96 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 
THE INTENSITY OF NITRIFICATION IN ARID SOILS. 
By 
ROBERT STEWART. 
(Abstract). 
It is a common conception that nitrification takes place 
rapidly in arid soil. According to this conception, the origin 
of the nitrogen is the organic matter of the soil or the 
organic nitrogen formed by means of the non-symbiotic 
bacteria. The work of the Utah Station shows that this 
conception is wrong and that much of the nitrate-nitrogen 
is obtained from the deep soil in much the same way as are 
the alkali accumulations of the arid West. 
