124 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECORD. 



lJah-1. [ctr.-\. 2. Aht., 26 {I'JIO), No. 8-9, pp. 272-27'.'/ ) .—This article explains, 

 quite fully the action of carbon bisulpbid on the organisms of the soil as 

 shown by the work of various investigators, antl gives practical directions for 

 its use in vineyards. 



Progress of green manuring for wet lands, H. C. Sampson {Indian Agr., 

 35 (1910), No. 1, p. 28). — The use for green manuring on wet lands in India 

 of sunn hemp, indigo, wild indigo, cowgram, groundnuts, and daincha (Sesbania 

 aculeata), is described. It is stated that these plants are especially suited to 

 green manuring because they all have the power of collecting nitrogen from the 

 air. 



Investigations on farmyard manure, E. J. Russell (Jour. Soutlieast. Agr. 

 Col. Wijr, 1908, A'o. 17. pp. 'ilfl-Ji'il). — An account is here given of investiga- 

 tions relating to the unavoidable loss in making manure and the value of straw, 

 peat, and bracken as litter. See also previous notes (E. S. R., 17, p. 230; 20, 

 p. 926). The conclusions arrived at are summarized as follows: 



" Dung made in a box under bullocks receiving linseed calje and a sufficient 

 amount of litter was found to have lost 15 per cent of its nitrogen during the 

 process of making. Every precaution possible in practice was taken to guard 

 against loss. This result agrees so closely with that obtained by other English 

 and German investigators that it must be regarded as an inevitable part of the 

 process. 



"The loss is more serious than it aiipears. for it falls entirely on the quickly 

 available nitrogen compounds; there is also a further loss since some of these 

 compounds are taken up by micro-organisms and converted into slowly available 

 and less useful substances. We can not suggest any way whereby these losses 

 can be obviated. 



" In making dung, peat moss is much better than straw as litter, because of 

 its greater power of absorbing and retaining the soluble nitrogen and potash 

 compounds of the urine. But it decomposes less rapidly in the soil, and on light 

 soils peat moss dung may be less useful than straw dung, especially in dry 

 seasons. 



"Bracken is quite a useful material for litter, being nearly as good as straw, 

 but the resulting dung is more useful on heavy than on light soils, because it 

 decomposes less rapidly than straw-made dung." 



On the conditions of nitrification in stable manure, B. Niklewski (Centbl. 

 Bakt. [etc.], 2. Abt., 26 (1910), No. 13-15, pp. 3S8-//.'/2).— Following a discus- 

 sion of the experiments and theories of various investigators on the action of 

 bacteria in stable manure, the author gives the results of a large number of 

 exi)eriments concerning the conditions of nitrification in both solid and liquid 

 manures. 



It is claimed that nitrification occurs in solid stable manure when there is not 

 much liquid manure mixed with it, and that on the first day nitrite bacteria 

 are found in the manure, coming originally not from the stock but from the 

 straw, particles of earth, etc., that stick to the manure. These bacteria increase 

 in number until at the end of 4 weeks there will be 10,000 for 1 gm. of substance. 

 Associated with these were found nitrate bacteria. 



Deep stall manure contained nitrite bacteria in very small number, and they 

 were often entirely absent. The nitrite bacteria present found unfavorable 

 conditions for development, chiefly a lack of sufficient oxygen and a high liquid 

 manure content. 



Both nitrification and denitrification bacteria seemed to liberate nitrogen 

 under the conditions found in stable manure. It is claimed that a firm pacliiug 

 of the manure and the application of concentrated liquid manure would prove 

 valuable in checking the loss of nitrogen from the heaps. The nitrite bacteria 



