FERTILIZERS. 233 



all(^wed freedom, revert back to some eommon form when continuously Ijred under 

 one set of geological surroundings. . . . Even the 'original variety or l)reed,' if it 

 can be traced to its beginning, will be found to have been influenced or ' develoi^ed ' 

 by the geological conditions of its habitat." In method of treating the subject this 

 book differs essentially from Risler's CUologie agricole and the various available trea- 

 tises on origin, formation, and characteristics of soils. 



FERTILIZERS. 



A study of tlie phosphorus nutrition of plants, T. Schloesing, jr. {Compt. 

 Briul Acad. Sci. Paris, Vl'f {1902), No. 1, pp. 53-35).— A study was made of soils, 

 one of which was comparatively rich in soluble phosphates, the other quite poor. 

 The plant experimented with was maize, and the amount of phosphoric acid taken 

 up from the different soils is shown. In the soil rich in phosphates the phosphoric 

 acid soluble in water was 1,012 mg. per 36 kg. of soil, while that taken up by the 

 plants grown in pots containing this amount of soil was 1,115 mg. In the soil poor 

 in this constituent the amount of soluble phosphoric acid was 199 mg., while the 

 l)lants obtained from the soil 451 mg. This shows that while the soluble phosphates 

 are readily absorbed it is not necessary that they should be entirely in a state of 

 solution, as the roots of the plant are able to dissolve the compound without the 

 intervention of soil water. 



The fertilizing value of deep-stall and yard manure, I\I. Gerlacii {Juhresber. 

 Ijindw. Vers. Stat., Jersitz-hei-Posen, 1900-1901, p. 24; uhs. in Chrtn. CnitJd., 190.J, II, 

 No. 11, p. 764; Centhl. Agr. Chem., 31 {1902), No. 8, p. 505).— The deep-stall manure 

 used in the pot experiments here reported contained 0.521 per cent of total nitrogen 

 and 0.086 per cent of water-soluble nitrogen. The yard manure contained 0.446 per 

 (■ent of total nitrogen and 0.022 per cent of water-soluble nitrogen. The results of 

 the experiments showed that weight for weight the deep-stall manure gave a much 

 larger yield than the yard manure, but the addition of potash and i^liosphoric acid 

 increased the yield in both cases. The nitrogen of the yard manure was much less 

 effective than that of the deeivstall manure. 



The influence of additions of straw, peat, manure, etc. , on the action of 

 nitrate nitrogen and the action of Alinit, M. Gerlach {Jahresher. Landw. Vers. 

 Stat., Jersiiz-hei-Posen, 1900-1901, pp. 22-25; abs. in Chem. Centhl., 1902, IT, No. 11, 

 p. 763). — Applications of straw diminished the action of nitrate nitrogen to a consid- 

 erable extent; peat with nitrate nitrogen reduced the yield of grain (barley) some- 

 what, but increased that of straw; cow manure with straw and nitrate had almost 

 no influence on the yield. Alinit in presence of an application of carlionaceous mat- 

 ter was without effect on Itarley. 



Note on the effect of manuring upon the milling property of the grain, 

 F. B. Guthrie and G. W. Norris {Agr. Gaz. New South Wales, 13 {1902), No. 7, pp. 

 727-729). — A preliminary report on the milling quality of wheat grown on plats fer- 

 tilized with sulphate of ammonia, nitrate of soda, dried blood, superphosphate, and 

 suli)hate of potash in various combinations. 



The preservation of manure with superphosphate-gypsum, kainit, and 

 sulphuric acid, T. Pfeiffer, F. Moszeik, O. Lemmermaxx, and E. Wallnitz {Arh. 

 Dent. Landw. GeseU., 1902, No. 73, jip. 49). — A large number of experiments on this 

 subjet-t are reported. The general coni'lusions reached are that there is a consider- 

 able loss of nitrogen from manure in the stall. With daily removal of the manure 

 the loss was less than when it was allowed to remain for 7 days under the animals. 

 This, however, should not be taken as contradictory to the favorable results obtained 

 in the deep-stall method. The loss of nitrogen both in the stall and in the heap was 

 greater in the summer than in winter. Kainit and superphosphate-gypsum in 



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