soll.s FERTILIZERS. 345 



On the decomposition of lime nitrogen, I'. Lohnis ' 'entbl. Bakt. [etc.'], 2. AbL, 

 t4(1905), Nos. S ;. pp. 81 mi: i / ■/.;. pp. 389-400; aba. in Chem. Centbl., ■ . I 

 No. ?6, pp. 1781, 1782). \ stud) of the action of bacteria in decomposing calcium 

 cyanamid is reported which showed thai In a medium of grape sugar inoculated with 

 Boil bacteria the nitrogen of the cyanamid was transformed to ammonia by bacterial 

 action in the Bame manner as thai of area bul at a slower rate. 



\ number of the organisms active in this transformation were isolated and studied, 

 including Bacterium putidum, Bacillus mycoides, Bacterium vulgan var. lopfii, B. lip- 

 si, us, ii. >|... II. kirchneri ii. sp., Bacillus mi '/dill, rili, a. Bacterium fluoresceins, Bacillus 

 subtilis, Bacillus eUenbachensis, and Bacillus vulgare. The mosl active of these were 

 Bacterium kirchneri, />'. lipsiense, B. vulgan var. zopfii, and Bacillus megatherium. Of 

 these only B. kirchneri lias the power of producing ammonia from urea. Studies of 

 the behavior of these organisms under varying conditions of aeration, temperature, 

 and concentration of nutritive media arc also reported. 



It was observed among other things that the organisms which were comparatively 

 active in decomposing the lime nitrogen set free only small amounts <>\ ammonia 

 from peptone and thai aeration had no essential effecl on their activity. 



UrobaciUus leubei and Planosarcina pasteuri also liberated ammonia Erom calcium 

 cyanamid, l>nt UrobaciUus pasteuri had little effect. 



Utilization of peat in the manufacture of ammonium sulphate, A. I >oi m n 

 (Ann. Gembloux, 15 [1905), No. 8, /</>. 487-440) .— This article refer- to the various 

 n ict h.-ds which have been proposed for the manufacture of ammonium sulphate, and 

 describes and recommends that of Woltereck, which consists of treating the partially 

 dried peal \\ ith a current of hoi air and steam, maintaining the temperature at 150 

 ('., the treatment resulting in the formation of ammonia, acetic acid, etc. The 

 adaptability of the process to countries like Belgium, where the supply of peal is 

 abundant, is pointed out. 



On the loss of substances useful as plant food sustained in moss manure, 

 T. MACFABLANB i PrOCand Trans. Roy.SoC. Con, id, i, .'.s,r., 10 I 1904), s "-- HI- /■!■ 



69, pis. ?).— Observations on the amount and value of the manure obtained in dry 

 moss closets by methods previously described I E. S. R., L6, p. 349) are reported. 



In one experiment the product for .*> persons during <i months, using 20 lbs. "l 

 moss litter, weighed 70 lbs. The material contained <>L\d per cenl of water, and the 

 dry matter 4. ss percent of nitrogen, 4.79 percent of phosphoric acid, and 3.12 per 

 .cut of potash. On this basis the total annual product per person would be worth 



is cts. 



In another experiment extending over 3 months and rising L5 lbs. of litter, the 



total product weighed 60 lbs. and contained 67.5 per cent of water. The dry 

 matter contained 3.33 per cent of nitrogen, 3.52 per cent of phosphoric acid, and 

 l.l).") per cent of potash. The value of product per person annually was 17.4 cts. 



In an experiment extending over 3 weeks, in which 410 gm. of the moss manure 

 obtained in the previous experiments was kepi moistened \\ ith urine, the amount of 

 nitrogen so added being L8.09gm., the loss of nitrogen was 15.48 gm. The addition 

 of a mixture of hone superphosphate and double manure salt, magnesium Bulphate, 

 and gypsum reduced the losses to some extent, bul the results indicate " thai urea in 

 decomposing under the above-described circumstances is not all resolved into car- 

 bonic acid and ammonia, but that a varying quantity of nitrogen escapes in the free 

 state." 



Concerning- the agricultural value of sodium salts, EL J. Wheeler and <h E. 

 Adams (Rhode Island Sta. Bul. 106, pp. 1 1 1-158 , dgms. //(.—This is essentially an 

 account of a continuation on the same plats during 1900 and 1901 of experiments of 

 previous years! E. 8. Et., 17. p. 232 , attention being directed especially to a stud) of 



the extent to which the liberation of plant f 1 other than potash in soil niighl 



explain the beneficial effect- of sodium salts which had hen observed in many cases 



