A11-122-4M-L EXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION AGRICULTURAL {KND MECHANICAL COLLEGE OF TEXAS W. B. BIZZELL, President VLLBTIN no. 287 JANUARY, 1922 DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY I AILABILITY 0E SOME NITROGENOUS AND PHOSPHATIC MATERIALS B. YOUNGBLOOD, DIRECTOR. COLLEGE STATION, BRA zos COUNTY, TEXAS. ‘STATION STAFFT ADMINISTRATION B YOUNGBLOOD, Ph. D., Director CHARLES A. FELKER, Chief Clerk A. S. WARE, Secretary _ _ A D. JACKSON, Executive Assistant CHARLES GORZYCKI, Technical Assistant M. P. HOLLEMAN, JR., Assistant Chief Clerk VETERINARY SCIENCE *M. FRANCIS, D. V. M., Chief _ ‘ H. SCHMIDT, D. V. S., Veterinarian J. J. REID, D. V. M., Veterinarian CHEMISTRY G. S. FRAPS, Ph. D., Chief; State Chemist S. E. AsBURY, M. S., Assistant Chemist S. LOMANITZ, B. S., Assistant Chemist J. B. SMITH, B. S., Assistant Chemist WALDO WALKER, Assistant Chemist HORTICULTURE H. NEss, M. s.. Chief "i: W. S. HOTCHKISS, Horticulturist ANIMAL INDUSTRY J. M. JoNEs, A. M., Chief; Sheep and Goat Investigations R. M. Sherwood, B. S., Poultry Husbandman G. R. WARREN. B S., Animal Husbandman in Charge of Swine Investigations J. L. LUSH_, Ph. D., Animal Husbandman (genetics) g. IIDTULLER, S ,1 Chief Inspector . . EARCE, n ec or FARM AND RANCH ECONOMICS _;_ H ROGERS, Injfiedo, A. B. Cox, Ph. D., Chief W. H. W000, Inspector SUBSTATIONS No. 1. Beeville, Bee County No. 8. Lubbock. Lubbock County I. E. COWART, M. S., Superintendent No. 2. Troup, Smith County W. S. Horcrnnss, Superintendent No. 3. Angleton, Brazoria County V. E. HAFNER, B. S., Superintendent No. 4. Beaumont, Jeflerson County A. H. PRiNcE, B. S., Superintendent No. 5. Temple, Bell County D. T. KrLLoUGR, B. S., Superintendent No. 6. Denton, Denton County C. H. McDowELL, B. S., Superintendent No. 7. Spur, Dickens County R. E. DICKSON, B. S., Superintendent TAs of January 1, 1922. *In cooperation with School of Veterinary Medicine, A. and M. College of Texas. **In cooperation with United States Department of Agriculture. ' SOIL SURVEY ENTOMOLOGY M. C. TANQUARY, Ph. D., Chief; State Entomologist H. J. REINHARD, B. S., Entomologist L. R. Watson, A. M., Apiculturist C. S. RUDE, Entomologist A. H. ALEX, B. S., Queen Breeder p; W. P. TRICE, B. S., Assistant Entomologist. AGRONOMY A. B, CoNNER, B. S., Chief; Crops _ . A. H. LEIDIGH, B. S., Agronomist, Soils E. B. REYNoLns, M. S., Agronomist. Sm* Grains E. W. GEYER, B. S., Agronomist; Farm, Superintendent ‘Y _**PEARL DRUMMOND, Seed Analyst PLANT PATHOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY J. J. TAUBENHAUS, Ph. D., Chief COTTON BREEDING G. F. FREEMAN, D. Sc., Chief **W. T. CARTER, JR., B. S., Chief H. W. HAWKER, Soil Surveyor H. V. GEiE, B". S., Soil Surveyor FEED CONTROL SERVICE B. YOUNGBLOOD, Ph. D., Director R. E. KARPER, B. S., Superintendent No. 9. Pecos, Reeves County V. L. CORY, B. S., Superintendent No. 10. College Station, Brazos County (Feeding and Breeding Substation) L. J. McCALL, Superintendent No. ll. Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches County i G. T. McNEss, Superintendent ' **No. 12. Chillicothe, Hardeman County A. B. CRoN, B. S., Superintendent No. 14. Sonora. Sutton-Edwards Counties E. M. PE'rERs, B. S., Superintendent D. H. BENNETT, V. M. D., Veterinarian CONTENTS. PAGE Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Availability of Nitrogen of Char-red Wheat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Availability of Nitrogen of Cottonseed Meal, Cottonseed Meal and Carbonate of Lime, Cyanamid, Muck Tankage, and Horn and Hoof Meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _ 7 Availability of Mineral Phosphates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Availability of the Phosphorous Compounds of Cottonseed Meal. . . . 10 Availability of Phosphoric Acid in Cottonseed Meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Availability of Phosphoric Acid as Basic Slag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Acknowledgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 16 Summary and Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." . . . . . . . . . . 16 BULLETIN NO. 287. JANUARY, 1922. AVAILABILITY OF SOME NITROGENOUS AND PHOSPIFIATIC MATERIALS. BY G. S. FRAPS. In connection with the use of fertilizers, it is important to know the readiness with which the different fertilizer materials give up their plant food to plants. A material which contains a high percentage of plant food, but gives it up only slowly, has, of course, only a low value to plants. . In connection with the study of soil chemistry, it is also important to know the readiness with which minerals contained in the soil give up their phosphoric acid and potash to plants. A Tests of various materials containing plant food to ascertain their availability have been made at this Station, some of which are reported in this bulletin. Some of these tests relate to the use of the materials as fertilizer, while others relate to their possible value to