428 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



"When alfalfa land was plowed and planted to oats it i)roduced $16 worth of grain 

 more than land which had grown potatoes and grain before. 



" When alfalfa land was plowed and planted to potatoes it gave $16 worth more of 

 potatoes per acre than was obtained from land which liad gnnvn jKjtatoes and grain 

 before. 



" By growing alfalfa the above increase of yields and values were produced with 

 absolutely no cost for fertilizing the land." 



Nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia on marsh soils, 

 Clausen {Lancho. Wchnhl. Schleswig-Hblstein, 50 {1900), No. S3, j)p- 

 562-56Jf,.,fg. 1). — Pot experiments with a soil containing 5 to 7 per 

 cent of line sand, 25 per cent of clay, and 2.5 per cent of calcium car- 

 bonate are briefly reported. The pots contained 5.5 kg. of soil. Oats 

 was the crop grown. Nitrate of soda was applied Ma}^ 26 at the rate 

 of 1.3 gm, per pot, sulphate of ammonia May 9 and 10 at the rate 

 of 1 gm. per pot. Similar experiments were made with beets in pots 

 containing 16 kg. of soil. The superiority of the sulphate was evident 

 during the growing period, and the yields of both oats and beets were 

 decidedly larger on the pots receiving sulphate. These results indicate 

 that on marsh soils containing a liberal supph' of lime, sulphate of 

 ammonia may with advantage be substituted for nitrate of soda, and 

 confirm the wisdom of the practice common in Germany of using 

 ammoniated superphosphates on such soils. 



The basic constituents of crops, R. Warington and E. Democssy 

 {A)ui. A(//'o/t., )20' {I'.fUO), Nv. o.,pp. '£Jfi-257). — This is a translation and 

 discussion by E. Demoussy of an article by R. Warington.^ 



In this article the author attempts to show the relation between 

 salifiable bases in the ash of plants and their nitrogen content, assuming 

 that ""if the whole of the nitrogen in a crop has been derived from 

 nitrates and no subsequent loss of the bases of these nitrates has 

 occurred we ought to find in the plant ash an amount of salifiable base 

 equivalent to the nitrogen content in the crop." Applying this theory 

 to a number of diflerent crops it was found that the salifiable base 

 actualh" present, as shown by average analyses, varied from 20 per 

 cent to 1>2 per cent of the assumed nitrate base. Further investigation 

 of this subject by means of pot experiments and anah'ses of more 

 carefully selected material is suggested. 



Change in weight of some artificial fertilizers on exposure to 

 the air, L. von Wissell {Jour. Landio.., JfS {1900)., No. 2, pp. 116- 

 121). — Fifty gram lots of Thomas slag, superphosphate, kainit, nitrate 

 of soda, and anmionium sulphate were exposed to the air in the open 

 and in a laboratory in flat porcelain dishes during dift'erent seasons of 

 the year. The dishes were covered with perforated filter paper and 

 were weighed almost daily (with the paper covers removed). There 

 was a small increase in weight of the Thomas slag after a few days' 



'Agr. Students' Gaz., n. ser., 9 (1899), pp. i:«-138. 



