90 J. K. TAYLOR. 
A CHEMICAL AND BACTERIOLOGICAL STUDY OF 
A TYPICAL WHHAT SOIL OF N. 8. WALKS. 
By J. K. TAYLOR, B.Sc. (Agr.) 
Walter and Eliza Hall Agriculture Research Fellow of the 
University of Sydney. 
[Read before the Royal Society of N. 8. Wales, July 5, 1922. ] 
Iutroduction. 
The object of the investigation was to get some insight 
into the bacterial activity, and more particularly the rate 
of nitrification at different seasons of the year in a typical 
soil from the wheat belt of New South Wales under varying 
systems of cropping and soil-management. The results 
were expected to throw some light on the failure of nitro- 
genous fertilizers to increase the yield of wheat on soils 
which, compared with those of other countries, are deficient 
in nitrogen. The soil, or rather soils, selected were from 
the Wagga Hxperiment Farm, and they are typical of much 
of the wheat land on the south-western slopes. 
Samples were taken at monthly intervals from three 
different positions of the farm, from June 1921 to March 
1922 inclusive, and the following estimations made, viz.:— 
(1) A chemical and physical examination of the soils. 
(2) Monthly determinations of the soil moisture. 
(3) Monthly bacterial counts. 
(4) Monthly determinations of the amounts of nitrate 
nitrogen in the soil and subsoil. 
(5) An estimation of the nitrifying power of the soils at 
different periods of the year. 
The samples were taken from— 
(a) Virgin grass land, described in text and tables as 
“orass.”” 

