650 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



per cent. The author does not consider this shrinkage a sufficient cause for serious 

 alarm if "it is recognized that the proper function of these stored supplies is to tide 

 the communities through the dry periods. They will be most heavily drawn upon 

 when the rainfall is lightest." 



Recent experiments with saline irrigation, C. F. Eckart {Hawaiian Sugar 

 /'/aiders' Sta. Bui. 11, pp. 14). — This is an account of a continuation on field plats 

 1,500 sq. ft. in area of experiments previously conducted in small lysimeters (E. S. R., 

 14, p. 554). In these experiments a study was made of the effect on the yield and 

 quality of sugar cane irrigated at intervals with fresh water and with water contain- 

 ing 200 gr. of salt (NaCl) per gallon (at rates of 2,199,474 and 2,864,747 gal. per acre | 

 in connection with applications of commercial fertilizers and lime in form of ground 

 coral and gypsum. 



The soil irrigated with fresh water yielded approximately 11 tons more of sugar 

 per acre than that irrigated with saline water. "The juice of the cane receiving 

 saline irrigation was characterized by lower density, less sucrose and glucose, a 

 lower purity, and a much larger content of salt than the juice of the cane receiving 

 fresh water. Where lime in the form of ground coral and gypsum was applied a 

 better showing was made in regard to density, sucrose, glucose, purity, and salt 

 content than where no lime was added. The percentage of gain in the former 

 instance was a trifle higher than in the latter. The gain in the sugar of the cane 

 where ground coral was applied was 46.6 per cent, and with gypsum 46.9 per cent, 

 compared with the plat that was not limed. . . . 



"Occasional heavy irrigations given to a moderately porous soil receiving brackish 

 irrigation is most effective in reducing the salt content of the soil to a less toxic 

 quantity. A gain of 88.1 per cent of sugar was obtained in the experiment station 

 field by a 5-in. irrigation every eighth watering. At least 77 per cent of this gain 

 may be attributed to the leaching of salt accumulations from the soil." 



Potable waters, B. C. Aston (New Zealand Dept. Agr. Rpt. 1904, p. 147). — 

 Analyses with reference to potable quality of 16 samples of water from different parts 

 of New Zealand are reported. 



Soil moisture: Its importance and management, J. A. Jeffery (Michigan 

 Sta. Bui. 219, pp. 31-40, figs. 2). — A general discussion of the subject, including 

 results of tests of the water-holding capacity of clay, loam, sandy, and muck soils. 



Investigations in soil fertility, M. Whitney and F. K. Cameron ( U. S. Dept. 

 Agr., Bureau of Soils Bui. 23, p. 48, pis. 4, figs. 7). — This bulletin reports a series 

 of observations by different methods and with different soils and culture media, on 

 the movement of water in soils and the absorption of water by seeds and by plants 

 under varying conditions. Some observations on organic matter in a lawn soil are 

 also reported. 



The studies of the evaporation from soils indicate that the rate of evaporation was 

 approximately proportional to the amount of water present, and that the loss due 

 to evaporation was not alone a surface phenomenon, but was in large part due to 

 evaporation within the soil itself, and can not therefore be used as a measure of 

 capillary movement of water. A wide difference was observed in the movement of 

 water in soil containing an optimum amount of water and in a soil short of 

 saturation. 



" If air-dry soil is packed into a tumbler, and an amount of water equal to the 

 optimum water content be poured onto the surface, it percolates quite rapidly, and 

 in a few hours a uniform distribution is established. If, however, considerably less 

 than the optimum quantity be added, the water percolates into the soil for only a 

 short distance, and uniform distribution is not established in intervals of time 

 measured by weeks and months." 



No relation was "established between the movement of water with its associated 

 plant food and the fertilitv of soils." There was no evidence that infertile soils 



