1010] SOILS — FERTILIZERS. 125 



The effects of calcium oxld were more pronounced than those of calcium car- 

 bonate. Water-soluble potassium was increased In two soils and decreased In 

 two, soluble magnesium Increased Ln four cases and decreased In one, soluble 

 sulphate Increased in four soils, and soluble phosphates Increased In two, while 



in only one case was a significant increase in nitrate observed. 



The authors stale that "it is evident from the data considered that all soils 

 do imt react chemically with lime in the same manner. Furthermore, even the 

 same soil under different concentrations of soil solution, due to cropping or 

 fallowing, may react differently. No attempt is made to explain the reasons for 

 the changes observed. Evidently, the addition of lime compounds changes the 

 equilibrium in the complex soil solution, and the resultant effects are varied 

 and Impossible to predict. Further study involving determinations of all the 

 elements concerned would be necessary before even a plausible hypothesis could 

 be advanced." 



Neutralization of sour soils (Bui. R. I. State Col., tS {1918), No. h- !>■ 89). 

 In a comparison at the Rhode Island Fxperiment Station of the different forms 

 of lime it is stated that "no positive crop differences developed where high 

 magnesium limestone, high calcium limestone, or the burned and hydrated 

 products produced from them were added in quantities sufficient to neutralize 

 the same amount of acid in the laboratory. There appears to he no reason 

 for avoiding the magnesian products." The lime in Thomas slag phosphate 

 is said to he about one-third as efficient as that in the finest carbonate (E. S. 

 R., :!7, p. 815). 



Largely through the continued use of sulphate of ammonia instead of nitrate 

 of soda for top-dressing lawn grasses, the soil acidity was maintained to such 

 an extent that weeds were eliminated. This heing especially marked in the case 

 of crab grass. See also a previous note (E. S. R., 37, p. 446). 



Much of the benefit derived from liming is thought to be due to the precipitation 

 t)f aluminum from the soil solution. Laboratory and solution experiments have 

 shown that aluminum itself, aside from the acidity of its salts, was much more 

 toxic to barley than to rye, affecting the two plants in the same manner as do 

 so-called acid soils. See also a previous note ( E. S. R., 39, p. 114). 



An analysis of dry ground starfish showed it to contain approximately 5 per 

 cent of nitrogen and 127 per cent of calcium oxid. 



[Work in soil chemistry and bacteriology at the New Jersey Stations, 

 1917] (New Jersey Stag. Bid. 317 (1917), pp. 28-3> t ) .— This notes the progress 

 of field and cylinder experiments on nitrogen availability and nitrogen accumu- 

 lation and utilization, and descrihes new work undertaken to determine the fer- 

 tilizer requirements of corn and potatoes. 



The average yield of timothy on the nitrogen availability plats was 2,562 11 is. 

 per acre for the unlimed plats and li.47l2 lbs. for the limed plats. It is suggested 

 that the reduced yield on the limed plats may have been due to a more rapid de- 

 pletion of the nitrogen in the absence of legumes in the rotation. Rotation 

 experiments in which clover supplied part of the nitrogen resulted in higher 

 yields of timothy on the limed plats. Nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, 

 farm manure, and dried blood added to Penn loam soil in cylinders resulted in 

 a recovery of 55.77. 41.75, 29.S5, and 29.41 per cent of the applied nitrogen, re- 

 spectively. In cylinders containing soils of varying mechanical composition. 

 01 per cent of the nitrogen applied as nitrate of soda was recovered as compared 

 with 30 per cent from dried blood. 



Wheat and rye grown continuously on the nitrogen accumulation and utiliza- 

 tion plats are said to have given unusually low yields. Wheat grown on plats 

 seeded to soy beans immediately after the wheat harvest yielded 5 bu. per acre 



