- i8 7 - 



types of soil used. During 1906 the inoculation trials were discon- 

 tinued and the scope of the experiments was altered to include 

 the entire subject of manuring. The results with various fertilizers 

 differed so widely that final conclusions are withheld pending fur- 

 ther trials. 



Inoculation of lucerne in Scotland. - - (Bull, of the West of 

 Scotland Agricultural College, n. 5). Nature, August 1910, p. 211. 



Contains an account of experiments on soil inoculation for the 

 lucerne crop. Lucerne is not at present cultivated in Scotland, 

 and the necessary bacteria are presumably not present to any great 

 extent in the soil. Addition of the organism by inoculation has 

 proved successful. 



E. J. Russr.i.L and H. H. HUTCHINSON. The Effect of Partial 

 Sterilisation of Soli on the Production of Plant food. - 



The Journal of Agr . Science, Vol. Ill, Ft. II. Oct. 1909, pp. 111-154. 



The action on soils of heat and volatile antiseptics like carbon 

 disulphide, toluene, etc., has been studied by several investigators, 

 notably by Koch and Hiltner and Stormer. Darbishire and Russell 

 in a. recent publication (Jour, of Agr. Science, 1908, vol. II, p. 305) 

 have shown that the property is a general one, holding for all the 

 soils and volatile antiseptics examined and for all the plants ex- 

 cepting those of the leguminous order. Thus, when a soil had 

 been heated to 95 C. it produced two, three, or sometimes four 

 times as much crop as a portion of the soil which had not been 

 heated, whilst treatment with volatile antiseptics, led to an increase 

 in crop varying between 20 and 50 per cent. The treatment had 

 in some way brought about a considerable increase in the amount 

 of plant food (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) obtainable by 

 the plant; such results were obtained not only \vith fertile soils 

 but also with an exhausted Rothamsted soil. 



Several hypotheses have been put forward to account for the 

 increased productiveness: chemical reactions between antiseptic and 

 soil, purely physiological action, etc. 



Hiltner and Stormer attribute the action to the changed bac- 

 terial flora, they showed that the first effect of the antiseptic is to 

 reduce the number of organisms; but when the conditions again 



