1420 



MANURES AND MAXURIXG 



Comparative solubility of " tetraphosphate " and phosphorite. 



Grams PjOj per 

 Solvent ~ 



Water " 



Water saturated with COg. 



Saline solutions (NaCl and NaNOg, NH4CI and 



(NH4) 2SO4) 



Ammonium acetate 18 °'„ 



Ammonium malate j,o % 



Ammonium tartrate 20 ",, 



Ammonium citrate 40 "o 



k 0.5 % . ' ,, . . . 



Citric acid . 2 % 



/ 10 % 



" Citroformic " acid (4 % citric acid, 6 % for- 

 mic acid, ID % NaCl) 



0.71 gm. 

 phosphorite 



trace 



o 0009 

 o 0000 

 o 00016 

 o 0163 

 0.02:i5 



0.0529 

 0.1217 



I gm. 

 tetraphosphate 



trace 



o 000 1 3 

 o 0100 

 0.0106 

 (J.02S2 

 0.1 04 1 



14.04 per cent 13.79 percent 



" Citroformic " acid was proposed as a reagent bj" the inventor of 

 " tetraphosphate " , yet even with this solvent, phosphorite shows a higher 

 percentage of soluble phosphoric acid than does " tetraphosphate ", and 

 with all the other solvents the same thing was observed. These results 

 would indicate that no valuable changes take place when the phosphorite is 

 heated with the carbonates of the alkahne earths, and that the process 

 which is complicated and costly is also useless. The name "tetraphosphate" 

 is very inappropriate as its insolubility clearly proves it to contain neither 

 tetraphosphate nor calcium silicophosphate both of which products have 

 been isolated from basic slag, b}^ Hilgenstock. and Carnot. From the 

 piurely chemical point of view, there is no analogy between basic slag and 

 " tetraphosphate " which ma}^ be simply considered a ground phosphate 

 mixed with inert compounds. 



Occasional satisfactory results obtained by farmers with this substance 

 and said to demonstrate its particular efficiency should be looked upon as 

 inconclusive. 



1064 -Lucerne Inoculation Experiment, Hawkesbury Agricultural College (New South 



Wales) 1912-16. — IIeinrich J. O. in Agricultural Gazette or Neiv South Wales, Vol. 

 XXVII, No. 5, pp. 305-313. Sydnej', Maj', 1916. 



An experiment was conducted at the Hawkesbury College during the 

 years 1912-16 to contrast the various methods of inoculation for lucerne 

 on manured and unmanured land and to ascertain their practical value 

 in establishing lucerne on soil which had not previously borne it. The 

 ground chosen for the experiment was a plot of well drained, uniform, red 

 sandv loam. Methods of inoculation were as follows : 



Inoculation of seed with lucerne rhizobia 

 coil 



3 



3a 

 4 

 5 



" " before sowing. 



" " after germination 



" " when half grown . 



soil of similar composition from an established lucerne area. 

 " soil of dissimilar composition from an established 

 lucerne area 

 seed with vetch rhizobia. 



