18 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



The author's well-known views with reference to the value of finely ground 

 calcium carbonate as compared with quicklime and of insoluble phosphates as 

 compared with soluble phosphates are fully set forth, and the theories of the 

 Bureau of Soils of this Department regarding soil fertility are discussed at 

 length. 



The book is divided into four parts, (1) science and soil, (2) systems of 

 permanent agriculture, (3) soil investigations by culture experiments, and (4) 

 various fertility factors. Part 1 contains chapters on foundation facts and 

 principles, the more important elements and compounds, plant food and plant 

 growth, the earth's crust, soil formations and classifications, soil composition, 

 available plant food, soil surveys by the United States Bureau of Soils, soil 

 analyses by the United States Bureau of Soils, crop requirement for nitro- 

 gen, phosphorus, and potassium, and sources of plant food : part 2, chapters 

 on limestone, phosphorus, organic matter and nitrogen, rotation systems 

 for grain farming, live-stock farming, the use of phosphorus in different 

 forms, and theories concerning soil fertility ; part 3, chapters on the 

 Rothamsted experiments, Pennsylvania field experiments, Ohio field experi- 

 ments. Illinois field experiments, field experiments in the South including 

 southern Illinois, JNIinnesota soil investigations, Canadian field experiments, and 

 ^hort-time pot-culture and water-culture experiments in comparison with field 

 results; and part 4, chapters on manufactured commercial fertilizers, crop 

 stimulants and protective agents, critical periods in plant life, farm manure, 

 losses of plant food from plants, losses of plant food from soils, fixation of 

 jilant food by soils, analyzing and testing soils, relation of fertility to appearance 

 of soils or crops, factors in crop production, essential factors of success in 

 farming, the value of land, and two periods in agricultural history. 



An appendix contains sections relating to the production of phosphate rock, a 

 model fertilizer law, composition of animal and plant products, statistics of 

 agricultural products, methods of soil analysis, comjiositinn of some European 

 soils, and agricultural colleges and experiment stations in the United States 

 and Canada. The book also contains an index which adds to its value for ref- 

 erence purposes. 



The conservation of the fertility of the soil, H. W. Wiley (Nat. Conserv. 

 Com. R[)t., 1909, vol. 3, pp. 269-300). — This is in the main a review of early 

 studies of soil fertility with definitions of soil fertility and a statement regard- 

 ing the utility of rotation of crops. 



Crop yield and soil composition, M. Whitney (Nat. Conserv. Com. Rpt., 

 J!i09, vol. 3, pp. 9-107). — Substantially the same as Bulletin 57 of the Bureau 

 of Soils iireviously noted (E. S. R., 22, p. IS). 



Whitney's theory of soil fertility, O. Lemmermann (Mitt. Dent. Landio. 

 GeselL, 2.} (1909), No. 50, irp. 739-7Ji2, fig. 1; ahs. in Ccnihl. Bait, [efc], 2. AM., 

 26 (1910), No. 25, pp. 686, 687).— The theory is explained and it is stated that it 

 runs counter to accepted principles of fertilization. 



The removal of silt from soils by the waters of the Seine, A. MiJNTZ ( Compt. 

 liend. Acad. iici. [Paris'^, 1.50 (1910), No. 5, pp. 257, 258; Bui. Soc. Nat. Agr. 

 France, 70 (1910), No. 1, pp. f), 1,5; ahs. in Rev. Sci. [Paris], 1,8 (1910), I. 

 No. 7, p. 220; Mark Lane Express, 103 (1910), No. J,09Ji, p. 3(95).— Estimates are 

 given of the amount of fine soil particles removed by the recent Seine fiood from 

 its drainage basin, and the agricultural importance of the data is discussed. 



An analysis of a sample of the flood water showed from 140 to 150 gm. of 

 silt per square yard, and it is estimated that the flood carried away fi'om 

 ir.,000 to 20,000 tons of soil per day while it lasted. Considered with reference 

 to the whole area of the drainage basin of the Seine in the vicinity of Paris, the 