plants when occurring as soil minerals. These tests have been made from time to time during past years, and while not as complete as might be desired, it seems advisable to publish them. AVAILABILITY OF NITROGEN OF CHARRED WHEAT A quantity of wheat was damaged in an elevator fire, part of it being merely damaged by water, and part of it being charred by the heat. The Experiment Station was immediately called upon for information concerning the feeding value and the fertilizing value of this material- For this reason, it seemed desirable to make some pot experiments to ascertain the availability of the nitrogen in the wheat which was charred. The experiments were carried out in the usual manner. The charred wheat was ground, and a quantity used containing 0.1 gram of nitrogen to 5000 grams of soil. Acid phosphate and potassium sulphate were added as usual. Two pots received no addition, while two pots received 0.1 gram nitrogen in cottonseed meal and other pots received nitrate of soda, for the purpose of comparison. Table 1. Percentage of nitrogen removed from cottonseed meal compared with that from charred wheat and nitrate of soda. ., Cottonseed Charred Nitrate meal wheat of soda 9312 Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.0 0 19.5 9330 Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.4 4.9 59.4 9332 Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.6 0 43.2 1956 Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 18.1 0.8 . . . . . . . . . . .. Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..- . . . . . .. 19.5 1.4 40.7 Relative rank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 7 208 6 . TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. g The amount of nitrogen recovered by one crop of corn from nitrate oft The percentage of the added nitrogen recovered is given in Table 1. it soda was 40.7 per cent., from cottonseed 19.5 per cent., and from charred i wheat 1.4 per cent. This is the average of four tests on four different soils. According to this experiment, the nitrogen in charred wheat has little fertilizing value. Details of the experiment are given in Table 2. j /@ / "' @7020 laye of nlV/f/o en Qemm/e a’ a, d, a”, /\4dl‘€r/'a/s 40 9/2 x4700: are/ 3O r/a/ . Q _ s“ k 3 g ‘e 9, & w g, ts i ‘s ° i“ ‘v s.- :2 i‘ s s x a Q k Q. e Q 8, x. K ML /\7d7‘€//d/J‘ Figure 1. Percentage o f nitrogen removed by crops from charred wheat, cottonseed mea j . trate of soda. AVAILABILITY OF N ITROG-ENOUS AND PHOSPHATIO‘ MATERIALS. 7 Table 2. Details of experiments with charred wheat. Cottonseed Charred Ni- me wheat trate Additions K. D. K. D. of K. D. K. D. K. D. K. D. soda 19312 Weight of corn in grams.... 7.5 8.4 10.6 12.2 7.0 7.8 . . . . . .. Percentage of nitrogen in ' cro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .50 .49 .48 .44 .52 .42 . . . . . .. Grams nitrogen in crop. . . . 0.0375 0.0412 0.0509 0.0537 0.0364 0. 0327 . . . . . . . Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0393 . . . . . . . .0523 . . . . . . . .0345 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9330 Weight of corn in grams.... 7.5 8.4 14.5 16.5 7.2 9.1 24.5 Percentage of nitrogen in crops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 .49 .44 .43 .61 .58 .42 Grams nitrogen in crops.. . 0. 0458 0.0412 0.0638 0.0720 0.0439 0. 0528 . 1029 Average. . . .' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0435 . . . . . . . . 0679 . . . . . . . .0484 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9332 Weight of corn in grams... 8.3 10.2 14.8 14.5 7.6 6.8 23.3 Percentage of nitrogen in . crops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 .42 .47 .43 .53 .44 42 Grams nitrogen in crops. . . . 0. 0440 0. 0428 0. 0696 0.0624 0.0403 0.0299 .0979 Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0434 . . . . . . . .0660 . . . . . . . .0351 . ; . . . . . . . . . . . . 1956 Weight of corn in grams... . 20.2 20.2 25.7 24.0 23.9 18. 1 . . . . . .. Percentage of nitrogen in crops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 0.45 0.43 0.44 .42 0.41 0.45 . . . . . .. Grams nitrogen in crops. . . . .0909 . 0869 . 1131 1008 .0980 . 0815 . . . . . . . Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0889 . . . . . . . .1070 . . . . . . . .0897 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AVAILABILITY 0F NITROGEN 0F GOTTONSEED MEAL, OOTTONSEED MEAL AND GARBONATE OF LIME, CYANAMID, MUCK TANKAGE, AND HORN AND HOOF MEAL These experiments were conducted on seven different soils. The ma- terial was added in amounts equal to 0.106 gram nitrogen; acid phos- Figure 2. Availability of nitrogen. ‘<1 ‘ g 2 - Ave/aye RO/(enfaye of 44/70/020 . §§ Pemarea/ 5y (xv/O: 150m /\¢07‘€//0/$ i Q A i §Q s“ \ . é g w. N § s I Q: A. $9 t .81‘ X Q Q |§ ‘o 3G 3‘ _§\ § ('3 (g- i‘ E. s C? J2 fi G c‘, Mafef/a/ 8 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. phate and sulphate of potash were added. Sorghum was grown as ti experimental crop. A second crop Was also grown on some of the soi but the amount of the additional nitrogen taken up by this second f was in most cases very small, so that the results with this crop are n given. The amount of soil used was 5000 grams. A summary of (i; experiments is given in Table 3 and details in Table 4. Table 3. Percentage of nitrogen removed by sorghum. Cottonseed a Cottonseed meal and Muck Horn andf meal carbonate Cyanamid tankage hoof meal? of hme 2388 2387 4647 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 28.3 23.1 43.7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4650 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 22.0 . . . . . . . . . . .. 