SOILS- FEBTILIZEBS. 227 



■kali soils from differenl parts of the State are reported. No data are reported for 

 the experiments, bul the following sumraarj of general results is given: 



"The presence of magnesium sulphate Epsom sail — in quantity up to l percent 

 has apparently no ill effect upon the growth of alfalfa. 



"The limiting quantity of sodium sulphate Glauber's salt for alfalfa seems to be 

 ■bout seven-tenths of 1 per cent. 



•• With a mixture of two-thirds sodium sulphate and one-third magnesium sulphate, 

 which represents very closely the composition of Montana alkali, the limiting quan- 

 tity appears to be about the same as with sodium sulphate alone. 



•• It should be said that these experiments were conducted with great care, the 

 purpose being to eliminate everj adverse condition except that imposed by the 

 presence of the -alkali.' Especially was it provided thai a sufficient quantity of 

 water Bhould always be present. 



" In this connection it may be stated that the presence of alkali was observed, in 

 another series of experiments, to very materially increase the drought-resistanl 

 powers of the plants under investigation. 



" The results of experiments with oats, wheat, barley, and timothy tend to -h"\\ 

 that the danger limit for alkali of the character of that found in Montana is above 

 1 per cent." 



The nature and treatment of alkali spots, L. E. KLelsev | Iowa Agr. f 6 i 1905), 

 \<>. 1, pp. 12, 18). The small alkali areas occurring in the Wisconsin glacial drifl 

 soils of tin- west-central part of northern Iowa are described, as well as the various 

 methods of reclamation which have been proposed for such soils. Qnderdrainage 

 with liberal applications of coarse manure is considered the most effective and prac- 

 tical means of reclamation yel proposed. 



Ant heaps, II. [ng le ( Transvaal Agr. Jour., 3 {1905), No. 12, /</-. 729 . 

 Analyses of ant heaps and of surrounding soil are reported which "indicate much 

 greater fertility in the ant heap material than in the soil on which it occurs. The 

 wganic matter and nitrogen are particularly noticeable, the latter being more than 

 four times as abundant in the ant heap, while the 'available' potash and phosphoric 

 acid are also much higher." These analyses, as well as the experience of a number 

 ■ practical farmers which is recorded, indicate that "pulverized ant heaps might 

 ■ith advantage be used as a manure on poor soils, and should he of great value in 

 gardens, for seed beds, etc., provided that their physical properties fine texture, 

 etc. — do not render them too close and impervious." 



On the accumulation of fertility by land allowed to run wild, A. D. Hail 

 (./""/•. Agr. Sci., I | 1905), No. -\ />/>■ 241-249) . — The article records observations on 2 

 Mats of land, on.- of which was originally ill wheat, the other in leguminous plants 

 gbeans and clover) , which have been allowed to run wild, the first since 1882, the 

 -croud since 1885. 



Examination of the soils at the beginning of the experiment and in L904 shows a 

 marked increaseof carbon and nitrogen in the surface, the rate of increase of nitrogen 

 in the wheat soil being lOO lhs. per acre annually, in the other soil 'Si lhs. The 

 mechanical composition of the 2 soils is shown to be very similar, and it is thought 

 that their difference in behavior under cultivation and in natural vegetation I that of 

 the one being nearly free from leguminous plants, that of the other containing con- 

 siderable of such plants) may perhaps he due to absence of calcium carbonate in the 

 former, while the latter is well supplied with this substance as a consequence of 



libera] application of chalk in former period | the eighteenth century |. 



Manurial requirements of the Leonardtown loam soil of St. Mary County, 

 Md., F. I). <; aki.nkk ( U. S. Dept. Agr., />'"/•. Soils Qirc. /■'>,/>/>. IS).— Testa by the 



p wire-basket " method of the manuri.nl requirements of "g 1" and "poor" samples 



of this soil, which is a light-colored silt loam of varying fertility, are reported. The 

 soils were treated with organic manures < barnyard manures of various kind-, organic 



