1905] TRANSEAU—BOGS OF THE HURON RIVER VALLEY 427 
The effect of acidity upon cultivated plants has been investigated 
in this country especially at the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment 
Station, under the direction of Professor H. J. WHEELER. The 
experiments have been conducted upon “acid upland soils” (60), 
and numerous: reports have been published. These experiments 
involved a great variety of plants and were carried on under natural 
field conditions. The areas planted for comparison had their acidity 
neutralized by the addition of CaCO,. The plants which were 
favored by the liming include the orange quince, black Tartarian 
cherry, Japan plum, Tilia americana, Ulmus americana, rhubarb, 
Australian salt-bush, hemp, barley, oats, onions, Anthoxanthum 
odoratum, Poa pratensis, Festuca ovina, Holcus lanatus, Festuca 
elatior, Alopecurus pratensis, etc. Plants which appear to be adapted 
to the acid soil conditions include cranberry, blackberry, raspberry, 
sheep sorrel, cow-pea, flax, corn, lupine, and soja bean. It would 
appear, then, that the acidity of the soil solution is unfavorable for 
the growth of some plants, and that it is a factor in the selection of 
species for acid soil conditions. = 
_ 3- Food. material.—As to the presence of plant food materials in 
the bog soil there is an agreement among all the analyses that have 
een made.’ The soils are unusually rich in nitrogenous materials, 
some analyses showing three times as much as good upland soils. 
But in the slow decay of the vegetable matter the nitrogen remains 
bound up in organic compounds and is unavailable for the growing 
Plants. This’ is confirmed by experimental tests in which nitrogen 
was directly applied, and by tests in which the conditions wer? 
modified so as to permit the action of nitrifying bacteria. In such 
Cases crops were produced when the untreated humus produced 
none. 
Under natural conditions the growth 
In bog soils is almost impossible. Three 
activity: (xz) the acidity of the soil solution; (2) the lack of . 
due to high water content; (3) the lower temperature. it ce. 
found that the optimum. temperature for these bacteria am 8 B 
(36.6° C.), and that their activity is very slight at 50° F. (10 ) 
Ann. Rept. Wis. Agric. Exper. Sta. 13: 304: 896. 
48, p- 234; 12, P: 395 74+ 
of the nitrifying bacteria 
factors work against their 
5 
Analyses of Wisconsin soils. 
See al 
SO 27, p. 12; 23; 22, p. 276; 30} 
