1919] SOILS — FERTILIZERS. 131 



work ou Caribou loam on Aroostook farm (E. S. R., 39, p. 327). Clover yields 

 are said to have been too uneven to justify any conclusions, while the following 

 tentative deductions with regard to oats and potatoes are presented : Nitrogen 

 appears to be the limiting factor on this soil for both oats and potatoes. 

 Neither phosphoric acid nor potash affected the yields of oat grain. Small 

 amounts of potash increased the yield of potatoes, while phosphoric acid had 

 no effect. 



[The progress of soil investigations in India,, 1917—18] {Rpt. Prog. Agr. 

 India, 1917-18, pp. 66-7.3, 101-10/f). — Soil fertility investigations conducted in 

 various parts of India are rather briefly summarized. 



Some notes on manures in southern India, W H. Harrison {Madras Agr. 

 Dcpt. Yearbook, 1918, pp. 52-66).. — It is noted that the fertilizer resources of 

 this region are limited. Small amounts of lime and gypsum are available. The 

 supply of branyard manure is limited and poor. A certain amount of Tri- 

 cliinopoly phosphates, oil cakes, and fish manures can be had. 



The influence of farmyard manure on the clover crop, E. J. Russell {Jour. 

 Bd. Agr. [London], 26 {1919), No. 2, pp. 12/f-130). — Results of experiments at 

 Rotharasted, the Ohio Experiment Station, and elsewhere are cited to show that 

 " farmyard manure may have an important residual effect on clover which 

 should be taken into account in estimating its effect on the rotation." In all 

 of the cases cited except one, manure was more effective than other fertilizers 

 in increasing the growth of clover in rotations with other crops. 



[American peat industry in 1918] {U. S. Geol. Survey Press Bui. 412 {1919), 

 p. 2). — ^The production of crude peat in 1918 was 151,521 short tons as com- 

 pared with 97,363 tons in 1917. The amount of refined peat marketed was 

 107,261 tons worth $1,049,493. Of this amount 79,573 tons was used for fer- 

 tilizer purposes, 7,096 in the manufacture of stock food, 20,.567 for fuel, and 25 

 tons for miscellaneous purposes. The increase during the year in the use of 

 peat for fuel was especially noteworthy. The total number of plants engaged 

 in commercial production of peat was 25. New York and New Jersey had 4 

 plants each, Massachusetts 3, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, and California, 2 each, 

 and Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and 

 Florida 1 each. 



The Bucher cyanid process for the fixation of nitrogen, E, Posnjak and 

 H. E. Mebwin {Jour. Wash. Acad. Sci., 9 {1919), No. 2, pp. 28-30; abs. in 8ci. 

 Abs., Sect. B— Elect. Engin., 22 {1919), No. 255, p. 90).— In the investigations 

 here briefly reported, "it was found by means of microscopical examinations 

 that the nitrogen-bearing constituent of some of the crude technical products 

 manufactured by this process [i. e., heating a mixture of sodium carbonate, 

 charcoal, and iron powder in a stream of nitrogen at a temperature above 900°] 

 consisted principally of some other substance than ordinary sodium cyanid." 



The question of phosphatic fertilizers, E. MitoE {Rev. Sci. [Paris], 57 

 {1919), No. 7, pp. 202-210). — Investigations relating to physical, chemical, and 

 biological methods of making phosphates available as plant food are quite fully 

 reviewed with numerous references to literature, including the recent American 

 work of Lipman, McLean, Brown, and others on the action of sulphur and 

 bacteria in rendering mineral phosphates available, and the fertilizing value of 

 the products obtained by various methods is discussed. The author considers 

 the American work of great interest and practical significance and promise. 



Phosphatic nodules of Trichinopoly and their availability as manure, M. R. 

 Ramaswami SrvAN {Madras Agr. Dept. Yearbook, 1918, pp. SIf-51, pis. 2, figs, 

 li). — The results of a Government survey of the district in which the phosphate 

 is found are reviewed and the phosphatic nodules are described. An analysis is 



