212 EXPEKIMENT STATIOIST BECORD. [Vol.41 



map 1). — This survey, made in cooperation witli tlie California Experiment 

 Station, deals with the soils of an area of 189,440 acres situated in the south- 

 western part of the State and including the northwestern part of Santa Bar- 

 l>ara County and the southwestern part of San Luis Obispo County. The region 

 comprises the Santa Maria Valley, the Nipomo Mesa lying from 100 to 200 ft. 

 above the valley floor, and the Arroyo Grande Valley, together with the inter- 

 vening hills and parts of the adjacent mountains. 



With respect to their origin the soils of the area are said to be residual 

 from underlying consolidated rocks, derived from coastal plain and old valley- 

 tilling material, eolian, recent-alluvial, and miscellaneous. In addition to 

 coastal beach and dunesand, riverwash, rough, broken, and stony land, and 

 peat, 32 soil types of 12 series have been mapped. Oakley sand, occupying 

 16.2 per cent of the total area, is the prevailing type. 



Soil survey of Saratoga County, N. Y., E. T. Maxon and J. H. Bromley 

 (C7. /S'. Dcpt. Agr., Adv. Sheets Field Oper. Bur. Soils, 1917, pp. 42, fig. 1, nmp 

 1). — This survey, made in cooperation with the New York State College of 

 Agriculture, deals with the soils of an area of 526,720 acres situated in the 

 east-central part of the State. The topography of the region varies from smooth 

 plains in the eastern part to rolling uplands in the southern and southwestern 

 part. The elevations range from about 200 to 2,600 ft. above sea level. Nat- 

 ural drainage is well established. 



The soils of the county are of glacial origin, the upland soils consisting of 

 glacial till or sediments laid down in lakes or as outwash plains. Exclusive 

 of rough stony land and muck, 27 soil types of 13 series are mapped. Gloucester 

 stony fine sandy loam, Merrimac flue sand, rough stony land, and Dutchess loam, 

 occupying 20.8, 19.4, 11.8, and 10.5 per cent of the total area, respectively, 

 prevail. 



Agricultural conditions and land classification in the south half of Min- 

 nesota, F. Leverett and F. W. Sardeson {Unii\ Minn., Gcol. Survey Bui. llf 

 {1919), pp. 45-62, pis. 2, fig. 1). — This is a brief outline, particularly as related 

 to their geological origin, of certain of the characteristics and agricultural 

 possibilities of different classes of lands of the southern half of Minnesota, 

 " beginning with the driftless area and taking up the several drifts and asso- 

 ciated deposits in order of their age and the alluvial deposits of the present 

 streams." A table is given sliowing percentages of improved land in each 

 county of the area by decades, 1870-1910, with notes on the dominant soils and 

 vegetation. 



Peat and muck soils, J. W. Ames {Mo. Bui. Ohio Sta., 4 {1919), No. 5, pp. 

 161^165). — The formation and composition of peat and muck soils in Ohio are 

 briefly described and their fertilization, drainage, claying, and adaptation to 

 crop production discussed. A tabular statement is presented showing the 

 chemical composition of 18 representative samples of such soils occurring in 

 the State. 



Nitrification in moor soils, T. Arnd {Centbl. Bald, [etc.1, 2. AM., 49 {1919), 

 No. 1-4, pp- 1-51). — The author discusses at some length the work of other in- 

 vestigators relative to the subject, together with the results of his own ob- 

 servations on the influence of lime upon nitrification in both high and low 

 moorland soils and on the occurrence of nitrite- and nitrate-forming organisms 

 in these soils. 



He concludes that in raw, unlimed, high, and low moor soils of acid reaction 

 no nitrification takes place. Small applications of lime, insufficient to correct 

 acidity, failed to stimulate nitrification, whereas sufficent lime to insure neu- 

 tralization is said to have so improved the physical conditions of the soil as 



