252 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



the Lodids may have been washed down and thus rendered harmless to barley, which 



is a surface feeder. 



Miscellaneous experiments. — Twenty-four grains of a sample of wheat badly affected 

 with smut were soaked in water at a temperature of 50 to 55° C. for 15 minutes and 

 sown and compared with 24 untreated grains from the same source. The plants 

 from the untreated seed produced only 10 sound grains, while those from the treated 

 seed yielded over 900 grains with only about .'5 per cent of them affected with smut. 

 This method of treatment also gave good results with barley. 



Soil stud its are being conducted for the purpose of determining whether lime 

 restores fertility by supplying a necessary constituent to the soil, by neutralizing the 

 acidity, or by its effect upon the physical condition, .and further to ascertain the nature 

 i if the acidity formed in the soil. The history of the soil under investigation is given, 

 and the observations which suggested this line of work are described. 



In studying the effects of lime a series of soil samples were continuously treated 

 with the following solutions, each one used for the treatment of a particular sample: 

 Distilled water, nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, and muriate of ammonia. The 

 teachings were analyzed, and while the work is not completed at present, the 

 observations so far made are summarized. The distilled water passed through 

 the soil slower than any of the solutions and was largely retained. The nitrate of 

 soi la solution often retained w r ater on the surface by forming a hard surface crust, 

 while the solutions of sulphate of ammonia and muriate of ammonia also hardened 

 the surface of the sample, but the drying of the soil resulted in large fissures through 

 which the liquid could pass more quickly into the lower portions of the sample than 

 in the other tests. 



The distilled water removed comparatively little organic matter from the soil, 

 while the first teachings obtained from the samples treated with the solutions of 

 ammonia salts were deeply colored. The removal of lime, as well as that of mag- 

 nesia, was smallest with the water and increased with nitrate of soda, sulphate of 

 ammonia, and muriate of ammonia, in the order mentioned. The rate of removal 

 with muriate of ammonia was twice as rapid as with nitrate of soda. Sulphate of 

 ammonia was a less potent factor in removing lime than muriate of ammonia, still 

 more exhaustive than nitrate of soda. The author states that the removal of lime 

 from the soil is most rapid in spring and summer, when nitrification is most active, 

 and that it almost ceases during the winter. This investigation will be continued 

 until the lime is exhausted. 



The experiments to determine the nature of the acidity in the soil were begun in 

 November, 1901. Surface soil to the depth of 7 in. was washed with distilled water 

 until it had lost its acid character and was then air dried. A similar sample was 

 exposed to the air for 5 months by being spread out and shoveled over from time to 

 time. In this sample also the acidity practically disappeared through the treatment. 



Six plants each of wheat, barley, and oats were grown on these samples and com- 

 pared with crops produced on ordinary field soil not treated with ammonia salts, on 

 acid soil, and on the same acid soil treated at the rate of 1 ton per acre of calcium 

 chlorid. The object of these tests was to determine whether the injurious effects of 

 soil acidity could be removed by washing, aeration, or neutralization, and whether 

 the different crops were equally affected. 



Wheat and barley grew best on the washed soil and oats on the aerated soil. Oats 

 did not seem as sensitive to soil acidity as either wheat or barley. Watering the 

 ordinary field soils with leaehings from the acid soil did not give a marked reduction 

 of crop. The results obtained are given in the following table: 



