826 EXPEEIMENT STATION EECOBD. 



In the majority of the samples tested there was found little tendency toward 

 nitrate formation, and in most cases there appeared a reducing tendency in- 

 stead. Also, few of the moor soils showed the presence of nitrates. It is stated 

 as causes for this that moor soil does not afford a suitable medium for the 

 existence and activity of nitrifying organisms, and that the chemical composi- 

 tion is such as rapidly to reduce nitrates and ammonia rather than to oxidize 

 them. Denitrifying organisms are not thought to play an important part in the 

 reduction of the nitrates in these soils since a steady reduction of nitrates was 

 found in a sterilized humus. From the difficulty experienced in detecting nitri- 

 fying organisms under the conditions encountered in the moor soils, and from 

 the fact that nitrates were found in some cases, it is thought that these nitrates 

 may have originated from the action of hitherto unknown nitrifying organisms, 

 but that the conditions encountered in general indicate that the presence and 

 formation of nitrates in these cases is due to a purely chemical oxidation of 

 organic matter. 



New nitrog-enous fertilizers, A. Stutzeb (IUus. Landw. Ztg., 33 {1913), No. 

 93, p. 839, fig. 1). — Brief reference is made to the possible use as fertilizer of 

 guanidin and urea and nitrates of these compounds derived from calcium 

 cyanamid. 



Tests of the agricultural value of Burkheiser salt, M. de Molinari and O. 

 LiGOT {Ann. GemUoux, 23 {1913), No. 12, pp. 619-625, figs. 2).— This material, 

 which is a crude ammonium sulphate, obtained by a special process as a by- 

 product of gas making, was tested in pot experiments on soil and sand with 

 oats, the general conclusion being that the fertilizing value of the salt was 

 practically the same as that of ammonium sulphate. 



The influence of ferrous sulphate and gypsum on crop yield and nitrogen 

 recovery, J. G. Lipman, A. W. Blaie, I. L. Owen, and H. C. :^^cLEAN (New 

 Jersey Stas. Rpt. 1912, pp. 270-277).— The results of four years' plat experi- 

 ments with corn, oats, wheat, and timothy, using ferrous sulphate at rates of 

 50, 100, and 200 lbs. per acre and gypsum at rates of 200, 500, and 1,000 lbs. per 

 acre in connection with other necessary fertilizing materials, are reported. 



The results show that there was an increase in dry matter and total nitrogen 

 in every case where iron sulphate was used. The plat receiving iron sulphate 

 at the rate of 100 lbs. per acre made the greatest gains in total nitrogen in every 

 case and the gi'eatest gains in crop and total dry matter in nearly every in- 

 stance. As a rule, the plat receiving iron sulphate at the rate of 200 lbs. per 

 acre made the least gain. 



The corn crop on the plat receiving gypsum at the rate of 1,000 lbs. per acre 

 made gains in grain, dry matter, and nitrogen comparable with those made on 

 the plat receiving 100 lbs. of iron sulphate. The other gypsum plats either 

 made only slight gains or yielded less than the check plat. 



Magnesia in agriculture, A. Hutin (Bui. Assoc. Chim. Sucr. et Distill, 31 

 {1913), No. 5, pp. 3Jf7-351). — This article discusses briefly the relation of mag- 

 nesia to nitrification in soils and the growth of plants. A number of determina- 

 tions showing the relation of total and soluble magnesia and the lime-magnesia 

 ratio of a coastal plain sugar-cane soil in Peru are reported, and comparing these 

 data with the growth of cane the author reaches the general conclusion that 

 cane is able to accommodate itself to soils which contain from 1.5 to 4 times 

 as much lime as magnesia. 



The fish-scrap fertilizer industry of the Atlantic coast, J. W. Turrentine 

 (U. S. Dept. Agr, Bid. 2, pp. 50, pis. 6). — This bulletin presents a summary of 

 information regarding the history and present status of the fish-scrap fertilizer 

 industry in terms of equipment and output and its proposed and possible de- 

 velopment, including a discussion of the particulars in which the processes now 



