i30 - EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. tVol. 41 



The waslied lands of Indiana: A preliminary study, M. L. Fishee {Indiana 

 Sta. Circ. 90 (1919), pp. 2Ji, figs. 18). — The nature and causes of soil erosion in 

 the State are discussed and various methods for its prevention and for re- 

 claiming washed areas are brifly described. The principal preventive measures 

 are said to comprise strip farming, mulching the brow of steep slopes, skip 

 plowing, diverting the run-off, and keeping the land in permanent vegetation ; 

 while the recovery of badly eroded land includes filling in the gullies with 

 straw, cornstalks, weeds, brush, tree tops, logs, and trees ; the seeding of alfalfa 

 or other hay and pasture plants or the growing of wheat or corn; and liming 

 and preparing the seed bed for grasses, particularly redtop and Kentucky blue 

 grass, on deniided surfaces. 



[Report of soil work in Georgia] (Georgia Sta. Rpts. 1917-18, pp. 15, 16). — 

 Continuing observations previously noted (E. S. R., 37, p. 23), it is stated 

 that the rapid increase in numbers of bacteria in soil receiving stable manure, 

 sterilized manure, or green manure persisted for several months, and was due 

 largely to the addition of fermentable material. A study of bacteria picked 

 from plates inoculated with variously treated soils is held to show that the 

 increase in numbers was due to the multiplication of small sporeless forms, 

 with but little increase in the number of Actinomyces. A large number of gas- 

 producing forms are said to have followed the addition of sterilized manure, 

 but to have disappeared in two or three weeks. 



A strain of Bacilhus radicicola isolated from vetch and at that time unable 

 to inoculate alfalfa is said to have acquired this power after growing with 

 alfalfa meal in heated .soil for two years. The same strain grown on nitro- 

 gen-poor agar for two years remained specific for vetch. Soy beans and 

 velvet beans were found to be inoculated with the same strain of B. radicicola. 

 Most of the native legumes appeared to be well inoculated, while redbud 

 (Cercis canadensis), wild coffee bean (Cassia tora), honey locust (Gleditsia 

 triacanthos) , and mimosa, although abundant and well established in the State, 

 are said to be entirely lacking in nodule formation. 



[Report of soils work at the Delaware Experiment Station, 1918], T. P. 

 Manns (Delatvare Sta. Bui. 122 (1918), pp. 28, 29). — Observations on crop yields 

 and changes in the bacterial flora in 10 different types of soil subjected to vari- 

 ous fei-tilizer, lime, and manurial treatments in a continuation of similar work 

 previously noted (E. S. R., 39, p. 116), are held to indicate that applications 

 of manure, phosphorus, and lime have resulted in the highest crop yields on 

 most of the soils, and that additions of manure produced the greatest changes 

 in the soil flora. 



Results of fertilizer experiments in Arkansas, DeF. Hungerford (Arkansas 

 Sta. Bui. 155 (1918), pp. 3-27, figs. 4). — Fertilizer experiments with cotton and 

 corn begun in 1909 and conducted for different lengths of time at the station, 

 on outlying experiment fields, and in cooperation with farmers and district 

 agricultural schools in the State are reported on in some detail, the more im-' 

 portant results having already been noted from another source (E. S. R., 39, 

 p. 21). 



Nitrogenous fertilizers such as nitrate of soda, cottonseed meal, and barn- 

 yard manure produced decided increases in crop yields in most of the experi- 

 ments, while both acid and rock phosphate used in conjunction with them also 

 proved to be beneficial. Acid phosphate used alone was not profitable except 

 where the soil had been previously well manured or where legumes had been 

 plowed under. Ground limestone gave profitable returns in practically every 

 instance. 



Soil test experiment at Aroostook farm [1918], C. D. Woods (Maine Sta. 

 Bui. 278 (1919), pp. 33-56, figs. 3). — This describes the progress of soil fertility 



