373 



Fertilizing ingredients per aere in rarions eroj^s. 



Crop. 



Nitrogen. ^'•^"f?^\°"'' Potash. 



Ramie (yieklinf; 10 tons of dried stalks) 



Hi'iiiii (vifldini; 1.000 pound.s of clean liber).. 



Flax (vieMiiiirtioO pounds of fiber) 



rottoi'i (\ iildiiii; 41 Ml piiimdsof lint) , 



AVlii'at ( yicldiiiif "JO l)usliels of grain) 



Sugar beets (yielding 40,000 pounds of roots) , 



Poundn. 

 ri()0. 7 

 62.7 

 74.5* 

 2;>.2t 

 42.0 



17a. 4 



Pounds. 



1.55. 8 

 3^.2 

 40.6 

 22.5 

 19.8 



116.2 



Pounds. 

 252. 

 101. :i 

 43.8 

 35.3 

 43.9 

 387.4 



* In straw and seed. 



tin seed. 



Of all the fiber plants, ramie stands first as regards depletion of the soil of plant 

 food — a result wliich "was to be expected from the greater mass of the plant har- 

 ve.sted, since from three to fonr cuts can be made of the ramie, wliile only one each 

 of liemp and flax is made. Taking average crops, hemp is .second in total amonnt of 

 ingredients removed, cotton third, and flax fonrth. * * * Qn the whole, ramie 

 culture, when all "ottal" is returned, is fairly comparable to the le.ss exhaustive 

 fruit crops; but without such return it must be classed among the most exhaustive 

 cultures known. 



The fertilizing value of grease wood, E. W. Hilgard, Ph. D. 



(pp. 7, S). — All analysis is given of the ash of grease wood {Sarcnhatus 

 I'ermicuIatKs), and a comparison of this with the ash of sainj)hire, sea- 

 Meed, cabbage, and timothy hay. The grease wood contained 12.03 per 

 cent of ash. Tlie composition of this was as follows: 



Per rent. 



Potassium oxide 18. 53 



Sodium oxide .• 39. 45 



Calcium oxide J 1. 36 



Magnesium oxide 1. 09 



Peroxide of iron ;ind alumina 7. 06 



Phosphoric acid 3. 51 



Sulphuric acid 4. 93 



Chlorine 15.30 



Silica 11. 81 



Less excess of oxygen due to chlorine 



103. 04 

 . 3.25 



99.79 



Nearly 40 per cent of the ash is soda, out of which over 25 per cent of common 

 salt and nearly 8 per cent of Glauljer's salt are formed. There remains out of the 

 total amount shown in the analysis 23 per cent that will go toward forming carbon- 

 ate of soda, increasing its weight to altout 39 if returned to the soil. This means 

 that out oOOO pounds of grease-wood ash 72 pounds would be ''alkali" of the usual 

 composition of " black alkali," which would at the very least be of no use to any 

 soil. 



Colorado Station, Bulletin No. 16, July, 1891 (pp. 28). 



The artesian wells of Colorado, L. G. Carpenter, M. S. 



(plates 3). — This includes a popular resume of information regarding 



the location and cost of artesian Avells, with special reference to their 



use for irrigation; a brief history of the artesian wells of Colorado; a 



13748— No. G 2 



