510 EXPEEIMENT STATION" KECOED. 



storms are practically unknown ; there are merely tbe gusts which are forerun- 

 ners of the many thunderstorms and can be pretty violent." 



Temperature in cultivated and uncultivated soil, and influence of good 

 cultivation, D. A. Gilchrist {County Northumb. Ed. Com. Bui. 22 {1915), pp. 

 97, 9S). — Observations in adjacent plats cultivated to a depth of 2 in. and 

 uncultivated showed a more even temperature in the former at a depth of 1 ft. 

 At a depth of 4 ft. there was no appreciable difference. The uniformity of tem- 

 perature in the cultivated soil is attributed to its higher water content. 



The rains of the Nile basin and the Nile flood of 1912, J. I. Craig {Survey 

 Dept. Egypt Paper 32 {191^), pp. 104, P^^- 7). — Observations similar to those of 

 previous years (E. S. 11., 30, p. 511) are included in this report. The last chap- 

 ter contains an extension of the known equation of continuity for a river to 

 include the effects of seepage, evaporation, and rainfall, and applies the theory 

 to calculate the losses on the White Nile between Malakal and Omdurman in the 

 beginning of 1912. 



SOILS— FERTILIZERS. 



Soils of the eastern coal field, S. C. Jones {Ey. Geol. Survey [Rpt.'], 4- ser., 1 

 {1913), pt. 2, pp. 1067-107S). — This article discusses the soils of an area of 

 about 10,000 square miles in eastern Kentucky, the topography of which is 

 rough, hilly, and mountainous. 



The soils of the area are classed as ridge, hillside, and bottom soils. The 

 ridge soils vary from sand to sandy loams, silt loams, or loams with a clay sub- 

 soil. The hillside soils are loams, silt loams, sandy loams, and shale or gravel 

 loams with a yellowish or reddish loam subsoil mixed with sandstone gravel. 

 The first bottom soils consist of brown sandy loams and loams, and the second 

 bottom soils of loams and silt and clay loams, varying in color from gray to 

 yellow and brown. 



Chemical analyses by the state experiment station of soils from different 

 counties in the area show that the soils of the upper coal measures " contain on 

 an average about twice as much total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total 

 potassium as the lower coal measures soils. Also, they contain a much larger 

 amount of soluble phosphorus and potassium." The bottom lands are all acid 

 and contain much less total nitrogen and soluble phosphorus and potassium, due, 

 it is stated, to long cultivation without any system of crop rotation." 



Soil survey of Webster County, S. C. Jones {Ey. Geol. Survey [Rpt.'], 4' 

 ser., 1 {1913), pt. 2, pp. 1079-1107).— This report deals with the soils of an 

 area of 214,400 acres in western Kentucky, the topography of which is divided 

 into low flat bottoms, undulating or gently rolling upland, and broken or hilly 

 upland. With reference to origin, the soils are residual and transported, the 

 former occupying the upland soils and comprising 135,680 acres and the latter, 

 the bottom lands, comprising 78,720 acres. 



Five soil types are recognized, of which the yellow silt loam of the hilly and 

 undulating lands predominates. Mechanical and chemical analyses (the latter 

 by the state experiment station) of each type are reported. ''Both the crop 

 yields and chemical analyses indicate a lack of plant food in all these soils 

 with the exception of the dark brown clay loam." The soils are more abund- 

 antly supplied with potassium than with either phosphorus or nitrogen. A large 

 portion of the bottom soils need drainage. 



Pot experiments with a soil similar to the yellow silt loam of this county 

 showed that " on the whole, phosphorus decidedly increased the yields of wheat, 

 oats, and clover, but not that of tobacco. Nitrogen decidedly increased the 

 yields of wheat, oats, and tobacco, but not that of clover. Potassium mod- 

 erately increased the yields of wheat and oats and slightly increased that of 



