FIELD CROPS. 735 



inspection, and gives a schedule of trade values of fertilizing materials, text of the 

 Rhode Island fertilizer law as amended March 1, 1898, a list of licensed fertilizers 

 sampled hy the chemist of the Rhode Island State Board of Agriculture, and analyses 

 and valuation of 121 samples of fertilizing materials. 



"In May, 1897, the fertilizer law which had been in operation in the State since 

 April, 1892, was amended in such a way that the State Board of Agriculture, under 

 whose authority the inspection had nominally been conducted, was released from 

 any obligation to cause the work of the inspection to be done at the Rhode Island 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, as heretofore." 



This change did not prove satisfactory, and in March, 1898, the law was again 

 amended so that the inspection of fertilizers was placed in the hands of the board of 

 managers of the Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. 



Analysis of licensed commercial fertilizers, F. W. Woll ( Wisconsin Sta. Rpt. 



1897, pp. 257-263). — Notes on the commercial forms of the 3 essential elements of 

 plant food and on valuation and tabulated analyses and valuations of 14 samples of 

 fertilizers licensed in Wisconsin in 1897. 



The different forms of lime for fertilizing purposes and their value and use, 

 F. Wagner ( Vrtljschr. Bayer. Landw. Bath., 3 {1898), No. l,pp. 1-20).— The different 

 forms and sources of lime fertilizers are described with reference to Bavarian 

 conditions. 



Lime, nitrogen, and soda, H. J. Wheeler {Rhode Island Sta. But. 47, pp. 10). — 

 A brief summary of the results of investigations by the station (E. S. R., 9, pp.933, 

 935) on the use of lime, the relative crop-producing power of different forms of 

 nitrogen on acid soils, and on soda as a substitute for potash. 



The basis of the selling price of phosphatic slags, J. Graftiau {Bui. Assoc. 

 Beige Chim., 12 {1898), No. 9, pp. 328-331).— Discusses fineness and citrate-solubility 

 as bases of valuation. 



The drying of superphosphates, A. Petermann {Jour. Soc. Ayr. Brauant-Hainaut, 



1898, No. 25). 



The production and utilization of natural nitrates in agriculture, V. Ayme 

 {Rev. Sci. [Paris], 4. ser., 10 {1898), No. 26, p. 817). — A general discussion of this 

 subject. 



Nitrogenous fertilizers — nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia, L. Gran- 

 deau {Jour. Soc. Agr. Brabant- Hainaut, 189S, No. 20). 



Statistics of production and consumption of nitrate of soda, Maizieres 

 (L'Engrais, 14 {1899), No. 2, pp. 35-37). — The exports and consumption for a number 

 of years past are stated. The exports from Chile in 1898 are stated to be 1,260,000 

 tons. Of this 110,000 tons was consumed in America and 1,040,000 tons in Europe. 



FIELD CROPS. 



Report of the department of agriculture ( Washington Sta. Rpt. 

 1896, pp. 5-26). — The results of experiments with wheat, oats, corn, and 

 forage plants, and in seeding pastures and permanent meadows are 

 reported, and the work of the department is briefly described. 



The experiments with wheat comprised variety tests, trials of differ- 

 ent depths of plowing, and different rates and methods of seeding. 

 Seventy-six varieties of winter wheat and 24 of spring wheat were 

 tested. The following varieties of winter wheat, in the order given, 

 averaged best for the seasons of 1895 and 1896: White Track, White 

 Blue Stem, Seneca Chief, Thiess, Tasmania Red, Turkey, German 

 Emperor, and Valley. Tbe results of plowing at different depths 

 showed that the yield increased with the depth up to 6 in., while beyond 



