1917] SOILS FERTILIZERS. 421 



deficient in calcium carbonate; [and] they showed the presence of moderate 

 amounts of available phosphoric acid and potash. Characteristically the soils 

 aU possessed an appreciable degree of acidity, as evidenced by the lime require- 

 ment for neutralization. 



" The biological activity of the soils was found to be as follows : The value 

 for the figure for partial sterilization indicated the existence of a moderate 

 activity of putrefactive bacteria. Nitrogen-fixing organisms of the Azotol)acter 

 type were found to be present, and the soils showed small, but appreciable, 

 nitrogen-fixing power. The soils also possessed appreciable ammonifying 

 power, but were completely deficient in nitrifying power. 



" During the 14 years which have intervened between the eruption and the 

 date on which the samples were taken, considerable progress has been made 

 in the conversion of the sterile ash deposits then laid down into fertile soil." 



Tlie " g-all patches " in Antigua soils, H. A. Tempany (West Indian Bui. 

 16 {inJ7), No. 2, pp. 1S7-1U, fig. i).— Chemical and biological studies of so- 

 called gall patches in sugar cane soils, together with cultural experiments with 

 cane and examinations of cane, are reported. 



" The results indicate clearly that the effect in question is due to the presence 

 of sodium carbonate in the soil. The origin of this sodium carbonate is attrib- 

 uted to interaction between the calcium carbonate and the sodium chlorid dis- 

 solved in soil water and brought up from saliniferous deposits at deeper levels." 



Sterilization and fatigue of soil {Sta. Agron. Finist^re et Lab. Dept. Bui., 

 1914-15, pp. 24-36). — Experiments on the treatment of soil-growing turnips with 

 benzin and toluene in amounts equivalent to 100, 125, 150, 175, and 200 liters 

 per hectare showed that the largest yield of turnips by weight was obtained 

 with benzin added at the rate of 100 liters per hectare (about 10.7 gal. per acre). 

 The benzin was also superior to toluene in amounts of 125 liters per hectare. 

 The toluene gave better results in the higher concentrations, but a treatment of 

 100 liters per hectare of benzin gave as good result as 175 liters of toluene. 



Influence of crop, season, and water on the bacterial activities of the soil, 

 J. E. Greax-es, R. Stewaet, and C. T. Hikst ( U. S. Dept. Agr., Jour. Agr. Re- 

 search, 9 (1917), No. 9, pp. 293-341, fig. 1).—The work of others bearing on the 

 subject is briefly reviewed and investigations conducted at the Utah Experi- 

 ment Station with a rich sedimentary soil are reported Twenty ^-acre 

 plats were divided into five equal sets of plats. The first set was left fallow, 

 the second was planted to alfalfa, the third to corn, the fourth to potatoes, and 

 the fifth to oats. One of these sets received a maximiim, one a medium, and one 

 a minimum application of water, and one set was unirrigated. The plats were 

 sampled during the spring (about the middle of April), midsummer (about the 

 last of July), and in the fall (the last of October or the first of November). 

 The samples were analyzed for moisture, nitric nitrogen, number of bacteria 

 developing on synthetic media, and the ammonifying and nitrifying powers. 



It was found that " the quantity of nitric nitrogen in the surface 6 ft. of 

 alfalfa soil is comparatively low throughout the season, but is higher in the 

 fall than in the spring or summer. The quantity present decreases as the water 

 applied increases; yet the quantity formed in the soil increases as the water 

 applied increases, but is greate.st per acre-inch of water when only 15 in. of 

 water are applied. The quantity of nitric nitrogen in the surface 6 ft. of potato, 

 oats, corn, and fallow soil decreases as the water applied increases; but the 

 quantity formed for each of the cropped soils is greatest where the largest 

 quantity of water was applied. The quantity formed per acre-inch of water 

 applied is greatest where only 15 in. of water were applied. 



