May 28,19x7 Influence of Crop, Season, Water on Soil Bacteria 
301 
Table II .—Chemical composition of the soil of the Greenville {Utah) farm 
Constituent. 
Depth of soil. 
1st foot. 
2d foot. 
3d foot. 
4th foot. 
Sth foot. 
6th foot. 
7th foot. 
8th foot. 
Insoluble residue. 
Soluble silica. 
Total. 
Potash (K2O)... 
Soda (NajO). 
Lime (CaO). 
Magnesia (MgO). 
Iron oxide (Fe 2 0 3 )... 
Alumina (A 1 ? 0 3 ). 
Phosphoric acid 
(P 2 O g ). 
Carbon dioxid (C0 2 ).. 
Volatile matter. 
Total. 
Humus. 
Nitrogen. 
41.46 
. 62 
35 - 57 
.84 
3 1 - <>5 
.41 
40.90 
•75 
28.38 
• 34 
29. 22 
.42 
30-57 
• 57 
30 . 33 
.42 
42.08 
.67 
■35 
16. 88 
6. 10 
3 * °3 
5-64 
.41 
19.83 
5. 60 
36. 41 
.89 
•47 
17. 80 
9.46 
2. 69 
4.69 
.29 
23. 11 
3 * 38 
32. 06 
• 59 
•47 
21. 34 
i - s l 
3 - 46 
3-40 
•34 
26. 67 
3 - 93 
41.65 
. 82 
. 62 
15. 60 
7.48 
2* 95 
6. 09 
• T 9 
20. 88 
4- 23 
28. 72 
. 6l 
•37 
22. 62 
9 - 36 
2. 17 
5-33 
. 12 
29.31 
.91 
29. 64 
• 74 
.42 
23 - 15 
5-89 
2. 42 
8. 07 
. 06 
29- 57 
•95 
3 1 * *4 
•79 
•45 
22. 21 
6. 06 
2.47 
7.90 
•07 
28.80 
30 . 75 
•75 
•74 
21. 78 
5*63 
2. 54 
9*03 
. 11 
28. 13 
. 24 
100. 69 
99 * 2 9 
99-93 
100. 51 
99 * 5 2 
100. 91 
99. 92 
99. 68 
■S 3 
■ 139 
1. 00 
• «7 
. 6l 
. 080 
•47 
• U 5 
i-13 
. 072 
. 60 
. 070 
• 44 j *57 
. 062 | . 066 
An examination of Table II will show that we have here a soil, like all 
of our Utah soils, exceptionally rich in the essential plant foods. The 
potassium is equally as high in the eighth and intermediate feet as in the 
first foot. The phosphoric acid is high in the first foot but gradually 
decreases in each succeeding foot. The humus and nitrogen, as is char¬ 
acteristic of the soils of arid America, are low. One of the most important 
considerations, however, from the viewpoint of this investigation, is the 
fact that the calcium and magnesium carbonate content of the soil is 
exceptionally high. In fact, the results indicate that 43 per cent of the 
surface foot of soil is calcium and magnesium carbonate and that the 
amount increases with depth to the fifth foot, after which the magnesium 
content is practically the same as in the first foot, while the calcium car¬ 
bonate also increases with depth to a maximum in the fifth foot and then 
remains practically constant. 
From the work of previous investigators on the magnesia content of 
soils one would conclude that the soil would be sterile, but just the con¬ 
trary is true—the soil is remarkably fertile and produces excellent crops 
even without the addition of barnyard manure. With the single excep¬ 
tion of its low humus content, the soil is ideally adapted both chemically 
and bacteriologies lly to support rapid bacterial action. 
Table III gives the physical composition of the soil of the Greenville 
farm. The results show the soil to be a good loam of remarkable uni¬ 
formity throughout the 8 feet. 
