AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY AGROTECHNY. 11 



to contain mannit until after the juice is allowed to stand for a time, when 

 mannit is produced through the agency of organisms or enzyms. In all proba- 

 bility mannit originates in the same manner in string beans. 



The findings of Wichers and Tollens were verified by this work, and from 

 the mannit the tri-acetal compound was prepared. 



A contribution to our knowledg'e of the carbohydrates present in vege- 

 tables. — II, In regard to the carbohydrates present in the juice of green 

 string' beans. — III, The carbohydrates present in cauliflower, E. Busolt 

 {Jour. Landw., 61 {1913), No. 2, pp. 153-160). — From 10 kg. of green string 

 beans 5,500 cc. of juice was obtained ; 3,000 cc. of this juice was kept in a beaker 

 without extra precautions for 8 days, then brought to the boiling point and 

 concentrated to a sirupy consistency. Within 3 months' time a solid mass of 

 crystals was obtained which was identified as mannit, and from the mannit 

 a tri-acet-acetal compound was prepared. This finding is similar to that noted 

 above, and elsewhere. Inositol (Vohl") was not notetl. Juice boiled directly 

 after collection and evaporated 8 days later to a sirup did not yield any 

 crystals. 



The work with cauliflower was practically a continuation of that reported 

 by Dmochowski and Tollens (E. S. R., 23, p. 415) but with special reference to 

 the presence of glucose in the juice. Under no circumstances could glucose be 

 noted but nmnnit crystals were obtained instead. The hexanitrates and tri- 

 benz-acetal couii>ounds were prepared from the mannit. 



The organic nitrogen of Hawaiian soils, W. P. Kelley and Alice R. Thomp- 

 son {Idauaii »ta. Bui. 33 {191Jf), pp. 22). — Studios are reported on the chemical 

 nature of the orgamc nitrogen present in soils, using the acid method of hydro- 

 lysis and the following soils belonging to the laterite class common to the 

 Hawaiian Islands: A silty loam taken from old pasture land containing con- 

 siderable amounts of organic matter and where semiarid conditions prevail ; 

 a highly organic sandy soil from land recently cleared of a tropical jungle, 

 and from a district where rainfall is heavy and drainage good; a .silty loam 

 used for pineapple culture, but formerly for pasture land, and in a semiarid 

 district; a loam soil containing much gravel and from lands used previously 

 for rice experiments, and which has served for aquatic agriculture for many 

 years ; two soils devoted to rice culture for 30 to 40 years, silty in character, and 

 taken from the windward side of the Kanehoe district; a highly humus soil 

 continuously used in rice culture for 30 or more years; and two silty soils 

 devoted to aquatic agi'iculture, one to rice and the other to taro. So far as 

 known, no nitrogenous fertilizers have been applied to these soils. 



The amount of total nitrogen present in the soil, calculated to a dry basis, 

 varied from 0.122 to 1.241 per cent (average 0.4G3 per cent). The nitrate 

 nitrogen ranged from 0.05 to 1.751 per cent, and the ammoniacal nitrogen from 

 0.169 to 2.564 per cent of the total nitrogen, showing that these two forms 

 constitute but a small proportion, the gi'eater part being probably in organic 

 form. 



Soils representing unaerated conditions, with two exceptions, contained next 

 to no nitrate. " The nitrate found in the remaining unaerated soils was formed 

 almost entirely during the time of drying out in the laboratory." 



" Upon boiling difl'erent soils with strong hydrochloric acid, the amounts of 

 nitrogen dissolved ranged from 67.51 per cent to 91.88 per cent of the total 

 nitrogen. With two exceptions, the relative percentages of amid nitrogen, 

 split off in the hydrolysis, were approximately the same, amounting on the 

 average to 23.91 per cent of the nitrogen dissolved. Basic nitrogen occurred 



"Ann. Chem. u. Pharm., 99 (1856), No. 1, pp. 125-128; 101 (1857), No. 1, pp. 50-58. 



