702 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



TABLE NO. 12.— RATE AND EXTENT OF SOLUBILITY OF CORNELL SOILS. RATIO OF 

 SOILS TO WATER WAS ABOUT 1 TO .70 AND MIXTURE MAINTAINED AT ROOM TEM- 

 PERATURE. FIGURES REPRESENT FREEZING POINT DEPRESSION. 



Soil No. 1. Plot No. 720 



Soil No. 2. Plot No. 721 

 pounds acid phosphate. 



Soil No. 3. Plot No 

 pounds acid phosphate. 



Soil No. 4. Plot No. 730. 



Soil No. 5. Plot No 



No fertilizers. 



KiO pounds nitrate of soda, 80 pounds muriate of potash, 320 



728. 640 pounds nitrate of soda, SO pounds muriate of potash, 320 



732. 



No fertilizers. 



20 tons farm manure. 

 These soils were taken from plats used in rotation of timothy 3 years ; corn, oats, and 

 wheat. Fertilizers have been applied each to the three years of timothy, but no fertilizer has 

 been given to the grain crops. On the manured plat, the manure has been applied twice to 

 the three crops of timothy instead of three times as in the case of the common fertilizers. 



Considering first the rate of solubility it is seen that the velocity is very 

 slow and gradual in all the various soils, but in some it is considerably 

 lower than in others. Thus, soils 5 and 6 in table 9, soil 4 and 5 in table 

 10 and soils 5 and 6 in table 11 manifest a much lower rate of solubility 

 than the other soils. In fact, some of these soils, such as soils 5 and 6 

 in table 9, show an exceedingly slow rate of solubility. 



Considering next the extent of solubility, it is evident that the amount 

 of material that went into solution is rather small in practically all the 

 soils and especially in those that show the least rate of solubility. The 

 maximum quantity of material that went into solution increased only 

 from a freezing point depressioiKof .010° to .040° or .050 °C at the end of 

 60 days. 



Viewing next the solubility factor of these various salts in relation to 

 their treatment or state of fertility, it becomes at once evident that there 

 is no close and consistent relationship between these factors, just as there 

 was not always one in the case of the salt treated soils. A comparison 

 between the fertilizer treatment of tlie various soils and the quantity 

 of the material that went into solution proves this fact quite con- 

 clusively. Thus, soils 4 and 5 in table 9, of the Khode Island Experiment 

 Station, had botli received exactly the same fertilization except that soil 

 4 also received lime and soil .5 did not, and yet the amount of material 

 that dissolved is very different in the two soils. In soil 4 the final depres- 

 sion is .030° while in soil 5 it is .015°C or only half as great. On the other 

 hand, soil 6, which did not receive any fertilizer at all, did not yield any 

 more material than the fertilized soils, as Its depression is only .012° C, 

 the lowest in the series. 



Soil 1 in table 10, of the Ohio Experiment Station, received no fertilizer 

 whatever, and yet it allowed more material to go into solution than the 

 fertilized soils, its depression being .040° as compared to .033°C in soil 7. 

 On the other hand, soil 5, which was also unfertilized but in continuous 



