1917] SOILS — FERTILIZERS. 523 



Fertilizer experiments with lime on tobacco soils, 1913—14, E. Sidenius 

 {rrocf-stat. Vorstciihind. Tabak [Dutch East Indies], ]\Iedcd. 11 {1915), pp. 

 /5--J0). ^Experiments ou the influence of liming on tobacco soils are reported. 



It was found that in some cases the quality of the tobacco was improved and 

 in some cases injured. In the majority of cases the lime was especially active. 

 Liming reduced the percentage of light-colored leaves, but in no case the burn- 

 ing qualities of the tobacco. The color of the ash was improved by liming in 

 some cases, but in most cases no difference was observed between limed and 

 unlimed plats. The results as a whole are taken to indicate that no great profit 

 resulted from the liming of tobacco soils. 



Ground limestone for use in New York State, J. F. Bakker and W. W. 

 Bakr (Neio York Slate Sta. Bui. 430 {1911), pp. 21-32, pis. J,, fig. i).— This gives 

 data 011 the distribution of limestone production in New York, reports analyses 

 of G9 samples of ground limestone produced by New York plants and by com- 

 panies in near-by States shipping limestone into New York, and gives general 

 information on the comparative values of ground limestones and on their use 

 in agriculture. 



The international trade in fertilizers and chemical products useful to 

 agriculture, P. Van Hissenhoven {Internat. Inst. Agr. Rome, Internat. Crop 

 Kpt. and Agr. Statis., 8 {1911), No. 3, pp. 239-308) .—This, the sixth of these 

 semiannual reviews, is dated March, 1917, and gives comparatively complete 

 statistics for 1913 and 1914 and incomplete data for 1915 and 1916. The data 

 are taken from both official and private sources. Generally speaking, the 

 more recent information is largely from pt-ivate sources, while the official 

 data are, as a rule, not later than 1913 and 1914. 



It is stated that the phosphate mined in the United States fell to 1,865,123 

 metric tons in 1915. The shipment of Florida hard rock was almost insignificant 

 in 1916, namely, 33,000 tons, of which 4,600 tons was for domestic use. The 

 decline in shipment of land pebble was not so great. " In 1916 and in 1915 

 shipments to countries other than the United States were practically identical 

 in quantity, but they both show a deficiency of nearly 700,000 tons as com- 

 pared with the shipments of this description of phosphates effected prior to 

 the war." Shortage of labor and of sulphuric acid are named as causes of 

 this decline. The exports of Tunisian phosphate increased in 1916 to 352,000 

 tons as compared with 226,000 tons in 1915 and 355,000 tons in 1914. There 

 was increased activity in 1916 in exploitation of the Pacific islands phosphates. 

 The exports of Egyptian phosphates declined something over one-third in 191(1. 



The estimated total production of potash salts in Germany in 1916 is reported 

 to have been 900,000 tons. Of the 24,638 tons of saltpeter produced in India in 

 1916, 21,749 tons went to Great Britain and Ireland. The average prices per metric 

 ton of the principal potash salts in the United States (New York) during 1916 

 were as follows : Kainit, $45.26 ; sulphate of potash, $315 ; and muriate of pot- 

 ash, $400. The prices for these salts remained fairly constant during the year, 

 being slightly lower on the whole at the end than at the beginning of the year. 



The production of nitrate of soda was slightly less during the second half 

 of 1916 than during the first. The stocks on hand on the Chilean coast were 

 not more than 718.315 tons at the close of 1916. The total production for the 

 year was 2,914,.542 tons, and the export, 2,991,786. The exports to Europe and 

 Egj-pt amounted to 957,772 tons during the last half of 1916, as compared with 

 673,348 tons during the corresponding period of 1915. The exports to the 

 United States during the second half of 1916 amounted to 592.901 tons, as 

 against 452,582 tons in 1915. Of the amovint exported to the United States, 

 526,261 tons went to the Atlantic States and 51,683 tons to the Pacific States. 

 The average price in New York during 1916 was $72.35 per metric ton. 



