SOILS — FERTILIZERS. 217 



sugar beets and potatoes are reported. The direct and after effects of the 

 manures are discussed. 



Experiments with fertilizers in Java, A. W. K. De Jong {Dept. Landb., 

 Nijv. en Handel [Dutch East Indies], Mcded. Agr. Chem. Lab., No. 6 {191Jf), 

 pp. 1-65). — Experiments with fertilizers, particularly superphosphate, on dif- 

 ferent Java soils are reported. The crop most largely experimented with was 

 rice, but experiments were made with other crops including sugar beets, sweet 

 potatoes, corn, and tobacco. The most pronounced result obtained was the evi- 

 dence of a general need of phosphoric acid in the soils. 



The fertilizing of fish ponds, W. Hamee (Mitt. Land. Fisch. Vet: Herzog. 

 Oldenburg, Jf {1911,), No. 2; abs. in Zentbl. Agr. Chcm., J,3 (191^), No. 8, p. 

 571). — Comparative tests on a number of fish ponds of various fertilizer mix- 

 tures used to increase the aquatic growths which the fish can consume and thus 

 reduce the amount of food which must be supplied them are reported. It was 

 found that the most profitable returns in fish produced were from the use of a 

 mixture of potash and Thomas slag. 



The nitrog'en of processed fertilizers, E. C. Lathrop (U. S. Dcpt. Agr. Bui. 

 158 (1914), pp. 24)- — An account is given in this bulletin of studies of the 

 nitrogenous compounds occurring in a fertilizer made by the treatment of vari- 

 ous trade wastes and refuse such as hair, garbage tankage, leather scraps, etc., 

 with rock phosphate and the requisite amount of sulphuric acid. 



It was found that the hydrolysis of the protein was almost complete, the 

 nitrogenous compounds in the finished fertilizer being principally the products 

 of primary protein decomposition, together with a small amount of a proteose- 

 like compound. Among the nitrogenous compounds isolated were guanin, hy- 

 poxanthin, arginin, histidin, lysin, leucin, and tyrosin, as well as a proteose- 

 like compound which was found to be composed of acid amid radicals, diamino 

 acid radicals, especially lysin, and monoamiuo acid radicals, particularly the 

 monoamino acids which contain nonamino nitrogen. 



" From a consideration of the amount and the physiological action on plants 

 of the different forms of nitrogen present in the fertilizer it is concluded that 

 the water soluble nitrogen of this fertilizer should have an availability equal to 

 or greater than the nitrogen of dried blood, or other high-grade fertilizers. 

 These results are in accord with the results obtained by the plant method of 

 determining availability." 



The general principle underlying this method of rendering available the 

 nitrogen in trade waste is, therefore, shown to be either partial or complete 

 hydrolysis of the protein, resulting in products which are not only directly 

 utilized as nutrients by plants, but are more easily ammonified in the soil than 

 the more complex compounds such as peptones, proteoses, and the proteins 

 themselves. 



On the presence of nitrites in calcium cyanamid, C. Manuelli (Ann. Chim. 

 Appl. [Rome], 1 {191.'t), No. 3-.'f, pp. 110-114). — Calcium cyanamid was found to 

 contain a maximum of 0.56 per cent calcium nitrite. 



The synthetic use of metals in organic chemistry, A. J. Hale (Philadelphia, 

 1914, PP- XI -{-169). — This book contains a section explaining fully the reactions 

 involved in the fixation of free nitrogen resulting in the formation of calcium 

 cyanamid which is of special interest from the standpoint of agricultural 

 science. 



Phosphate deposits in the Mississippian rocks of northern Utah, W. 

 Peterson (Science, n. ser., 40 (1914), ^^0. 1038, pp. 755, 756). — Examinations of 

 phosphate exposed in a cliff of very compact bluish gray limestone outcropping 

 along the sides of the Logan River Canyon in Utah are reported. The zone of 



