WATER SOILS. 927 



gations on tlie pliypical properties of soils carried on dnring the year are Ijrietiy 

 summarized. A marked difference was found to exist in the capillary movement of 

 water in dry and in moist soils. In one instance the capillary rise in moist soil was 

 over 4.5 times that in the dry soil. Sodium carbonate in solution was found to 

 facilitate the rise of water in dry soil. Pure quartz sand was found to absorVj 200 

 times the amount of carbon dioxid that would ordinarily be t'ontained in a volume 

 of air e(]uivalent to that in tlie sand. A filter was devised for field use for obtaining 

 clear soil solutions for chemical analysis. These investigations are to })e reported in 

 detail later. 



Apj)licalion of flic (heor;/ of solution to the Miuhj of soils, F. K. Coineron (pp. 423- 

 453). — The main features of this article have already been noted from other sources 

 (E. S. R., 13, pp. 232, 428). 



Results of tobacco experiments conducted in various jjarls of tlie United States, M. L. Floi/d 

 (pp. 455-473).— See p. 946. 



Results of investigations on the Rothamsted soils, B. Dyer ( U. S. Dcpt. 

 Agr., Office of Experiment Stations Bid. 106, pp. ISO). — This bulletin contains the lec- 

 tures delivered under the provisions of the La wes Agricultural Trust before the Asso- 

 ciation of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations at Xew Haven 

 and :\Iiddletown, Conn., in November, 1900 (E. S. R., 12, p. 407). These lectures 

 give a complete summaiy to date of the results of observations and experiments on 

 the Rothamsted soils, extending over a number of years. They describe the method 

 of soil sampling used at Rothamsted; give the results of mechanical analyses and 

 determinations of nitrogen, carbon, chlorin, phosphoric acid, potash, and humus in 

 soils which have been subjected to different systems of croj^ping and manuring; and 

 discuss the nitrogen conteiit of the humus of Rothamsted soils. The data reported 

 have been i-)artly published elsewhere (E. S. R., 13, p. 30), but by far the greater 

 portion of the matter, including the results of the author's recent exhaustive studies 

 on the phosphoric acid and potash contents of Rothamsted soils, is new. 



A study of the available mineral plant food in soils, C. C. Moore [Jour. 

 Amer. Chem. Soc, 24 [1902), No. 1, pp. 79-116, Jig. i).— The merits of the pot-test 

 method of determining the available plant food in soils are discussed and the yields 

 and fertilizing constituents of crops (oats and buckwheat) grown in a series of pot 

 experiments during the past 5 years on 34 typical soils from different parts of the 

 United States are compared with the results of various chemical methods of deter- 

 mining available plant food in the soils. The mineral constituents of the extract 

 obtained by digestion of 10 gm. of each soil in 100 cc. of 1.115 sp. gr. hydrochloric 

 acid for 10 hours, the total potash and phosphoric acid obtained by repeated digestion 

 with hydrofluoric acid, the carbon dioxid, total and nitric nitrogen, carbon, hydro- 

 gen, and insoluble matter are reported for each soil, as well as their mechanical 

 composition; and the results of tests of various methods of determining available 

 potash and phosphoric acid by digesting in hydrochloric acid of different strengths, 

 citric acid, and ammonium citrate are reported. 



In the digestion of the soils a Wagner shaking machine, modified by Wiley to per- 

 mit of digestions being made at definite temi>eratures, was used. "The modifica- 

 tion comprises a well-fitted double wall sheet-iron chamber, in which the revolving 

 shaft, together with the attached fiasks, are encased. By use of a thermostat, and 

 owing to the circulation of the air as caused by the revolving of the fiasks, such a 

 temperature as 40° may easily be maintained f(jr hours with no more variation than 

 0.5°." A preliminary study of the effect of varying the time of digestion was made, 

 which showed that 10 hours was apparently sufficient. 



The total potash and phosphoric acid was determined by the following method: 

 "Weigh out 2 gm. of soil into a 2-in. platinum dish, and ignite over a Bunsen 



