SOILS- — FERTILIZERS. ()19 



liMM'i. The publications inchuled refer to cheinical anujisis, mineral constit- 

 uents, nitrogenous and organic constituents, bacteriological and biological ex- 

 amination, contamination, and puritication. 



New -apparatus for the sterilization of drinking water by heat {Engin. 

 \eu-s, 58 {1901), No. 18, pp. J/SH-JfOO, figs. JO).— Simple potable apparatus for 

 continuous sterilization by heat are described. 



Manufactured ice, H. B. JNIkloy {Bur. of the Census [U. S.] Bui. S3, pp. I,3~ 

 61, map /). — The total value of the ice manufactured in tbe TTnited States in 

 1905 was $23,790,04.^, an increase of 71.5 per cent over the amount produced 

 in 1900. 



Sewage disposal in the country, Sommebville {Country Life. [London^, 22 

 {li)07), No. o(i5, pp. (!28, G.iii). — This article brietly discusses the applicability 

 of combined septic tank and contact bed methods to small town and country 

 conditions. 



SOILS— FERTILIZERS. 



The soil, J. Dumont {La Tcrre Arable. Paris, 1907, pp. XII+, 295, figs. 20; 

 rev. in Rev. G6n. 8ci., 18 {1907), No. 17, pp. 728, 729).— This is a volume of 

 Eneyclopidie de VAgriculture et dcs Sciences Agricoles, and treats in a more 

 or less popular way the formation and physical, chemical, and mineralogical 

 constitution of the soil ; its organic and mineral constituents and physical, chem- 

 ical, and biological properties; its humifying, nitrifying, denitrifying, and nitro- 

 gen fixing organisms, and the chemical character of the processes involved in 

 the mobilization of the soil constituents. 



On the practical importance of chemical analysis of soils, A. voN 'Sigmond 

 {Ztschr. Landw. Versuchstv. Osterr., 10 {1907), No. 7, pp. 581-603, fig. 1; abs. 

 in Chcm. Zentbl., 1907, II, No. 8, p. 633). — The principal features of this article 

 have already been noted from another source (E. S. R., 19, p. 6). 



The author concludes from his studies of a large number of Hungarian soils 

 of different types that his method of chemical analysis is as reliable as pot 

 experiments as a means of judging of the phosphoric acid requirements of soils. 

 According to his observations, soils containing from 75 to 80 mg. or more of 

 easily assimilable phosphoric acid per 100 gm. of soil, as shown by his methods, 

 do not require applications of phosphatic fertilizers. The basicity of soil as 

 determined by its neutralizing power for dilute nitric acid is considered to have 

 an important bearing upon its phosphoric acid requirements. -In the group of 

 soils found to be benefited by applications of phosphoric acid the basicity in- 

 creased with the amount of assimilable phosphate. Apparently an iucx'ease in 

 basicity is accompanied by a decrease in assimilability. 



The use of soil surveys, J. A. Bonsteel {8ei. Anicr. Sup., 6.'t {1907), No. 

 1657, pp. 221, 222). — This is a reprint of an article in the Yearbook of the De- 

 partment for 1906 (E. S. R., 19, p. 214). 



The agricultural soils of the territory of Grotte di Castro, D. Orzi {Gior. 

 Geo/. Prat., J, {1906), Nos. 2-3, pp. Ji9-93, pi. 1; 6, pp. 197-2J,0; 5 {1907), Nos. 

 1, pp. 27-32; 2-3, pp. 64-98, maps 2). — This article reviews at some length the 

 literature of similar soil investigations and reports the results of a detailed 

 study of the geological and soil conditions of this volcanic region, classifying, 

 mapi)ing, and describing the soil types which occur in the region. Numerous 

 analyses are given and the cultural adaptability and fertilizer i-equirements of 

 the soils are discussed. A bibliography of 62 references is given. 



Examinations of soils from German East Africa, V. Lommel {Ber. Land. u. 

 Forsttv. DeutSGh-Ostafrika, 3 {1907), No. 3, pp. 139-U2).— Analyses of several 

 samples of soil from different parts of this region are reported and briefly dis- 

 cussed. 



