WATER SOILS. 571 



bare. Those soils which liad been in i)ines with a cover of litter were 

 more i)ro(lnctive than those which had been in pines without a cover of 

 litter or in birches. 



The recognition of the acidity of upland soils and its bearing 

 upon agricultural practice, II. J. Wheeler, B. L. Hartwell, and 

 G. M. TrcKER {Rhode Island Sta. Rpt. 1805^ pp. 232-280, pJs. 5).— Pre- 

 vious experiments (E. S. E., 7, p. 377) had shown that on certain 

 upland, well-drained soils ammonium sulphate exerted a poisonous 

 effect. This result appeared to be due to acidity of the soil. The 

 literature of this subject is exhaustively reviewed and the results of 

 all experiments bearing upon the subject conducted under the super- 

 vision of the station are discussed, the conclusions being summarized 

 as follows : 



"The removal of plants from the soil aud the use of certain fertilizers doubtless 

 exhaust the lime aud other basic iugredients of the soil more rapidly than would be 

 the case were nature allowed to take her course. 



''That an acid condition is liable to result in consequence of the above-mentioned 

 operations, particularly in the case of soils derived from rocks deficient in basic 

 ingredients, wo believe to be a reasonable assumption. 



"While some plants like clover, timothy, and beets appear to be injured by a 

 lack of carbonate of lime or b^^ the resulting acidity of the soil, others appear to 

 thrive best under such conditions. 



"A strongly marked reddening of blue litmus paper seems to be a simple and 

 effective indication of the condition of a soil in the above-mentioned particulars. 



"The value of a satisfactory method for determining the relative acidity of soils 

 would seem to be great. 



"A dangerous degree of acidity or at least a fatal lack of carbonate of lime appears 

 to exist in upland and naturally well-di'ained soils, and is not confined to muck and 

 peat swamps and very wet lauds as most American and many other writers seem to 

 assume, in view of which it appears that the test for acidity should be more gener- 

 ally applied to such soils. 



"That this condition of u])land soils has not been more fully recognized hereto- 

 fore is not surprising for tlie reason that the failure or partial failure of certain 

 crops has been attributed to Avinterkilling, poor germination of seeds, drought, 

 excessive moisture, or attacks by insects or fungi. Upon soils where certain plants 

 are injured only to a limited extent by acidity others would be expected to thrive 

 best of all, in consequence of which it is not surprising that the cause for the partial 

 failure of certain crops upon them has not been suspected. 



"The inefficiency of land plaster as compared with air-slacked lime in the culture 

 of beets and in overcoming the ill effect of sulphate of ammonia, as well as the highly 

 beneficial results from the use of caustic magnesia and carbonate of soda, all tend to 

 further strengthen the position that the fault of the soil in question is a lack of basic 

 ingredients, to which the presence of noxious compounds which may partly or wholly 

 give rise to the acid reaction, is attributable." 



Further observations for the purpose of determining in ho^v 

 far the results secured in a soil test -with a given plant are appli- 

 cable to others, H. J. Wheeler and Cr. M. TucivEr {Rhode Island 

 Sta. Rpt. 1805, pp. 200-204).— In a soil test made in 1894 with 37 kinds 

 of plants and described in the Annual Report of the Station for 1894 

 (E. S. K., 7, i». 851), it w-as found that all but 3 kinds (white bean, sun- 

 flower, and summer squash) indicated the soil to be more deficient in 

 phosphoric acid than in nitrogen or potash. The test was continued 



