Hoc. Vaud. Ayr. et Til., 1!)07, No. 201, pp. .?.:>8-36",2) .—Fodder beets were ferti- 

 lized at the rate of 400 kg. of 17 per cent superphosphate, 200 kg. of 48 per cent 

 of potash, and 300 kg. of nitrate of soda per hectare, this application costing 

 170 francs. 



The average results obtained by 17 farmers showed an increase of 16,000 kg. 

 of beets per hectare as apparently due to the fertilizers used. The profit per 

 hectare is given as 224 francs. The season was dry, and not all of the plant 

 food contained in the fertilizer application was used by the crop, so that in 

 addition to the profit secured there remained in the soil a certain quantity of 

 the plant food supplied for the succeeding crop. The beets from the fertilized 

 I>lats contained 7.40 per cent of sugar and those from the check plats 7.52 per 

 cent. 



The Williamson plan of corn culture, t'. L. Newman {South Carolina Sta. 

 Bui. 124, PI>- '•'>)■ — This bulletin contains a detailed description of the William- 

 son method of corn culture and reports observations made on a number of 



