214 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. SLV. No. 1157 



cowpea crops were turned imder, and of $5.42 

 where they were removed for hay. Phosphate 

 rock, on the other hand, gave by a similar calcu- 

 lation a profit of only $2.58 where the cowpea crops 

 were turned imder and the same amount where they 

 were removed for hay. 



On pages 87 and 88 of the Tennessee bulle- 

 tin, No. 90, Professor Mooers makes the fol- 

 lowing statements: 



The steamed bone meal, although included 

 among the relatively insoluble phosphates, appears 

 in these experiments to occupy an intermediate 

 place, with returns little inferior to those from 

 acid phosphate. As compared with phosphate rook 

 the mechanical condition of the meal is in its 

 favor; also its content of organic matter is sup- 

 posed to assist in its decomposition. But in these 

 experiments the influence of the nitrogen contained 

 in the meal must not be overlooked and probably 

 gives it a higher standing than can be attributed 

 to the phosphoric acid alone. Evidently it is a 

 valuable fertilizer for soils like these, and the con- 

 fidence placed in it by many farmers of the High- 

 land Eim and other parts of the state seems not 

 to have been misplaced. 



The calculated profits mentioned in Pro- 

 fessor Mooers's Science article are evidently 

 based upon different valuations than those re- 

 ported in the bulletin, as may be seen from 

 the following table taken from page 89 of the 

 bulletin : 



KESTJLTS OP TENNESSEE EXPERIMENTS 



Cowpea Crops Turned Under 



Easy computations show profits per $1.00 in- 

 vested of $0.90 from bone meal and $1.29 from 

 phosphate rock, as an average of the compar- 

 able figures. 



On page 90 of the Tennessee bulletin Pro- 

 fessor Mooers makes the following statement: 



There seems, therefore, to be little promise in 

 phosphate rook on soils like those under considera- 

 tion, unless liming be omitted, and even then the 

 results of Series III. and IV. show that acid phos- 

 phate may be much more profitable than the un- 

 treated rock. 



Computation from the figures in the accom- 

 panying table show average profits from the 

 unlimed land of $2.20 from acid phosphate and 

 $2.38 from raw rock phosphate, for every $1.00 

 invested. 



When we consider (1) that wheat was grown 

 every year wpon the same land in these Tennes- 

 see experiments; (2) that 70 per cent, of the 

 phosphorus in the raw phosphate applied will 

 remain in the soil for the benefit of future 

 crops after the acid phosphate is exhausted; 

 (3) that raw rock phosphate is now procurable 

 in very much better mechanical condition than 

 when these experiments were conducted; (4) 

 that, as an average of sixteen years at Wooster 

 and nineteen years at Strongsville, Ohio,^ the 

 increase in crop values were $4.01 from non- 

 acidulated bone meal and $3.78 from acidu- 

 lated bone black, on adjoining plots in a five- 

 crop rotation system, providing for every crop 

 every year; and (5) that, as an average of re- 

 sults from twenty years of investigation by 

 the Rhode Island Experiment Station,^ better 

 returns per $1.00 invested were secured on 

 both limed and unlimed land from both raw 

 rock phosphate and ground bone than from 

 any one of four different acidulated phos- 

 phates; then we find still more difficulty in 

 harmonizing all expressed opinions with the 

 established facts. Cyril G. Hopkins 



TJniveesitt of Illinois 



the organization mania 

 To THE Editor op Science : It is to be hoped 

 that the Report of the Subcommittee on Re- 

 search in Industrial Laboratories, published in 

 Science for January 12, marks the high water 

 mark of the organization mania now sweeping 

 the country. The research worker must have 

 an assortment of extraordinary qualifications. 



1 Ohio Experiment Station Circulars 104 (p. 11) 

 and 144 (p. 97). 



2 Rhode Island Experiment Station Bulletin 163, 

 p. 547. 



