MANURES AXD MANURING 953 



sian agriculture will be able to make use of a considerable part oHhe sulph- 

 ate of ammonia. If the prices go down to between 2-I.5 and 19.5 francs 

 per quintal, the utilisation of this manure even for cereal crops is perfect- 

 1}^ certain, according to the Agronomic Institute of Moscow. 



M. Kalinskij, in discussing whether Russia can now allow exportation 

 of its sulphate of ammonia or should prohibit it. makes the following cal- 

 culations for 1916 : agriculture requires 27 846 tons ; industry 16 380 tons 

 and 4 914 tons must be kept in stock ; making in all 49 140 tons. The 

 quantity available for export would therefore be about 8 190 tons. The 

 forecasts of consumption of sulphate of ammonia in Russia are based on 

 that of nitrate of soda, which according to private but reliable data, was 

 about 24 570 tons, distributed as follows (before the war): 



Poland aud I^ithiiania (except the government of Vilna) 30 % 7 370 tons 



Baltic Provinces (and government ot Vilna) 25% 6 145 " 



Kiev sugar beet growing region 30 % 7 37o " 



Rest of Russia 15 % 3 685 " 



100 % 24 570 tons 



II and III. — The problem of the utmost possible utilisation of sulphate 

 of ammonia being of great importance to Russian agriculture, the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture called the attention of farmers, agricultural associa- 

 tions and the zemstvos to the necessity for active propaganda in favour 

 of this fertiliser. The Agronomic Institute of Moscow took steps in the 

 same direction, and emphasised the necessity for collective purchases of 

 sulphate of ammonia by the zemstvos and ty agricultural associations. 

 The Department of Agriculture has also instructed Prof. Volokitine, Direc- 

 tor of the School of Technical Chemistry at Petrograd, to undertake test 

 experiments on the method of Professor MtixTZ (nitrification of sulphate 

 of ammonia in peat). 



IV. — M. Makrinov deals with this latter question. After briefly review- 

 ing the most recent results of sewage water purification, on the method of 

 " acti vised " mud, he states that: i), thanks to the action of the " acti- 

 vised" mud and the continuous passage of air, a very rapid conversion of 

 ammoniacal compounds takes place parallel with a rapid decomposition 

 of the complex organic substances ; 2) the action of the " acti vised " sub- 

 stance and continuous passage of air enable the process of nitrification to 

 be carried on in an isolated and very intense form, which may be utilised 

 for the practical purpose of converting the large stocks of sulphate of ammo- 

 nia into saltpetre. 



740 - Manuring Tests with the New Nitrogenous Manure " Guanol ", in Germany. — 



Koch, in Fiihlinis landwirtschaftlichc Zcitun^, 65th Year, No. 3-6, pp. 143-158. Stuttgart, 

 March 1-15, 1916. 



Manuring tests were carried out to ascertain whether the good 

 results given up to now by " Guanol " (treacle residue mixed with 

 peat dust and sown with Azotohader) (i) are not chiefly due to the bacte- 



(i) See B. December 1915, No. 1257. (Ed.) 



