714 EXPERIMENT STATION RECOED, 



are liberally used, and finely ground limestone may be used with advantage, 

 especially on pasture land. In other cases quicklime is preferable, and, as a 

 rule, when lime in this form can be bought for little more than that in car- 

 bonate. 



Manure on chernozem (Ttestnik Selsk. Ehos., 1909, Nos. 49, 50, 51-52; 

 abs. in Zhiir. Opytn. (Rkss. Jour. E-rpt. Landw.), 11 (.1910), No. 3, p. Jfl5). — 

 The author concludes from a critical review of data from the Kherson, 

 Odessa, and Poltava experiment fields and from the Ploti, Shatilov, and Ivanov 

 experiment stations, that there is no doubt of the need of chernozem soils for 

 fei-tilizers. The value of manure on such soils is determined by its content 

 of phosphoric acid and nitrogen. The value of potash on chernozem soils re- 

 mains undetermined. The same is true of the indirect value of manure, but 

 the after effect of manure is considerable, lasting usually for four years. 



The mineral matter of hay and chemical fertilizers, G. Paturel {Jour. 

 Agr. Prat., n. ser., 21 {1911), No. 1, pp. 12-lJf). — Analyses of hay grown with 

 different fertilizers are cited to show that the mineral matter of hay is increased 

 to a marked extent by the use of chemical fertilizers, the increase being great- 

 est in the case of phosphoric acid and somewhat less in the case of lime and 

 magnesia. The maximum increase was observed when fertilizers containing 

 phosphoric acid and potash Vv^ere applied. Leguminous plants are especially 

 susceptible to this action of fertilizers. 



Peruvian g'uano {Bol. Dir. Fomento [Peru], 8 {1910), No. 8, pp. 3, Jf). — 

 Analyses of 66 samples of guano from islands off the coast of Peru are reported. 

 In these the nitrogen varied from 1.4 to 14.84 per cent, the phosphoric acid 

 frorfl 4.6 to 19.45 per cent, and the potash (in 9 samples) from 1.39 to 3.9 per 

 cent. 



The relative effect of different forms of nitrog'en on the yield of oats in 

 dependence upon the character of the soil and the conditions of the experi- 

 ments, N. OvcHiNNiKov {Zliur. Opytii. Agron. (Russ. Jour. Expt. Latidiv.), 11 

 {1910), No. 4, pp. 481-532). — Various nitrogenous fertilizers were tested in con- 

 nection with a basal fertilizer supplying potash and phosphoric acid on sandy, 

 light loam, medium loam, and clay soils in Wagner pots, the yield and nitrogen 

 content of the crop being determined. The yield was influenced to a marked 

 extent by the character of the soil, the largest yield with all forms of nitrogen 

 being obtained upon the medium loam soil, the smallest on the sandy soil. 



Calcium nitrate, Norwegian nitrate, and ammonium sulphate gave higher 

 yields than sodium nitrate on all except the sandy soils, on which the phy- 

 siological acidity of the ammonium sulphate seemed to produce unfavorable 

 results. The three substances first named produced almost the same results, 

 but the nitrogen of ammonium sulphate was assimilated to a larger extent 

 than that of the calcium nitrate or the Norwegian nitrate. The coeflicient of 

 nitrogen assimilation was higher for calcium nitrate, Norwegian nitrate, and 

 ammonium sulphate than for sodium nitrate. 



Of the organic nitrogenous fertilizers tested steamed bone meal was most 

 readily assimilated, its coelEcient of assimilation on a medium loam soil being 

 higher than that of sodium nitrate. The assimilation of calcium cyanamid was 

 much lower than that of sodium nitrate. The nitrogen of blood meal was 85 

 per cent as assimilable as that of sodium nitrate on medium loam soil and 63 

 per cent as assimilable on loam soil. The lowest coefHcient of assimilation was 

 shown by meat meal and raw bone meal, which were almost unutilized on sandy 

 soils. 



Calcium cyanamid increased the yield of grain more than that of straw, the 

 organic nitrogenous fertilizers showing as a rule the same tendency. The 

 increase of grain as compared with straw was greatest on the light loam soil. 



