16 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



the adjacent soil of the field by digging trenches around them to a depth of 4 ft. and 

 incasing these blocks in a framework of lath so as to shut them off from a supply of 

 moisture through lateral capillary movement from the adjacent soil, and in one block 

 in each set the cube was cut off from a capillary supply of water from below by a 

 similar provision. After the blocks had been thus incased the soil was returned to 

 the trenches about them, and corn was planted on the blocks in the soil in its natu- 

 ral field condition, holding the moisture which had been acquired during the rains 

 which had preceded the beginning of the experiment. . . . There was thus secured, 

 on each of the two types of soil at each station, one set of cubes, 4 ft. on a side, where 

 the soil was left in its natural undisturbed condition, and which contained the 

 natural amount of moisture of the field at the time, but from which all supplies of 

 moisture from the sides and from the bottom were cut off, and a second set of cubes 

 in which, while the supplies of moisture from the sides were cut off, there was free 

 opportunity left for a capillary rise of moisture from below. . . . 



"From the results regarding yields, the only conclusion which it appears legitimate 

 to draw is that the moisture relations came to be so prejudicial to growth that in no 

 case could the development be even approximately normal." 



How to buiid up worn-out soils, G. W. Carver (Alabama Tuslegee Sta. Bui. 6, 

 pp. 15, figs. 2). — This is a discussion of this subject based upon the results of 8 years' 

 study at the Tuskegee Station, "emphasizing the subject of crop rotation, deep plow- 

 ing, terracing, fertilizing, etc., keeping in mind the poor tenant farmer with a one- 

 horse equipment." 



The results are thus summarized: "(1) It pays to make a good seed bed by pre- 

 paring the soil deep and pulverizing it thoroughly; (2) swamp muck and leaf mold 

 an' valuable as a fertilizer and should be used whenever they can be gotten easily; 

 (.')) deep plowing permits the water to go into the soil, thus reducing the terracing 

 to a minimum, which gives more area upon which to grow crops, and also renders 

 cultivation much more easy; (4) peanuts should be grown by every farmer; (5) with 

 proper manipulation our poorest soils may be made to produce an abundance of the 

 staple crops." 



The composition of West Prussian soils, M. Schmoeger (Landw. Jahrb., 34 

 (1905), No. 2, pp. 145-164). — The agricultural and geological characteristics and 

 mechanical and chemical analyses of 30 soils with corresponding subsoils are reported 

 and discussed. 



Geological observations on analyses of some West Prussian soils, A. Jentzsch 

 ( Landw. Jahrb., 34 {1905), No. 2, pp. 165-176). — The relations of the geological origin 

 and character to chemical composition of 30 soils and subsoils are discussed. 



The chemical nature of the soils of New South Wales with special refer- 

 ence to irrigation, F. B. (tithrie (Jour, and Proc. Roij. Soc. N. S. Wales, Engin. 

 Sect., 37 (1903), pp. LI-LXV). — A general discussion of this subject, including anal- 

 yses of typical soils from the semi-arid parts of New South Wales. 



Soil investigations [in the Philippines], A. M. Sanchez ([Philippine] Bur. Agr. 

 Rpt. 1904, pp- 63-76). — This report, is largely devoted to a description of certain 

 explorations in Benguet, Cagayan, Isabela, and Union Provinces, and to a history 

 and description of the methods of cultivation of tobacco and other crops in these dis- 

 tricts. Physical and chemical analyses of soil samples are presented and compared 

 with soils in certain areas in the United States. 



The rational classification of sand and gravel, A. Atterberg (Chem. Ztg., 29 

 (1905), No. 15, pp. 195-198). — A new classification of the different grades of soil par- 

 ticles which it is believed to be desirable to separate in mechanical soil analysis is 

 given and discussed with reference to the bearing of mechanical analysis on produc- 

 tiveness of soils. 



The mineralogical analysis of soils, J. Dumont (Compt. Bend. Acad. Sci. 

 [Paris'], 140 (1905), No. 16, pp. 1111-1113).— The methods used by the author are 



