960 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Division of soils, R. II. Loughridoe ( California Sla. /<'/>/. 1904, pp. 98-84). — This 

 is a summary accounl of the work of the year ended June •'!<>, L904, and includes 

 in itr- (in the importance of careful sampling and on methods of sampling, a descrip- 

 tion of the soil exhibit prepared for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and state 



tnents regarding a reexaminati i soils from the Salton Basin anil [mperial region, 



work in soil physics (mainly moisture determinations, mechanical analyses, ami 

 si Hue si in lies of ( m pi I la iv rise ami percolation "i' water), the preparation of an agri- 

 cultural map nf the State for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, examination of 



minerals, etc. 



Soils of the Province of Buenos Ayres, Argentine Republic, R. ,1. Huergo 

 (An. Miti. Agr. Argentina, Sec. Agr. {Agron.), I i 1904), ZVb. P, pp. i: 59, map I). 

 This article forms part of a detailed reporl on the agricultural conditions of this prov- 

 ince, ft discusses in detail the general physiography and agricultural condition of 



its soils, the physical i stitution and chemical composition of thesoils, and gives 



analyses of a la rut • number of soils with corresponding subsoils of the province. The 

 general characteristics of I lie soils of different districts in the province are Bhown on 

 a colored map. 



Soils of the Province of San Luis, Argentine Republic, A. L. Cravetti i An. 

 Min. Agr. Argentina, Sec. Agr. (Agron.), I (1904), No. 5, pp. .'/ 65, figs. ?). This is 

 one chapter of a detailed report on the agricultural conditions of this province and 

 deals with the general physiographic conditions, color, composition, quality and 

 deficiencies of soils, and the characteristic vegetation of the region. Analyses of 51 

 samples of soil, with corresj < I i 1 1 «_r subsoil, are reported and discussed. 



Analysis of Spanish soils (Abonos Quimicos, 5 (1905), No. 50, pp. .'■'< 27). — A 

 summary is given of analyses of 861 samples of soils Erom different provinces of 

 Spain. 



Nitrification and denitrification in cultivated soils, V. LoHNIS (Centbl. Bakt. 

 a. Par., .'. AbL, 18 (1904), No. .'.' 28, pp. 706-715; abs. in Chem. Centbl., 1905, /, No. 

 8, i>. 624). — Denitrification is shown to be inconsiderable in well-aerated soils. Pro- 

 tein formation is also inconsiderable because of an insufficiency of assimilable organic 

 matter. Nil rification generally exceeds antagonistic processes because the conditions 

 in soils are usually imnc favorable to nitrifying organisms than toothers. Under 

 certain conditions all three processes may go on at the same time in the soil. 



FERTILIZERS. 



On the agricultural value of humus, .1. Dumont | Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. [ Paris], 

 140(1905), No. /',/'/'• ■'•'''' 259). A further study of the causes of the effectiveness of 



the hnn ms fertilizer described in a previous article ( K. s. R,, Hi, p. l' 1 1 1 is reported 

 in which this fertilizer was tested alone ami in various combinations with phosphatic 

 slag, superphosphate, ami barnyard manure on beets, potatoes, corn, ami alfalfa. 



The h inn ns fertilizer gave g 1 results both alone ami iii combination with manure. 



The mineral phosphates gave very poor results w lien used alone on soils which hail 



been regularly manured for 30 years, hut the addition of organic manures increased 



the effectiveness of the phosphates. 



Six hundred kilograms per hectare of the humus fertilizer supplying L3.2 kg. of 

 nitrogen, 17. 1 kg. of phosphoric acid, and 34.6 kg. of potash gave much better results 



than I'll, HOI) kg. of manure per hectare furnishing SO kg. of nil rogen, 7 1.5 kg. of phos- 

 phoric acid, and 92 lyu r . of potash. The difference in efficiency is attributed to a dif- 

 ference in the constitution of the humus material ( matiere m>ir< ). 



In the case of the humus fertilizer this is readily nitrifiable and contains humo- 

 phosphates, or phospho-humates, which are readily disseminated in the soil and 

 assimilated by the plant, being superior in this respect to mineral superphosphates. 



