ANNUAL REPORT, 1933 49 



Synthetic nitrogen chemicals were substituted this season for the older forms 

 and included calcium nitrate, leunaphos, and calurea. Barley on leunaphos was 

 perceptibly the tallest. Alfalfa was plainly superior on the nitrogen fertilizers 

 in comparison with the growth without them. Both alfalfa and barlev were left 

 uncut and the latter will be plowed under next spring. 



The investigation now becomes a comparison of methods of synthesizing at- 

 mospheric nitrogen: soil organisms versus factory. 



Some study has been made of the relations between rainfall and crop production 

 during the years of this investigation. Especially marked is the difference 

 between millets and soybeans in the ratio of dry matter to rainfall. Japanese 

 barnyard millet and soybeans were both grown in 1926. The Japanese millet 

 was again grown in 1930. Hungarian millet and soybeans were grown in 1932. 

 The soybeans in 1926 reached the pod stage, but in 1932 were barely at the 

 flowering stage. 



Rainfall used in the calculations is limited to the period in which the crops 

 occupied the land and may be considered as equivalent to irrigation, although 

 irregularly distributed. The soil is practically saturated at the end of March. 

 The rainfall during April and May was 4.81 inches in 1926, 4.75 inches in 1930, 

 and 4.00 inches in 1932. 



Dry Matter per Acre and Rainfall in Inches 



The weather records of the experiment station give the normal rainfall for 

 April and May to be 6.90 inches and for June, July, and August, 12.11 inches. 



Hungarian millet is a smaller variety than the Japanese barnyard millet, but 

 in the somewhat dry season of 1932 it utilized the water as efficiently as the 

 Japanese variety did in 1930. 



The heavier rainfall in 1930 included two unusually severe showers in July 

 that flattened the crop and hindered its subsequent growth. 



Chemical Study of Cranberries. (F. W. Alorse.) The study of quinic acid 

 has been continued with the object of more accurately measuring the quantity 

 present in the cranberry. A review of the cranberry investigations conducted 

 by the experiment station was prepared, covering a period of 25 years. 



A Study of the Availability of Soil Potash with the Object of Developing a 

 System of Diagnosis for the Soils of the State. (F. W. Morse.) The soil surveys 

 of this State having been completed and published by the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, this project is now being closed with the completion of 

 potash determinations in typical soils of some of the more widely distributed 

 series. The availability of the soil potash must in general depend on the fineness 

 of the soil particles exposed to the solvent action of the soil water. Potash min- 

 erals form the softer constituents of the principal rocks of the State, and were 

 more finely ground by glacial action than the harder quartz. The clay and silt 

 of the soils might be expected to contain a higher percentage of potash than would 

 be found in the sands. In a large majority of the samples this has been found to 

 be the case. 



