344 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Inoculation experiments are reported which included "one series of investiga- 

 tions on small quantities of soil inoculated with A. vinelandii, and kept in the incu- 

 bator at a uniform temperature; and one series of investigations on cylinder soils 

 inoculated partly with A. vinelandii and partly with .1. beyerincki, and kept under 

 field conditions." 



In case of the pot soils there was less loss of nitrogen from the inoculated soils than 

 from the uninoculated. In case of the cylinder soils "there was no decisive gain in 

 the inoculated soils over the uninoculated. There was in all cases a loss of nitrogen 

 during the summer that the soils had been kept bare, and the losses were greatest 

 where manure had been used." 



The formation of nitrates in the soil, \V. A. Withers (North Carolina Sta. Bui. 

 190, pp. 8).— The sources of nitrogen and the conditions favoring nitrification are 

 discussed and laboratory experiments to determine the rate of nitrification of sul- 

 phate of ammonia, dried blood, dried fish, tankage, bone, cotton-seed meal, and 

 barnyard manure in different kinds of soils are reported. (See also E. S. R., 16, 

 p. 737.) 



' ' In some soils fish gave the most nitrates at the end of the experiment, in others 

 sulphate of ammonia gave most, in others cotton-seed meal, and in others dried 

 blood. Bone was nitrified least rapidly of the substances used. In some cases, 

 where stable manure was applied in excessive quantities, there was a reduction rather 

 than a gain in the quantity of nitrates, but in other experiments, where the amount 

 was but a little larger than that applied in ordinary farm practice, the formation of 

 nitrates proceeded well and there was no loss by reduction. ... In some soils 

 very small quantities of nitrates were formed from any of the materials, and in other 

 soils large quantities of nitrates were formed from an}- of the materials, but each soil 

 showed some material best adapted to it so far as the formation of nitrates was con- 

 cerned. Some soils used by us nitrified ten times as well as others." 



Investigations relative to the use of nitrogenous materials, E. B. Voorhees 

 (New Jersey Stas. Rpt. 1904, pp. 191-233, fig. 1).— This is a report of progress during 

 1903 in a series of experiments on this subject which has been carried on by the 

 station for a number of years (E. S. R., 16, p. 453). 



"The method of treatment has been outlined in previous reports. It includes the 

 study of the availability of nitrogen in various nitrogenous materials, and affords a 

 means for determining their relative value from the economic standpoint. It thus 

 enables the farmer to decide for himself what forms of nitrogen are most desirable 

 under given conditions. The study has also been continued of the composition of 

 cow manure and of th'e changes in its composition due to leaching. The collection, 

 treatment, and analysis of the manure samples were carried out as heretofore." 



The crop grown in 1903 was corn (field and sweet) and -marks the beginning of a 

 new rotation. 



The relative availability of the nitrogenous materials experimented with in 1903 

 was as follows: 



Relat 



in availability of the nitrogen indifferent nitrogenous materials. 



Field Sweet 



corn. 



corn. 



Sodium nitrate 



Ammonium sulphate 



Dried blood 



Solid manure, fresh 



Solid manure, leached 



Solid and liquid manure, fresh 



Solid and liquid manure, leached . 



110.0 

 99.8 

 59.2 

 25.7 

 39.2 

 59.2 

 43.2 



100.0 

 83.9 

 89.3 

 63.0 

 46.5 

 58.3 

 48.5 



Brief accounts of experiments with asparagus and in improving light lands on farms 

 in the State are appended 



