SOILS FERTILIZERS. 231 



yard manure has hitherto furnished the farmer's chief Bupply of this fertilizer, sub- 

 stitution i>t' peat moss for -tmu would in many cases involve dressing the land with 

 potash. Such dressings cosl little, and would be more than paid for by the saving 

 of nitrogen." 



Utilization of blood in agriculture, A. Grau (Jour. Agr. I'm/., ,,..<, ,■., 10(1905), 

 No. 82, /'/>. 177, 178). It is pointed oul thai Binceeach sheep yields aboul 2 l<L r . of 

 blood and each head of cattle aboul 20 kg. of blood, which in the fresh condition 

 contains 3 percent of organic nitrogen, the importance of utilizing this by-product is 

 bbvious. Various 1 1 1* -t 1m ►« | r~ which arc applicable on the farm, Buch as absorption in 

 peat, >t raw . etc., and treatment with aboul '■'> per cenl of lime are referred to and the 

 method of commercial treatment of precipitation by heating and the addition of 

 dilute acid and drying is described. Brief general directions regarding the us.- of this 

 dried material as a fertilizer are given. 



Lime nitrogen (Jour. />''/. Agr. [London], I : (1905), No. 2, pp. 101, 102; -four. 

 Vept. Agr. So. Aust. 8 (1905), No. 12, p. 742). The method used by Prank in pre- 

 paring this material is briefly described, with his directions regarding the use of it as 

 a fertilizer. The experiments by < rerlach, Wagner, and others to determine the fer- 

 tilizing value of the material are briefly referred to. The general conclusion drawn 

 from these experiments is "that lime nitrogen is likely to prove a satisfactory 

 nitrogenous manure." 



Comparative experiments with lime nitrogen, nitrate of soda, and burnt 

 lime on fodder beets, C. Aschman ( Landwirt, 1905, No. 87; abs. in <'h<m. Ztg., 29 

 . No. 42, Repert. No. //. p. 156). — In the experiments hen- reported nitrate of 

 soda gave the largest yield. The lower yields resulting from applications of lime 

 nitrogen are thought to have been due to the fact that the material was not worked 

 into the soil to a sufficient depth. The crops grown with nitrate of soda contained 

 the largest amount of dry matter hut those grown with lime nitrogen contained the 

 highest percentage of nitrogen compounds. The lime of the lime nitrogen was 

 apparently not as effective in increasing the sugar content as burnt lime. 



New land, lime, and litmus, \V. A. Sherman (Country Gent., ?o (1905), No. 

 9746, ///'. 888, 884)- — An account is given of the use of lime (600-800 H>s. per acre) 

 in restoring the productiveness of recently cleared acid pine land. Test- of the soil 

 with litmus paper are reported, which indicate that the acid character of the soil 

 was not overcome by the liming. 



Liming- experiments of the agricultural society of Saxony 1 1>< "/. Landw. 

 firesse, 82 ( 1905), No. //. y. 861 1. — A brief description is given of the plan of simple 

 experiments with lime, which have been carried on in cooperation with farmers since 

 1809. 



On the retrogression of soluble phosphates in mixed manures, (i. Gray 

 i Trans. Austral. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 1904, r- 157; Chem. News, 92 (1906 . Vb. 186, pp. 

 17-79). — Experiments are reported in which a well-made superphosphate containing 

 17. 74 per cent of soluble phosphoric acid was mixed with equal parte of bone dust, guano, 

 hasic slag, kainit, slaked lime, and ground limestone, and the amounts of water- 

 Boluble, citrate-soluble, and insoluble phosphoric acid determined from time to time. 



The results show that with hone dust the amount of retrocession was -mall and 

 the rate of change slow. The citrate soluble phosphoric acid increased at the expense 

 of the insoluble. With a guano containing a small percentage of calcium carbonate 

 the reversion was slow, only 7 per cent of the soluble phosphoric acid being reduced 

 after 18 days. As in case of the hone dust citrate-soluble phosphoric acid was formed 

 at the expense of the insoluble phosphoric acid. With a guano containing a high 

 percentage of calcium carbonate the retrogression was considerable ami proceeded 

 not only to the stage of dicalcium phosphate hut beyond this to form insoluble tri- 

 calcium phosphate. 



