SOILS FERTILIZERS. 223 



"There is reason to believe that acid, phosphate increases the tendency to 

 soil acidity, but it is not the sole cause of such acidity, for there are very acid 

 soils which have never received any acid phosphate." 



Is the phosphoric acid of floats made soluble by rotting manure? M. S. 

 McDowKLL ( Pcniisi/Ivania Std. Ri)t. 1908, pp. 175-178). — Six lbs. of raw Ten- 

 nessee phosphate was mixed with 228 lbs. of mixed manure and the mixture was 

 buried in a tight barrel in a manure heap from July, 1907, to August 21, 1908. 

 An examination of the thoroughly fermented material thus obtained, showed no 

 increase in^either water-soluble or citrate-soluble phosphoric acid as a result of 

 the treatment. 



Decomposition of soil-producing' rocks, E. Haselhoff (Landw, Fens. Stat., 

 70 {U)09), Xo. 1-2, PI). 53-lJ,3; abs. in Jour. Chcm. Soc. [London], 96 {1909), 

 Xo. 557, II, p. 259; Chem. Ahs., 3 (1909), Xo. 13, p. 1566).— In pot experiments 

 with freshly broken unweathered rock it was found that grasses and legumes were 

 able to extract plant food and to make more or less growth, the legumes thriv- 

 ing better than the grasses. This is ascribed to the fact that legumes have the 

 moi-e extensive root system and are able to assimilate free nitrogen of the air. 

 Different plants vary widely in their capacity to assimilate the plant food in 

 unweathered rock. The addition of nitrogenous fertilizers increased both the 

 yield and the mtrogen content of the plants, the benefit being especially marked 

 in case of nonlegumiuous plants. No definite relation was found to exist 

 between the material assimilated by the plants and that dissolved by various 

 chemical reagents or by steam. The action of moisture and frost during the 

 winter was without influence on the solubility of the rock constituents. 



The value of potassic rocks as fertilizer, F. Schacke (Kuxen Ztg., 12 

 (1908), Xo. 275; abs. in Ztschr. Angew. Chem., 22 (1909), Xo. 16, p. 7-'f0).— 

 Good results with ground phonolith ©n various crops are reported. 



The value of potassic rocks as fertilizer, P. Krische (Kuxen Ztg., 12 

 (1908), Xo. 281; abs. in Ztschr. Angew. Chem.. 22 (1909), Xo. 16, p. 7J,0).— 

 Schiicke's conclusions, noted above, are thought to be based upon insufficient 

 data. 



Artificial kainit (Agr. Gaz. X. 8. Wales, 20 (1909), Xo. 4, pp. 3J,0, 341).— 

 Attention is called to a carbonate of potash prepared from kelp which is sold 

 under the name of kainit and which may cause considerable loss of ammonia 

 when mixetl with sulphate of ammonia or other nitrogenous fertilizers. 



The Stassfurt potash salts, B. L. Emslie (Jour. Soc. Chcm. Indus., 28 

 (1909), Xo. 8, pp. 393-398). — Tliis is a summary of information regarding the 

 geologj', composition, methods of mining and refining, and industrial applica- 

 tions of these potash salts. 



Tertiary potash deposits in Upper Alsace, F. Meinecke (Xaturiv. Wchnschr., 

 2/f (1909), Xo. 17, pp. 268, 269).— Extensive deposits are described. 



The production of potash salts in Germany in 1908, Maizieres (Engrais, 

 24 (1909), Xo. 18, pp. 489, 7/90).— The production in 1908 is compared with 

 that of previous years, extending back to 1861. The total production in 1908 

 is given as 6,090,439 metric tons. 



Loss of potash in commercial fertilizers, F. B. Porter and E. G. Kenny 

 (Jour. Indus, and Engin. Chem., 1 (1909), Xo. 5, pp. 304-307).— A study of 

 the conditions affecting the retention of soluble potash in mixed fertilizers and 

 of the liberation of the retained potash is reported. 



The retention of potash is usually ascribed to the influence of acid phos- 

 phates in the fertilizer mixtures. It was found that acid phosphates of differ- 

 ent ages and from different kinds of rock showed practically the same retentive 

 power. The amount retained increased with the percentages of potash and 



3406— No. 3—09 3 



