FERTILIZERS. 575 



FERTILIZERS. 



The value of the manure from animals fed on linseed meal, 



H. Snyder {Minncsoia iSfa. UnL 17, pp. ;J3, 2i). — In a pig-feeding 

 experimeut witli liiiseed-oil meal and potatoes, mentioned elsewhere 

 (p. 015), 2 lbs. of manure and 6 lbs. of urine were produced daily per 

 \}\'^ (weighing- 175 lbs). This dung and urine contained 0.09 lb. of 

 nitrogen, wbile the food eaten contained 0.1 lb. 



It is stated that under i^resent systems of management only about 

 one-tenth of this nitrogen would be returned to the soil, but that with 

 projier care the greater portion of it might be utilized. 



Under such conditions, it is claimed, flax raising, like wheat raising, 

 might be made the means of keeping uj) the fertility of the soil instead 

 of exhausting it. "The linseed meal should be fed at home, and this 

 fertility, as well as the fertility in bran and shorts, retained." 



The so-called "natural plant food" a soft phosphate, A. I). 

 Selby {Ohio Sta. Bui. 71, pp. 178-184). — Analyses are reported which 

 clearly indicate that the "base" of this mixture is "Florida or possibly 

 the Tennessee soft phosphates." As bearing upon the claims of the 

 manufacturers that the material hastens germination, experiments were 

 made in a greenhouse with wheat planted in unfertilized soil and soil 

 to which soft phosphate, dissolved South Carolina phosphate, Thomas 

 slag, and dissolved boneblack were added. 



" The soft pbospbato evidently retarded germination slightly, while some of the 

 other fertilizers used showed a more marked retarding effect upon seed germination 

 compared with germination of seed in unfertilized rows. There is a suggestion of 

 possible value in these results." 



The role of sulphate of iron, Coste-Floret [Proy. Agr. et Vit.., 

 26 {1890), Xos. 42, pp. 434-440; 43, pp. 463-467; 44, pp. 496-504).— This 

 is a review of work on sulphate of iron as a fertilizer and as a remedy 

 or preventive for i^lant diseases. 



It is claimed that the results favorable to this substance as a fer- 

 tilizer have always been obtained on calcareous soils. The sulphate 

 has very corrosive properties, which cause large applications of it to 

 destroy vegetation and smaller applications to retard root absorption. 

 The latter may explain its eflectiveness in certain cases against 

 chlorosis. 



Ammonium thiocyanate as an impurity in ammonium sul- 

 phate, H. J. Wheeler and B. L. Hartwell {Rhode Island Sta. Bj^t' 

 1895, pp. 281-286). — Schumann, Wagner, Krauch, Sigmund, Wollny, 

 and Juneau have called attention to the poisonous ett'ects of sulphate 

 of ammonia containing ammonium thiocyanate. 



This article records the results of comparative tests on oats in 

 galvanized-iron pots (8 in. in diameter and 14 in. deep) of white ammo- 

 nium sulphate and brown ammonium sulphate (containing traces of 

 thiocyanate) with and without the addition of lime and thiocyanate 



