WATER SOILS. 



477 



among- other provisions, appropriates money for " disseminating horti- 

 cultural kno^yle(lge" in the fourth judicial departincut of the State. 

 It is the intention to use these bulletins in the schools of horticulture 

 which are to be held under the auspices of this State grant. 



The bulletin reports analyses of an unproductive clay on which beans 

 failed to grow, of an adjacent soil on which they grew well, and of a 

 lime rock derived from the same locality. The results were as follows: 



Analyses of productive and unprodnctlve soils and of lime rock. 



Unproductive clay. 



Good bean land 



Lime rock 



Moisture. 



Per cent. 

 13. 25 

 15.95 



Nitrogen 



Per cent. 



0.08 



.11 



Phos- 

 phoric 

 acid. 



Per cent. 



0.20 



.17 



.08 



Per cent. 



1.10 



.75 



2.12 



Per cent. 



0.41 



.61 



2.55 



Organic 

 matter. 



Per cent. 

 .3.19 

 5.45 



The table shows that the soil upon which the beans would not grow 

 is richer in mineral plant food than the productive soil and that the 

 rock contains an abundant supply of potash and about half as much 

 phosphoric acid as the good bean soil. The unproductive soil, how- 

 ever, w^as in poor mechanical condition and was deficient in organic 

 matter (humus). 



The bulletin briefly discusses the importance of the physical condi- 

 tion of the soil and the value of chemical analysis in determining the 

 requirements of tlie soil, summarizing as follows: 



'^Tlie first step in the. enriclimeut of unproductive land is to imiirove its physical 

 couditiou by means of careful and thorough tillage, hy the addition of humus, and 

 perhaps hy underdrainage. It must first be put in such condition that plants can 

 grow in it. After that, the addition of chemical fertilizers may pay by giving addi- 

 tional or redundant growth."' 



The moisture of the soil and its conservation, L, A. Clinton 



{New YorJc Cornell iSta. Bitl. 1:20^ pp. 4ir>-l3ii, fuja. 11). — This bulletin 

 is the second of the series published under recent State legislation i^ro- 

 viding, among other things, for "disseminating horticultural knowl- 

 edge." It discusses in clear, popular manner the following subjects: 

 How the soil holds water, the necessity of water for growing plants, 

 the conservation or saving of moisture, plowing to save moisture, har- 

 rowing to save moisture, cultivators and conservation of moisture, the 

 roller in its relation to soil moisture, herbage mulches, humus of the 

 soil, underdrainage, mineral substances as conservers of moisture, 

 wind-breaks to save moisture, selection and management of crops in 

 relation to soil moisture, and suggestions for determining the amount 

 of moisture in soils. 



Soil moisture, 1895, J. B. Weems and W. II. IIeileman {Iowa 

 Sta. Biil.o:J, pp. r>()r)-'yl')). — The results are reported of determinations 

 of moisture in samples of soil taken each week from April to October 

 29, 1895, from plats on which clover, corn, oats, beets, and blue grass 



