620 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



' Samples of different kinds of materials moved by the wind have been collected 

 from different places of deposition [including points in Massachusetts, Illinois, 

 Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, and North Dakota], and from the atmosphere directly 

 for this study. Each of these has been separated into grades of different coarseness 

 and the percentage of the weight for each grade in each sample has been determined. 

 It appears that all of these samples, and presumably the greater part of such mate- 

 rials as owe their present position and arrangement to the action of the atmosphere, 

 may be referred to some one of four categories. These may be characterized as ( 1 ) 

 lag gravels, or coarse residual deposits in the rear of sand dunes; (2) drifting sand, 

 constituting the familiar dunes in dry and sandy regions; (3) line sand, which is soon 

 dropped by the wind in the lee of drifting dunes; and ( 1) dust, which only slowly 

 settles out of the air far away from the place where it was raised. 



"Numerous observations on known eolian deposits in the field and on the mode of 

 action of the wind have also beea made to supplement this special study of the 

 mechanical composition of wind sediments, and these are drawn upon in the discus- 

 sion of the other data." 



Observations on soil moisture, R. A. Emerson (Bpt. Nebraska State Hort. Soc, 

 27 (1896), pp. 179-1S5, fig*. 4). — This article records observations on cultivated v. 

 seeded orchards; garden soil cultivated, uncultivated, mulched, in grass; mulched v. 

 cultivated soil in potatoes; fall-plowed, spring-plowed, and unplowed soil; and wind- 

 breaks of forest trees and hedges. 



On certain soils rich in potash, A. Borntraeger and G. Takis (Landw. Vers. 

 Stat., 50 (1S9S), No. 5-6, pp. 343-345). — This article briefly summarizes the investiga- 

 tions of Casoria > on the solubility of potash of soils of volcanic origin in acetic acid, 

 hydrochloric acid (1.12 sp. gr.), and hydrofluoric acid applied successively; and 

 reports results of analyses by the authors of the hydrochloric acid extract (boiling 

 1.12 sp. gr. with acid for 5 hours) of 4 soils of volcanic origin (from the vicinity of 

 Vesuvius). The potash soluble in hydrochloric acid ranged from 2.71 to 5.05 per 

 cent. 



Soil bacteria which liberate nitrogen, Caron (Die Sticlcstoffbildenden Bodeiibak- 

 terien. Hannover: Gohmann'sche Buchdruckerei, 1SD7). — Such organisms are stated to 

 be most abundant in fallow land, less abundant under leafy plants, and least abundant 

 under cereals. 



The denitrification processes, T. Pfeiffer and O. Lemmermann (Landw. Vers. 

 Stat., 50 (1898), No. 1-2, pp. 115-142).— This is a detailed account of investigations 

 already noted (E. S. R., 9, p. 536). 



FERTILIZERS. 



Experiments -with ferrous sulphate for destroying the denitri- 

 fying organisms of barnyard manure and the germs of Rothlauf 

 and Schweineseuche, O. Mttller (Jour. Landw., 16 (1898), i\ 7 o. 2, 

 pp. 207-232). — In culture experiments with Bacterium denitrijicans, B. 

 pyocyaneus, and B.Jiuorescens liqtiefaciens in bouillon containing 0.1 per 

 cent of nitrate, ferrous sulphate was used in the form of powder at 

 rates of from 0.2 to 5 per cent. The results show that the addition of 1 

 gm. of the powdered sulphate to each 10 gm. of the slightly alkaline 

 culture solution killed all of the germs in 24 hours. In neutral solutions 

 a smaller quantity was effective. 



Two series of experiments were carried out with the same prepara- 



1 Riv. Ital. Sci. Nat., 1 (1885), No. 1. Idrol. e Climat. Med., 7 (1885), No. 9; 9 (1887), 

 No. 3; 11 (1889), No. 8. An. R. Scuola Sup. Agr. Portici, 4 (1884), No. 1; 5 (1885), No. 1. 



