1114 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD, 



elusions are drawn. Tlic results in ,i:<'nci:il indiintc the usefulness of Keiny's 

 methods of study. 



A certain parallelism was oi)served to exist helwe<Mi hiolo^'icil aetivity and 

 the carbohydrates, lime, mineral matter, and fine particle.s of the surface soil. 

 The character of the humus aitpeared to be of more importance than its total 

 amount. Delerminations of absorptive i)ower for nitr»);ien according to Knop's 

 method and of hygroscopicity according to Mitscherlich's method prov<'d of 

 value in judging the character of the soils. Determinations of free acids in 

 humus by Siichting's method were found to be of little value. 



Chemico-agricultural study of the soils of Poggiomarino, S. de Grazia 

 {Ann. R. Sciioht >S'»p. Agr. Portici, 2. se, ., 7 (HJOl), pp. 26). — Poggioniarino is 

 a district in the province of Naples, its soils being of volcanic origin. The me- 

 chanical auiilysis, litlio-mineralogical analysis of the coarse material, pliysico- 

 chemical analysis (Schlocsing), and a brief cliemical analysis of soil from 

 seven points in the region are giv(>n and discussed at considerable length. In 

 general the soil of the region maj' be classified as fertile. 



A remarkable accumulation of nitrogen, carbon, and humus in a prairie 

 soil, F. J. Alway and C. E. Vail (Jour. Indus, and Engin. Chcm., J {I'.IO!)), 

 Xo. 2, pp. 7//-7'6). — Analyses of 2 types of soil, bowlder clay and lacustral clay, 

 from the experimental farm at Indian Head are rei)orted. The samples of 

 laeusti'al clay were taken from the summits of hummocks w^hich are a charac- 

 teristic feature of the area under consideration, as well as from rifts between 

 the hummocks. No marked difference was observed in the composition of the 

 till and the soil from the summits of the hummocks. The rifts, however, con- 

 tained nioi'e than twice as much humus (7.1S per cent), humus nitrogen (0.46 

 per cent), total nitrogen (0.84 per cent), and carbon (10.59 per cent) as the 

 soil frou! the tops of the liummocks. 



Soil acidity in its relation to lack of available phosphates, C. W. Stoddart 

 (Jour. Indus, and Engin. Cheni., 1 (1909), No. 2. pp. 69-7.'i; abs. in Jour. Sac. 

 Chem. Indus., 28 (1909), No. 6, p. 320).— In a previous jiaper (E. S. R., 18, 

 p. 1024; 19. p. 17) it was shown that acid soils are as a rule in need of phos- 

 phates. 



Further study of typical acid and neutral soils, more particularly the relation 

 of phosphoric acid to humus, showed that the phosi)horic acid content of the 

 humus was about the same in both acid and nonacid soils. The acid soils con- 

 tained a higher percentage of total phosphoric acid in combination with iron and 

 aluminum and less in combination with calcium than the nonacid soils. 



Some of the results obtained indicate tliat the phosiihorus of humus may not 

 be available to plants. Fifth-normal nitric acid was found to be an excellent 

 indicator of soil needs with respect to phosphates, due to the fact that it deter- 

 mines with accuracy the amount of calcium phosphate in soils. The general 

 conclusion is reached that as far as Wisconsin soils are concerned, when the 

 percentage of phosphoric acid soluble in fifth-normal nitric acid falls below 

 0.015 the soils will respond to phosphate fertilizer. 



The problem of our unproductive lands, T. Chkrry (Jour. Drpt. Agr. Vic- 

 toria. 7 (1909). No. 1. pp. tS-25). — The lands referred to include "first approxi- 

 mately 4 million acres of the inferior and poor parts of the Mallee; second, at 

 least double that area of hilly country forming the main part of the (Jreat 

 Dividing Range and its northern and southern spurs; and third, perhaps million 

 acres of the sandy land along the coast. The total area is at least one-fourth of 

 the entire extent of Victoria."' 



