FERTILIZERS. 859 



Nobbe and L. Richter (Landw. Vers. Stat., 60 (1904), No. 5-6, pp. 488-448). — Ether 

 and hydrogen peroxid applied to soils on which peas were grown failed to sterilize 

 the soil and increased the yield of peas, the increase in case of ether emulsion being 

 41.5 per cent, 



Oats on soils treated with ether, benzene, carbon bisulphid, and chloroform gave 

 larger yields and assimilated inure ash and nitrogen than on soils not so treated, the 

 effect extending to the second crop. 



The soils apparently underwent no change and the results are attributed to the 

 direct stimulating effects of the substances applied or of the products of their 

 decomposition. 



Syllabus of illustrated lecture on acid soils, H. J. Wheeler ( U. S. /></>/. Agr., 

 Office of Experiment Stations, Farmers Inst. Lectures, pp. 28). — This lecture deals 

 briefly with distribution of acid soils, tests for acid soils, correctives tor acidity in soils, 

 poisonous effects of sulphate of ammonia on acid soils, relation of acidity to produc- 

 tiveness, availability of nitrogen as affected by acidity, relation of acidity to potato 

 scab and other plant diseases, methods of applying lime to acid soils, effect of acidity 

 on phosphates in the soil, and relation of different plants to soil acidity. 



On the humus acids of gray sand (Bleisand) and brown sandstone (Ort- 

 stein), A. Mayer (Landw. Vers. Stat., 60 (1904), No. 5-6, pp. 475-480).— The humic 

 acids of the "ortstein" contain less carbon than those of the "bleisand." It is sug- 

 gested that the humic acids of the latter are oxidized in the presence of ferric oxid 

 and dissolve as ferrous salts of oxyhumic acids which are afterward oxidized in the 

 subsoil to insoluble ferric salts. 



Investigations on the black soils of the Legienen Estate, Rbssel, East 

 Prussia, E. Blanck (Landw. Vers. Stat., 60 (1904), No. 5-6, pp. 407-418). — Complete 

 chemical and mechanical analyses of several samples are reported. These soils con- 

 tained much less humus than the black soils of Russia. 



Second annual report of the Reclamation Service [U. S. Geological Sur- 

 vey], 1902-3, F. II. Newell ( U. S. House Representatives, 58 Cong., .'. Session, Doe. 

 44, pp. , r >, r >0, pl§. 69, jigs. 56). — This is a continuation of the first annual report, the 

 statements in which are here supplemented by an account of results obtained during 

 the field season of 1903. 



Detailed descriptions arranged in alphabetical order by States and Territories are 

 given of the field operations. Projects under consideration or actually undertaken in 

 Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New 

 Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and 

 Wyoming are discussed. The aggregate fund available at the end of the fiscal year 

 1903 for the reclamation work from sales of public lands, fees, commissions, etc., is 

 stated to have been $16,191,836.34. 



The soil and the geological history of Morocco, S. Meunier (Rev. Sci. [Paris], 

 5. ser., 3 (1905), Nos. 9, pp. 257-259; 10, pp. 296-303).— -A general account. 



FERTILIZERS. 



Exact methods of conducting field experiments with fertilizers, and vari- 

 ous questions relating to the use of nitrate of soda and ammonium salts as 

 fertilizers, P. Wagner et al. (Mitt. Ver. Deut. Landw. Vers. Stat., 1904, No. 2, pp. 

 IV I 95, figs. 2). — The exact method of making field experiments with fertilizers, 

 especially as developed by Wagner at Darmstadt, is described in detail, and experi- 

 ments by the method on barley, oats, winter wheat, winter rye, potatoes, sugar beets, 

 and fodder beets to determine the relative value as fertilizers of ammonium sulphate 

 and sodium nitrate are reported and the results discussed in their scientific and prac- 

 tical bearings. 



25503— No. 9—05 3 



