424 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.36 



On the distribution of phosphiorus in a vertical seetion of bliiegrass soil, 

 A. M. Petee {Sou 8ci., 2 (1916), No. 4, PP- S87-S93, figs. 2).— The chief object 

 of this paper, prepared at the Kentucky Experiment Station, is to draw attention 

 to the peculiar distribution of the phosphate in vertical soil sections taken from 

 the experiment station farm at Lexington and to point out that it corresponds 

 strikingly to the distribution of phosphate in the phosphatic limestone beds of the 

 vicinity. It increased from 0.72 per cent at a depth of 1 ft. to 7.8 per cent 

 at a depth of 6 ft. and thereafter decreased, being 2.02 per cent at a depth 

 of 7 ft. 



Nature of the sulphur in moorland soils injurious to plant growth and 

 subterranean structures, W. Thobneb (Ztschr. Angew. Chem., 29 (1916), pp. 

 233-236; abs. in Jour. Soc. Chem. Indus., 35 {1916), No. 15, p. 855; Chem. Abs., 

 10 {1916), No. 20, p. 2606). — The so-called reactive sulphur in moor soils, which 

 is injurious to both plant growth and cement in underground foundations, was 

 found to occur not only as pyrites but also in the free state and in organic com- 

 bination. Its destructive action is ascribed to the production of sulphuric acid 

 by atmospheric oxidation in the presence of moisture. Finely divided sulphur 

 mixed with moist sand or peat on a filter underwent slow oxidation as the 

 water evaporated, and similar conditions are assumed to exist in peaty land 

 containing sulphur on exposure to the atmosphere. An energetic oxidation 

 of finely divided sulphur in aqueous suspension was observed during the elec- 

 trolysis of the water. 



Field tests of fertilizer action on soil aldehydes, J. J. Skinnee and C. F. 

 Noll {Jour. A)uer. Soc. Agron., 8 {1916), No. 5, pp. 273-298, pis. 5, fig. i).— In 

 an extension of work previously reported (E. S. R., 31, p. 620; 32, p. 619), 

 experiments conducted under a cooperative agreement beween the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture and the Pennsylvania Experiment Station are reported. 

 The purpose was to study the effects of vanillin and salicylic aldehyde on an 

 acid silty clay loam soU at Arlington, Va., and a productive loam soil at the 

 Pennsylvania Station, and the influence of lime and fertilizers on the action 

 of these compounds. 



It was found in a two years' field test that vanillin and salicylic aldehyde were 

 harmful to cowpeas in the silty clay loam soil. The harmful effect of vanillin 

 was lessened by sodium nitrate and that of salicylic aldehyde by acid phosphate. 

 The effects of both vanillin and salicylic aldehyde were overcome by liming the 

 soil. These field results are in harmony with the effect of fertilizer salts on 

 the behavior of these compounds in water culture solution. 



Vanillin and salicylic aldehyde were found in the silty clay loam soil several 

 months after they were applied and after the end of the crop season. On the 

 plats fertilized with sodium nitrate the vanillin had been changed or de- 

 stroyed and did not remain as such to have its effect on the crop. Neither 

 vanillin nor salicylic aldehyde was found to remain in the limed soil. The 

 oxidizing power of the Arlington soil was checked by both vanillin and salicylic 

 aldehyde, and this lessened oxidation was increased by fertilizers and by lime. 



Vanillin and salicylic aldehyde had only a slight harmful effect on the pro- 

 ductive loam soil. Again the harmfulness of vanillin was ameliorated by 

 sodium nitrate and that of salicylic aldehyde by acid phosphate, and on limed 

 soil the aldehyde compounds had no, or only slight, harmful effects. None of 

 the added aldehydes remained in the soil in any of the plats at the end of 

 the growing season. This is taken to indicate " that organic substances of 

 this nature do not persist in this soil and consequently could have little or no 

 effect on crop growth. This experiment demonstrates that such organic sub- 

 stances as aldehydes can exist In one soil and have their effect on growth, 



