SOILS — FERTILIZERS. 715 



niul Seiitonibor. 100,'. on tlio Canada Exi)orin)(Mital Farm at Indian Head, and 

 at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, The saniph's were taken from foot sections down 

 to a depth of G ft. on uniform and mixed soils. 



Data are piven for total percentage of water, hygroscopic coefficient, and 

 percentage of free water. The conditions on cropped and fallow soils were com- 

 pare<l. The results are summarized as follows: 



"(1) All determinations of soil moisture should be made to a depth of from 

 4 to 5 ft, for wheat and oats, and to a depth of or 7 ft, for grasses. 



"(2) I'nless all the soil under consideration is very uniform, determinations 

 of the hygroscopic coefficient are indispensable. The determination of this 

 value is extremely important even where the soil is uniform. 



"(3) The storage caiuicity for available water of the two soil types studied 

 may be placed at from 5 to 7 in. of rainfall for wheat and oat crops. 



"(4) A better idea of the moisture conditions of the soil at Indian Head 

 ma.v be obtained from a casual examination in the field than from the drying 

 and weighing of the sami»les, unless the hygroscopic coefficient is considered. 



"(;■)) The moisture stored in the subsoil during the previous summer, ajul 

 not the frost of the jireceding winter, is the cause of the high yields of wheat 

 and oats obtained in southern Saskatchewan. 



"(6) The soil of southern Saskatchewan does not remain permanently frozen 

 at any depth. 



"(7) Investigations of the moisture conditions to a depth of only 12 to 16 in. 

 are of no value and ma.v often be entirely misleading." 



Studies on the soils of the northwestern portion of the Great Plains region: 

 Nitrogen and humus, F. J. Alway and K. S. Trumbull (Anirr. Chnn. Jour., 'lO 

 (1908), Xo. 2, pp. J.'il-l.'ii)). — In coiuiection with studies of these soils jire- 

 viously reported (E. S. K,, 19, p, HKi), the authors determined the nitrogen and 

 humus content of 20 samples of soils at different dei)ths from this region. The 

 results in general show " that the surface soil of the semiarid portions of west- 

 ern Canada possesses the characteristics of humid regions, while the subsoil 

 shows the mark<'d peculiarities of the subsoils of other arid regions." 



The hmniis content varied from O.S to 2.4.5 per cent, the total nitrogen from 

 0.1 to 0..'i p»'r cent. The total nitrogen in form of hiunus nitrogen varit^l from 

 27.3 to 00 per cent, the percentage of nitrogen in hnnuis from 4.0,S to 7.14. 



A soil survey of seventeen counties of southern Indiana, C. W Shannon 

 CT AL. {hiil. Dipt. (Irul. find Nat. HrNOiircrs Ann. Rpt., S2 (1007), pp. 17-298, 

 flgx. SO, VKipfi 17). — This re|(ort includes a brief account of the Indiana soil 

 survey as organized under the State dei)artment of geology, by C. W. Shan- 

 non ; a discussion of the chemical composition of Indiana soils, with.descrip- 

 tums of methods of soil analysis used, by II. E, Lyons; descriptions of Indiana 

 soil types, by C. W. Shannon; and accounts of soil surveys of Monroe. limwn, 

 Lawrence. .Martin, Orange, Washington, and .lackson counties, by C. W. Shan- 

 non and L. C. Snider; of Decatur, Jenning.s. Jefferson, I{ii)ley, Dearborn, Ohio, 

 itn«l Switzerland counties, by L. C. Ward; and of Clark, Floyd, and Harrison 

 counties by It. W. Ellis. 



The survey is conducted on a plan similar to that of the Bureau of Soils of 

 this De|)artment. which has covere<l 19 counties of the State. 



Agricultural soils |of Maryland |, W. I5. Ci.ark an<l E. 15. :m.\tiiiws ( ]ftl. 

 (irol. Siincn \lipt.]. C (tUOli), pp. 209-22S).—A general descriittion is given of 

 the typical .soils of difTerent .sti-fions of the State, attention being called particu- 

 larly to their great diversity. 



Canada's fertile northland. edited by E. J. Ciia.mhkks (Otdiini: Corf., I9()S, 

 pp. l.i'.K pis, Ul, mups .<).— Ma|)s and descriptions are given of "the northern 

 lM)rtlons of the provinces of liu«'bec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and 



