roc. 



STATE JJOARI) OF AGRICULTURE. 



TABLE 16.— RATE AND EXTENT OF SOLtlBILITY OP CORNELL SOILS AT OPTIMUM 

 MOISTURE CONTENT. KEI'T MOSTLY OUTDOORS. IHGURES REPRESENT FREEZ- 

 ING POINT DEPRESSION. 



Days. 



Soil No. 1.. 

 Soil No. 2.. 

 Soil No. 3.. 

 Soil No. 4.. 

 Soil No. 5.. 



60 



C° 



.023 



.023 



.023 



.023 



.023 



Soil No. 1. Plot No. 720. No Cortilizors. 



Soil No. 2. Plot No. 721. KiO pouiuls nitrate of soda, 80 pounds nuiriatc of potash, 320 

 IxiiiikIs acid phosphato. 



Soil No. :i. Plot No. 728. C40 pounds nitrate of soda, 80 pounds mul-iate of potash, 320 

 potiiiils acid pliosi)liato. 



Soil No. 4. Plot No. 7.jO. No fortili'/ors. 



Soil No. 5. Plot No. 732. 20 Ions farm manure. 



Those soils wore taken from j.lats used in rotnliOn of timothy 3 years; corn, oats ;nid wheat. 

 Fertili/.iM-s have h(>en aiiplied each to Uie (hr(>o yc^ars of timothy, hut no fer(ili'/.<>r has licen 

 jjiven (o (he irrain crops. On the manured plat, (he manure has hoen applied twice to the (hrec 

 crops of liniodiy inslead of three ( imos as in the case of th(\ ('(unmon fertilizers. 



An examination of all the foregoing data reveals immediately and eon- 

 clnsively the remarkable facts (1) the rate of solubility of all the dillerent 

 ex])erimon(al soils is very slow, the free/iing point depression increasing 

 only about .00;>°C in ten days and about .030°C in sixty days; (2) the ex- 

 tent of solubility or the total amount of material going into solution is 

 also small, the total depression at the end of sixty days amouutiug in the 

 majority x)f soils to only .Or>0°C; and (:^.), there is practically no dilTerence 

 either in tlie rate or extent of solubility between did'erent soils within 

 tlie same grouj) or ditrercnt groups. In oilier words lioth the rate and 

 extent of solubility of all the soils are practically the same irrespective 

 of Iheir fertilizer treatment. 



Tliesc results are certainly very surprising when tliey are considered 

 from tiie kiioAvn crop-producing or ferlilily sland])oint of the soils. Tlie 

 past crop-])roducing history of these soils shows tliat there is a very 

 marked difference in the amount of crops i)roduced between the various 

 soils witliin any one experimenlal field. Tlius. Ihe soils wliich have re- 

 ceived no fertilizer have yielded Ihe smallest amount of crops, while the 

 soils which Jiave received a large and i)ro]>er treatment of fertilizer pro- 

 duced the liighest yields of crops. Yei all these same soils have allowed 

 practically the same amount of material 1o go into soluMon. It would 

 •nalurally be expected that the most produclive soils would yield soluble 

 material at a greater rale and in larger amounis Ihan the less productive 

 soils, but sucli was not the case. Even 1lie Illinois soils which showed a 

 ralher remarkably close relaticmshi]) b(>tween their solubility ])roduct and 

 llwir feiiili/.iU' treatments at the high moisture content, failed to show 

 a relaiionship al: this optinuim moisture content. 



While these results may a])pear exceedingly surprising and almost in- 

 credible yet wlien the principles previously established or discussed are 

 reached, they may not ap]>ear so surprising or incredible. It was shown 

 in the ])re\ious ])hases of the work (H that the i»resence of ])1iosphorus 



