404 PROCEEDINGS OF THE INDIANA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



in these soils it is a positive detriment. While calcium nitrate is perhaps 

 one of the main factors in producing crop injury, it is not the only one. 

 Given a mixture of salts of varying degrees of toxicity and mixed in different 

 proportions it is, of course, impossible to say just what causes the injury. 



Areas containing excess soluble salts in Indiana clay or loam soils have 

 been found only where refuse matter has been dumped or in locations where 

 old stables stood. A farmer near Warren reported a spot in a field where 

 crops had failed for five years on the site of an old stable. Samples of soil 

 were taken at various depths and analyzed. The soil at to 6 inches had 

 .1% nitrates, .85% water soluble potash and 2.54% total soluble matter. 

 At a depth of 24 to 30 inches there was .012% nitrates, .44% water soluble 

 potash and 1.33% total soluble salts, the trouble in this case being without 

 doubt caused by an excess of potash and other soluble salts. This and similar 

 cases illustrate very well just how extensive the leaching of manure may be, 

 and how important it is to prevent such loss by providing concrete or some 

 other kind of water-tight floor in the stable. The soil on this spot to a depth 

 of at least 30 inches had a fertilizer value equal to manure five years after 

 the stable had been removed. 



