922 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



(Alb. Dent. Landxc. GesclL, JDOS, AK. I '/ti, pp. 118; abx. in Mitt. Dcut. Landtc. 

 Gc^cll., 2S ili)08), No. 36, p. 300; Mark Lane Express, 9'J (1908), No. J,02l, p. 

 J,i5; Cliem. Zig., 33 (1909), No. 18, Rcprrt., p. 79).— This report gives an account 

 of lalKiratory, pot. and field experiments with these fertilizinj,' materials duriiiK 

 the years liM)". to 1007. 



The lal)orat(>ry exiieriuients dealt with the study of losses of nitrogen when 

 lime nitro}ien was mixed with soil and witli peat and other coarse materials, 

 and when lime nitroj^eii and suli»hate of ammonia were applied as top-dre.ssing. 

 The pot experiments were made in the ordinary way with oats, rye, and potatoes. 

 In the Jield experiments the crops used were rye, wheat, barley, potatoes, and 

 sugar beets. 



Nitrate of soda in general produced the l)est results. Sulphate of ammonia 

 was on the average about 00 jter cent as effective as nitrate of soda in tield 

 exi»erim(>nts and 03 per cent as effective in pot experiments. In the field experi- 

 ments ammonium sulphate was always used in combination with suiieri)hos])hate 

 in tlie belief that with such a combination there was no danger of lo.ss of am- 

 monia. The Norwegian basic lime nitrate gave practically the same I'esults on 

 most of the crops as nitrate of soda, although on wheat the latter was slightly 

 superior. Calcium cyanamid did not give good results, especially with beets, on 

 sandy and sandy loam soils. It gave good results except in case of beets on the 

 better class of soils, although it did not prove etpial to nitrate of soda. When 

 used on wheat on good soil the efhciency of lime nitrogen was SO per cent of that 

 of nitrate of soda in field experiments and 85 i)er cent in pot experiments. Under 

 the same conditions its efficiency was 02 per cent of that of ammonium salts in 

 field experiments and 01 per cent in i»ot experiments. 



In comparative tests of autumn and spring top-dressing nitrate of soda gave 

 the best results when applied in the spring, but these were little better than 

 those produced by fall application of sulphate of ammonia on good soils. On 

 light soils, however, the results with spring application of nitrate of soda were 

 much better than with fall application of sulphate of ammonia. The results in- 

 dicate that on tlie light soils the sulphate of ammonia applied in the fall is con- 

 verted into nitrates and lost from the soil during the winter. Late spring top- 

 dressing with nitrate of soda reduced the sugar content of sugar beets. 



The results indicate, therefore, that in general ammonium salts are not well 

 suited to fall application, and suggest that lime nitrogen is probably better 

 suited to this purpose. 



The comparative fertilizing value of calcium cyanamid. calcium nitrate, 

 ammonium sulphate, and sodium nitrate, V. Nazari {Atti R. Ac-cad. Lined, 

 Rend. VI. ."N'r/. 7'/.s-.. Mat. r Nat.. 5. ser.. 17 (1908). II. No. 7. pp. 33'f-3'i2; rt&.s. in 

 Chcm. Zenthl., 1908. II. No. 22. pp. 178.'), ;7.SY)).— This article gives the results 

 of plat experiments with wheat on different liinds of soil to determine (1) the 

 effect of humus on the action of cyanamid; (2) the best depth of apitlication of 

 c.vanamid; (3) the effect of various phosphatic, potash, and calcareous fer- 

 tilizers on the action of cyanamid; and (4) the comparative effect of cyanamid 

 and the other nitrogenous fertilizers. 



On sandy calcaref)us soils receiving applications of 44, 131. 27. and 45 tons per 

 acre of stable manure sjiaded in to a depth of 10 in. 13 days before the planting 

 of the crop the yields uniformly increased with the increase in the amount of 

 manure added both when the manure was \ised with cyanamid (17S lbs. per 

 acre) and without it. Cyanamid alone increased the yield of grain from 45 

 to 50 per cent. 



The best results were obtained when the cyanamid was applied 10 days be- 

 fore the planting of the crop at a depth of 8 in., and the poorest at a depth of 

 2 in., on sandy calcareous and clayey calcareous soils. 



