422 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol. 40 



are large stocks of nitrate of soda in the country which were brought in for 

 munition purposes and are now available for agriculture, and in addition the 

 producing capacity of ammonium sulphate plants has been Increased from about 

 200.000 tons in 1913 to approximately 400.000 tons at present." The Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture has procured a supply of nitrate of soda, which ir is pre- 

 paring to distribute to farmers at cost for cash under much the same plan 

 as was followed last year. 



"Arid phosphate supplies should be ample to meet all demands, since there 

 is a large surplus of sulphuric acid producing capacity In the country, and our 

 own supplies of phosphate rock are. of course, available to practically any 

 extent demanded. The indications are that supplies of European potash can 

 not be secured, cither from Alsace or from Germany, in time for use this 

 sprinp." 



[Fertilizer needs of England. France, and Italy], YY. • >. THOMPSON, 

 It. A. PCABSON, T. F. Hint, and I ». EL <*<ikki; (In Bpf. \>ir. Com. I'.nrnpc. 

 Washington: U. 8. Dept. Agr., n>i9. pp. /•?. /»»'. •?/. 82, >',',. 66, B0).— In this report 

 on agricultural conditions in Greal Britain, France, and Italy, of the Agri- 

 cultural Commission to Europe (E. S, EL, 38, p. 708), it i> stated, with refer- 

 ence to fertilisers, that the situation in Great Britain " is serious, but uot 



nearly BO had as it would have I D without the fertilizer by-products from 



manufacturing and munition m a k i ng ." 



The outstanding fertilizer shortage and needs in France is also noted and it 

 is stated that "the one requirement of French agriculture upon which the 

 French authorities are agreed is the need of commercial fertilize 



The fertilizer situation in Italy is stated to 1 SUSing much anxiety. -'It 



is said that only about 16 per cent of the normal amount of phosphates Is now 



available. The phosphate question was referred to as the most serious agri- 

 cultural question in Italy for the next few years. < >n considerable areas it 



has been the custom t" secure nitrogen through alfalfa ami to accumulate 



phosphate through Its application each year for about three years. Then the 



Land was plowed and planted to wheat without phosphate. The lack of this 

 fertilizer during a short period of years is likely to have a serious effect for 

 a prolonged period. . . . The potash question is no; Some sub- 



stitutes have been found for the usual forms of potash. These substitutes in- 

 clude olive-oil residues and some local mineral deposits. Nitrates are made 

 in Italy from water power," but durine the war the quantity available for 

 agriculture was reduced to about one-third the normal amount because of 

 munitions requirements. The situation was made still more difficult because of 

 the failure <vf shipments of ammonium sulphate from England. 



Experiments with fertilizers. E. B. STQOXn (Washington Sfck, West. Wash. 

 8ta. Mo. Rul., 6 (1919K No. 10. pp. 138-lUt fifi- t). — Field tests of various fer- 

 tilizer treatments made on muck soil for a period of five years and 00 Ptt| 

 fine sandy loam and Everett gravelly sandy loam for one year are briefly de- 

 scribed. On all three types of soil, manure is said to have produced better 

 results than any of the commercial fertilizers used. The muck showed a 

 marked deficiency in potash. 



[Nitrate of soda for corn in the Southl ( T\ S. Dept. Agr., Weekly New* 1 • >- 

 trr, 6 (1919). No. SO, p. 4). — Observations for one season on the effect of sodium 

 nitrate upon corn in the South were made in '•' counties in South Carolina. 7 

 in Alabama and Virginia, 5 in Georgia, and 4 in North Carolina, by the Bureau 

 of Plant Industry in cooperation with the States Relations Service. The 

 nitrate was applied at a uniform rate of Km> lbs. per acre after the corn « 

 above the ground, usually after it had attained a height of 18 in. Classifying 



