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EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Composition of fresh and leached coir manure. 



Fresh manure. 



Solid. 



Solid and 

 liquid. 



Leached manure. 



Solid. 



Solid and 

 liquid. 



Ash 



Organic matter 



Nitrogen (total ) 



Nitrogen soluble in water . 



Nitrogen as nitrates 



Nitrogen as ammonia 



Nitrogen, soluble organic. 

 Nitrogen, insoluble organic 



Pho.sphoric acid 



Potash 



Per cent. 

 1.831 

 12. 375 

 .293 

 .060 

 .015 

 .031 

 .014 

 .233 

 .372 

 .141 



Per cent 

 2.645 

 12.281 

 .463 

 .211 

 .031 

 .090 

 .090 

 .252 

 .410 

 .199 



Per cent. 



3.176 



19. 781 



.431 



.056 



Per cent. 



3.005 



18.381 



.498 



.169 



.056 

 .376 

 .504 

 .350 



.329 

 .508 

 .414 



These figures show that there was in case of the solid manure a loss of 34 per 

 cent of the nitrogen, 27 per cent of the phosphoric acid, and 10 per cent of the pot- 

 ash; but in case of the mixed solid and liquid excrement a loss of 44 per cent of the 

 nitrogen, 16 per cent of the phosphoric acid, and 28 per cent of potash. 



Pot experiments with oats and millet were conducted with the above manures in 

 the manner described in the last report. Regarding the amount of nitrogen recov- 

 ered by the crops as 100 in case of nitrate of soda, the relative availability of the 

 different nitrogenous fertilizers in these experiments was as follows: 



Relative availability of nitrogen in different forms. 



Oats and 

 millet. 



Nitrate of soda 



Sulphate of ammonia 



Dried blood 



Solid manure, fresh 



Solid manure, leached 



Solid and liquid manure, fresh . . . 

 Solid and liquid manure, leached 



100.0 

 77.9 

 61.3 

 43.1 

 46.4 

 88.4 

 33.0 



Superphosphate applied broadcast, Maizieres {V Engrais, 16 {1901), No. 44, 

 pp. 1047, 1048). — The dissemination of the phosphoric acid in the soil when super- 

 phosphates are applied broadcast is discussed. 



Fertilizer experiments -with apatite, feldspar, etc., J. Sebelien {Tidsskr. 

 Norske Landbr., 8 (1901), No. ;?, j)p. 69-78). 



The use of ammoniacal fertilizers on calcareous soils, E. Giustiniani [Ann. 

 Agron., 27 {1901), No. 10, pp. 462-486, jig. 1). — This is a continuation of previous 

 experiments on the reactions which occur between calcium carbonate and ammonium 

 sulphate in the medium of sterile sand (P". S. R., 12, p. 330). The experiments 

 here reported consisted of (1) mixing ammonium sulphate and varying amounts of 

 calcium carbonate with a good garden soil in glass bottles so arranged that the 

 amount of ammonia given off could l)e determined; (2) determining the amount of 

 nitrates present at different dates in similar mixtures of the soil in funnels; and (3) 

 pot experiments with barley to determine the proportion of nitrogen recovered bj' 

 the crop from soils fertilized with varying amounts of calcium carbonate, ammonium 

 sulphate, and sodium nitrate. In order to lay down a rule for the use of ammoniacal 

 fertilizers in calcareous soils the author undertook first to determine the loss of nitro- 

 gen due to the reaction between ammonium sulphate and calcium carbonate in quartz 

 sand (see previous experiments referred to above)and a good garden soil. In the first 

 case it was shown that in the absence of all bacterial action the reaction between the 

 two salts was complete, and if a current of air was introduced the total ammonia was 



