NITRIFICATION IN EGYPTIAN SOILS. 



By JAMES ARTHUR PRESCOTT. 

 Sultanieh Agricultural Society, Cairo, Egypt. 



The question of biological activity in Egyptian soils has never received 

 adequate attention. Beyond the fact that nitrification was known to 

 occur readily in Egypt as in most hot countries no series of regular 

 observations has as yet been pubhshed dealing with the subject. The 

 following results were obtained during a two years' study of the biolo- 

 gical conditions of the soil of an Egyptian farm with a few observations 

 further afield. 



The Bahtim Experimental Farm of the Sultanieh Agricultural 

 Society on which most of the work was done is situated ten kilometres 

 north of Cairo and the soil of the farm is typical of the Nile alluvium. 

 Owing to the large head of stock on the farm and the frequency with 

 which fodder crops are fed on the land, the soil is somewhat richer than 

 is usually the case in Egypt, but on the whole the conditions are typical 

 of the normal farming conditions of the southern part of the Nile delta. 



Much of the previous work on nitrification has been done under 

 conditions of rainfall sufiicient for or even in excess of agricultural 

 requirements. The work of Pouget and Guiraud in Algeria^ was 

 carried out under a winter rainfall of 189 mm. as against 20 to 40 nmi. 

 near Cairo. The conditions in the north of the Delta in the winter 

 months at least must be very similar to those of Algeria and similar 

 results might be expected. 



The only reference to nitrification in Egypt is that of R. Roche^ 

 who pointed out that nitrification goes on readily in Egyptian soils 

 as soon as conditions are suitable. 



Egyptian soil lenrperatirres. 



One of the most important factors controlling the activity of soil 

 bacteria is that of temperature. During the first year of these observa- 



' Comptes Henducs, 1909, 148, 725. 



2 Bulletin de Vlnstitul Egijptien, Dec. 1907. 



