SOILS FERTILIZERS. 817 



The author concludes that " volatile antiseptics are undoubtedly effective in 

 increasing the productive capacity of a soil under laboratory and ix>t culture 

 house conditions, but are unsuitable for application on tlie larger scale. An 

 ethcient soli<l substance would be very convenient in use and probably nuuh 

 cheaper than methods of partial sterilization by heat." The exiieriments thus 

 far made " have not revealed any suitable new nonvolatile substance. They 

 have, however, onii)hasizod the value and explained the action of phenol and 

 cresol and have emphasized, altliough they have not explained, the action of 

 formaldehyde" in causing an initial increase in ammonia but an irregular inhi- 

 bition of nitrification. 



Note on the increased nitrate content of a soil subjected to temporary 

 drying in the laboratory, W. Buddin (Jour. Agr. Sci. [Enr/laud], 6 {191 Jf), 

 Ao. If, pp. J^52-.'i'yr)) . — In the course of the experiments noteil jibove it was found 

 that the untreated soils, spread out at the same time the treated soils were 

 spread to evaporate the antiseptics, contained after a period of incubation con- 

 siderably more nitrate than similar soils whicli had been kept permanently 

 moist. The soils originally contained only a little more ammonia and nitrate 

 than the moist soil and when dried contained less rather than more bacteria. 

 This increased amount of nitrate " appears to be due not to absorption from 

 the atmosphere but to tlie formation of more nitrate from the residues in the 

 soil in spite of the fact that the numbers of bacteria are not increased." 



These results are considered important in that they show the necessity of 

 spreading the untreated soil side by side with the treated to avoid error in all 

 work with volatile antiseptics. 



Ammonification studies with soil fungi, H. C. McLean and G. W. Wilson 

 CSew Jersey Stas. Bui. 270 {191 Jf), pp. 3-39, fig. 1). — Ammonification studies 

 using dried blood and cotton-seed meal with an acid gravelly loam and a neu- 

 tral red shale as media are reported, the main purpose being to determine the 

 ammonifying efficiency of the fungi present in the soil. Preliminary experi- 

 ments on the effect of acid phosphate and acid phosphate and lime on ammonia 

 accumulation in soils and on the effect of acid phosphate on the ammonification 

 of dried blood by bacteria indicated that fungi rather than bacteria were 

 responsible for the large accumulations of ammonia in soils containing acid 

 phosijhate and organic nitrogen in the form of dried blood. 



In a series of ammonification exiieriments with pure cultures of fungi, it was 

 found that of the fungi studied, including members of the Aspergillacese. 

 Mucoracese, Dematiace:e, and Mouiliaceje. nil had the power of ammonifying 

 both cotton-seed meal and dried blood. Fungi belonging to the Moniliacete were 

 the most active ammonifiers. 



" The indivi<lual members of this group showing the highest ammonifying 

 efficiency were Trichodcnna koeniiigi strain v. 2 and 7'. koeningi strain v. 3. The 

 latter fungus gave the maximum ammonia accumulation in the soil of any 

 fungus studied, from both cotton-seed meal and dried blood. The highest 

 ammonia accumulation was from the dried blood. The Aspergillaceae contained 

 the siiecies showing the least ammonifying power. . . . 



" Where dried blood was used as a source of nitrogen, acid phosphate was 

 found to increase the ammonia accumulation in the soils with IS out of the 

 26 pure cultures of fungi studied. On the other hand, where cotton-seed meal 

 was added as a source of nitrogen, ammonia accumulation was increased only 

 in the case of 8 out of the 25 cultures used in the test. . . . 



"All of the fungi with the exception of four, viz, Zygorrhynchus vuilleminii, 

 Rhizopiis nigrwans, Monilia sitopliila, and Altteor hiemalis, were able to ammo- 

 nify dried blood more readily than cotton-seed meal. The results of these 

 experiments make it appear that the ammonification of the soil organic matter, 

 by fungi, depends not only upon the chemical and physical composition of the 



