254 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [OCTOBER 
in studying the fungous flora of the soil as such. This is the more 
surprising, since what study has been carried on indicates that there 
is a very abundant and distinct group of forms which live habitu- 
ally in the soil. 
Perhaps the most extensive work in isolating and studying these 
forms is that of OUDEMANS and KonING (29), who reported 45 
species from a humous soil of the forest of Spanderswoud, near 
Bussum, in Holland. It seems quite remarkable that of these 
45 species, 32 were named as new species which inhabit the soil. 
These belonged to the Hyphomycetes and Phycomycetes. Few 
other similar studies seem available, although ADAMETZ (30) has 
carried on a study of organisms found in a field soil. He reports 
having isolated, besides a number of bacteria and yeasts, the follow- 
ing fungi: Penicillium glaucum, Mucor mucedo, M. racemosus, M. 
stolonifer, Aspergillus glaucus, and Oidium lactis. Again, HAGEM 
(31) has recently reported an investigation of Mucorineae which 
he isolated from soil and air; 16 species were obtained from the 
soil, and it is interesting to note that he named 8 of these as new 
species. 
Since the completion of this investigation, and after the appear- 
ance of a preliminary paper by the author (Proc. Mich. Acad. Sci. 
1911), a paper by Date (46) on soil fungi has been received. This 
investigator reports and figures 20 genera of fungi isolated from a 
sandy soil obtained from the Royal Agricultural Society’s Farm 
at Woburn, England. The resemblance between Date’s list and 
that of this paper is certainly very striking. Not only many of 
the genera, but a number of the species, are the same. I note 
also in DALx’s paper a reference to a recent paper by JENSEN (47). 
It is evident from these numerous recent studies that much atten- 
tion is being given to this subject. 
SELECTION OF A SOIL PLAT 
For the isolations of this investigation, a plat of rather rich, 
clay loam was selected from a garden in Ann Arbor. It had been 
in use for many years for raising common garden vegetables, 
usually in rotation. As a rule, it had been heavily manured, but 
during the last few seasons this had been less frequent and less 
