SOILS FERTILIZERS. 25 



of potassium farhoii.ite ;iiul no soda. The iiifdiuiii and better fla.s.ses of snils 

 produce from 1',()<J0 to 4,000 lbs. of stalks, stems, etc., per acre, contaiuinjj; au 

 average of 3 to 4 per cent of ashes. One acre of sunflowers, therefore. i)roduc»'s 

 jibout 1(!0 lbs. of ashes and 40 to .'jS lbs. of potash. The crude ashes bring from 

 0.5 to 0.8 cts. per pound. 



Phosphate beds [of South Carolina], K. Sloan {Handbook of t^outli C'nro- 

 liiui. Vohtmhia: State Dcpt. Agr., Com. and ImmUj., 1907. pp. 125-127). — De- 

 posits of this material in the State are briefly described. 



The phosphate minerals from Elder Rock, D. Mawson and W. T. Cooke 

 (Trans. Roy. Soc. So. Aust., 31 (1907). pp. 65-70, fig. 1). — The investigations on 

 this subject are summarized as follows : 



"(1) Elder Rock is a prominent, abrupt mass, standing in a level plain in 

 the arid northern districts of South Australia. 



"(2) A hard yellow phosphate encrusting the top of the rock is the remnant 

 and more insoluble part of a larger deposit of guano, chiefly bird-derived. 



"(3) The soluble salts of the guano have, to some e.vtent, saturated the rock 

 for a depth below; in a favorable spot this impregnation has been effective for 

 at least 46 feet in the vertical. These compounds are chiefly nitrates of 

 ammonia, with some fixed alkali and phosphate. The more soluble compounds 

 have percolated to greater deptlis. 



"(4) The hard yellow pliosphate on top of the rock is a mixture of the 

 minerals, chiefly iron and aluminum phosphates, and lias no definite comp(»si- 

 tion ; it is. however, here referred to as paratooite. Two widely divergent 

 types are described, the commoner near to evansite, and a scarcer globular 

 phosphate related to beraunite. 



"(5) Paratooite probably has a wide distribution, as small scattered occur- 

 rences in the arid northern parts of South Australia. 



" So far as we are aware, no similar phosphate has ever previously been 

 described from Australia." 



Phosphatic slags, P. Marsais (Rev. Vit., 29 (1908), No. 733, pp. .9-/2).— In- 

 formation regarding the manufacture, composition, and use as a fertilizer of 

 different kinds of phosphatic slags is summarized in this article. Attention is 

 called to the beneficial results obtained from large applications of slag in the 

 Rhine vineyards and it is pointed out that the increasing demand and rising 

 price of the material raises the question of replacing slag by mixtures of super- 

 phosphate and mineral phosphates. 



Phosphatic fertilizers, G. Fasoli (Indus. Chim., 7 (1907), pp. 327, 328; ahs. 

 in Clicin. Zrntbl., 1908, I, No. //, p. Ji21). — The preparation of superphosphates is 

 briefly described and the following are given as the best conditions for this 

 purpose : Sulphuric acid of between 50 and 53° Baume and a temi)erature 

 not to exceed 110° C. The fertilizer should never be mixetl with gypsum, 

 since the latter I'educes the solubility of the superphosphate on standing. 



On the reversion of phosphoric acid in superphosphates, K. Herbst (Ostcrr. 

 Ungar. Ztschr. Zuckcrindus. n. Landir., 36 (1907), pp. 6.'i5-652 ; abs. in Clirm. 

 Zrntbl., 1908, I, No. 3, p. 285). — The author gives a brief summary of previous 

 in\estigation on the reversion of i)hosi)heric acid. He attributes such reversion 

 in superphosphates to the action of iron salts, particularly feri'ous and ferric 

 sulphates, which are foinued in the process of treating natural phosphates with 

 sulphuric acid in the manufacture of superiihosi)hato. The calcium and mag- 

 nesium salts present in superphosphates are practically witliout effect in tliis 

 respect. It is explained that by the action of ferrous and ferric salts on 

 monocalcium and monoaluminum phosphates insoluble ferric phosi)hate 

 (FePOi+xH^O) is formed. In the presence of free sulphuric acid a double 

 ferric-alumiuic phosphate (Al=03.Fe203(P205)2+H20) is formed. The author 



