SOILS FERTILIZEES. 819 



"Of the substances added to the nmmire to fix ammonia, gypsum and sodimn 

 acid sulphate were the most efhcieut. but superphosphate of lime, kaiuit, and 

 carbonate of lime increased the loss of nitrogen. Of the antiseptics added to 

 check fermentation, chloroform acted best, followed by bleaching powder and 

 formalin. The reduction in the loss of nitrogen, where such occurred, was, 

 however, not sufficient in any case to repay the cost of the substance used. 

 The most effective method of preserving the manure from losses of nitrogen 

 was to trample the manure and to cover it with a 3-in. layer of soil." 



Fresh and rotted manure was applied broadcast and in drills in autumn and 

 spring on two rotations, (1) potatoes, wheat, grass, and oats, and (2) turnips, 

 barley, grass, and oats, with the result that fresh manure applied in drills in 

 the spring gave unifonnly the best results both with the root crops and for the 

 whole rotation. "About 9 per cent of the increase for root crops of the drilled 

 manures was due to the method of applying the manure in drills over that of 

 broadcasting. In the case of the autumn application of manure, when the 

 manure was applied to turnips, there was a 5 per cent increase in favor of 

 plowing in the manure at once compared with leaving the manure on the surface 

 some time before plowing it in. When the manure was appliofl to potatoes 

 there was not much to choose between the two practices." In the potato rotation 

 about 50 per cent of the total increase due to the manure was accounted for in 

 the first crop (ix»tatoes) and the manurial residue was not exhausted at the 

 end of the rotation. In the case of the turnip rotation 65 per cent of the total 

 increase was accounted for in the first crop (turnips) and the manurial residue 

 was practically exhausted by the second crop. " Farmyard manure yields, when 

 applied in drills in spring to potatoes, about 60 per cent, and to turnips about 

 80 per cent, of its total manurial value for the rotation, compared to a yield of 

 about 40 ijer cent with potatoes and about 50 per cent with turnips when the 

 manure is applied broadcast in the autumn. Small dressings of manure, of about 

 10 tons, produce proportionately a better return with the first crop than large 

 dressings of about 20 tons, but the latter leaves proportionately a larger i-esidue 

 than the former." 



From comparative tests of fresh v. rotted manure applied at rates of 20 tons 

 per acre in drills in the spring it was concluded that the relative efficiency of 

 the manures depends largely upon the amount of available nitrogen which they 

 are capable of yielding to the crop, although, as a rule, short rotted manure 

 produces better results on light soils than long fresh manure. Large applica- 

 tions (20 tons per acre) of manure to potatoes left a manurial residue in the 

 soil which produced a notable increase on the fourth crop following the applica- 

 tion of the manure. With turnips the residual effect was hardly visible after 

 the second crop. Small applications (10 tons per acre) produced no effect after 

 the second crop. The addition of superphosphate, potassium sulphate, and 

 ammonium sulphate to the manure did not affect this result, showing that the 

 artificial fertilizers were exhausted by the crop to which they were applied. 



The article gives numerous analyses of different kinds of manure, especially 

 a series of analyses of cow manure from 12 typical dairy farms which 

 showed total nitrogen, 0.237 to 0.462, average 0.346 per cent; ammoniacal 

 nitrogen, 0.024 to 0.129, average 0.064 per cent; phosphoric acid, 0.170 to 0.428, 

 average 0.266 per cent; and potash, 0.263 to 0.497, average 0.3S1 per cent. 



Results of two years' work on London Soil Experiment Field, G. Roberts 

 (Kentucky Sta. [Circ], pp. 3). — (Comparative tests of different fertilizers on a 

 rotation of corn, wheat, and cowpeas on a fine sandy loam, especially deficient 

 in nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and calcium carbonate, but containing a fair pro- 

 portion of potash, showed that the most profitable method of improving such a 



