SOILS — FERTILIZERS. 819 



combined yields of oats and mustard increased in amount as tlio nitrogen ad- 

 ditions increased. It is tliought, tlierefore, tliat at least in the case of the 

 molasses fertilizer tlie excess of phosphoric add favored tlic utilization of the 

 nitrogen by the plants. 



In consideration of these results and of those ol)taine<l by otiiers it is con- 

 cluded that the molasses-sludge fertilizer is from 53 to 74 per cent as effective 

 as ammonium sulpliate as a .source of nitrogen for plants. 



The production of phosphate rock in 1914, W. C. I'halen ( (7. S. Geol. Survey, 

 Mineral Resources of the United l<tatcs Calendar Year 19J4, pi. 2, pp. J^ise).— 

 This report deals with the production, sale, and use of phospiiate rock in 

 different States, and with imports and exports of fertilizer materials during 

 1914. 



The marketed production of phosphate rock in the United States in 1914 was 

 2,734,043 long tons, which represents a decrea.se of 12 per cent in quantity and 

 19 per cent in value compared with the production in 1913, and a decrease of 

 7 per cent in quantity and 17 per cent in value as comparcnl with the average 

 annual production of the 4-year period prior to 1914. The quantity of phos- 

 phate rock mined in 1914 was 2,649.174 long tons, or nearly IG per cent less 

 than that mined in 1913. In Florida the decrease amounted to nearly 19 per 

 cent, in Tennessee 3 per cent, in Soutli Carolina 1.4 per cent, and in the Western 

 States 13 per cent. 



There was reported to the Survey in 1914, 48,317 long tons of phosphate rock 

 as having been sold in finely ground form for direct application to the soil. 

 During 1914, 964,114 long tons of phosphate rock were exported from the 

 United States, mainly from Florida, which represents a decrease of 402,894 

 long tons as compared with the export in 1913. 



The phosphate industry in the Southern and Western States and in foreign 

 countries is briefly discussed. 



Potash production in California, T. H. Norton {U. S. Dept. Com., Coin. 

 Rpts., No. 137 (1915), pp. 1166-1169). — This report states that attempts to 

 develop a domestic potash industry are more advanced in California than in 

 any other section. The most promising mineral source of potash is thought to 

 be the saline deposits at Searles Lake in San Bernardino County. It is also 

 stated that experiments have indicated the technical feasibility of ex- 

 tracting sulphate of potash from Utah alunite, but the utilization of the 

 enormous masses of seaweed growing off the Pacific coast is considered to offer 

 better chances of solving the potash problem. Data as to the supply, compo- 

 sition, harvesting, preparation, direct use, and extraction of the potash of kelp 

 are given. The author is of the opinion that any extended successful de- 

 velopment of the industrial extraction of potash salts from the kelp beds 

 "would ultimately place this country in a position to cover not only the large 

 domestic demand for these compounds, but to meet German competition in other 

 lands, more especially in supplying the wants of countries on the Pacific." 



The waste from sawmills as a source of potash, C. T. Gimingham {Jour. 

 Bd. Agr. [London'], 22 {1915), No. 2, pp. 1^6-1 48). —Attention is drawn to the 

 possibility of utilizing wood ashes and flue dust obtained from sawmill furnaces 

 in place of kainit when potash manuring is contemplated by farmers and timber 

 merchants in the neighborhood of sawmills. Analyses of wood ash and flue 

 dust showed that the latter is the more valuable, sometimes containing as high 

 as 10 per cent of potash and having about the same fertilizing value as kainit. 



Cultivation of seaweed in Ireland, G. H. Pethybridge {Dept. Agr. and Tech. 

 Jnstr. Ireland Jour., 15 {1915), No. 3, pp. 5^6^49, pls. 5).— It is pointed out in 

 this article that the varieties of seaweed useful as potash manure all grow 

 attached to rocks or stones, and consequently these weeds are absent from those 