19.4 30.8 4597 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 13.2 35 1 49.2 0 20.0 3341 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 75.7 . . . . . . . . . . .. 26.8 4 38.8 4602 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 32.5 27.5 38.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4603 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 11.3 . . . . . . . . . . .. 27.8 2.8 4644 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 42.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 5 11 46.8 Average.......... 32.2 28.6 35.9 3.0 27.8 Relative rank. . . . . 100 89 111 9 86 The eflfect of the addition of carbonate of lime to cottonseed meal, w tested on account of the great benefit which is known to occur whel‘ this addition is made to cottonseed meal to be nitrified. The additio was made only on three soils. With two of these soils, there was a "de crease in the percentage of nitrogen taken up, and With one there was an increase. 7 Table 4. Details of experiments with cottonseed meal, cyanmid, muck, etc. Nitrogen Grams - Addition Grams in crop, nitrogen Gain in sorghum per cent in crop grams 4647 1——0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 14.3 .36 .0515 . . . . . . . . ..; - 2——Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24. 7 .33 .0815 .0300 3—Cottonseed meal carbonate of a lime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20. 0 . 36 .0720 . . . . . . . . . . f 4—Cottonseed meal and carbonate of lime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.2 .33 .0799 .0245" 5—Cyanamid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.0 .42 .0966 . . . . . . . . .. ' 6——Cyanamid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 . 6 . 36 . 0994 . 0465 g 4650 1—0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.2 29 .0731 . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - 27. 7 30 .0831 . . . . . . . . . . . , . 3-—Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.2 31 .0905 . . . . . . . . .. 4—Cottonseed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38. 7 29 1122 0233 5—— yanam' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 32.9 30 .0987 0206 6—Muck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.0 30 .0840 . . . . . . . . .. 7—-Muck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .‘ 27.5 29 .0798 0038 8———Horn and hoof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38.1 30 . 1143 . . . . . . . . .. 9——Horn and hoof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34.2 31 . 1060 0326 3341 1——0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63. 5 73 .4636 . . . . . . . . . . 2--0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58. 9 95 . 5596 0960 3--Cyanamid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52. 9 93 .4920 0284 4——-Muck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54. 7 86 .4704 0068 5——H0rn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64. 7 78 . 5047 6-—-Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34.8 1 52 .5290 4597 1——0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29. 6 43 . 1273 . . . . . . . . . . 2—-0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.8 41 .1468 . . . . . . . . .. 3--—-Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42. 1 40 . 1684 . . . . . . . . . . 4—Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.1 41 .1316 0140 5—-Cottonseed meal and lime . . . . . . . 34. 5 40 . 1380 . . . . . . . . . . AVAILABILITY or N ITROGENOUS AND PIIosPIIATIc: MATERIALS. 9 Table 4. _ Details of experiments with cottonseed meal, cyanmid, muck, etc. Nitrogen Grams Addition Grams in crop, I nitrogen Gain in sorghum per cent in crop grams 4597 6—Cottonseed meal and lime . . . . . . . 52. 5 42 .2205 0372 7—Cyanamid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.3 47 .1659 . . . . . . . . . . 8——-Cyanamid . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . 47. 2 45 .2124 0522 9—Muck tankage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26. 3 43 . 1105 . . . . . . . . . . 10———Muck tankage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.8 42 .1336 0 11-—Horn and hoof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39.5 40 1580 . . . . . . . . . . 12———Horn and hoof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36.0 44 1584 0212 4602 1—Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.3 37 .0677 . . . . . . . . . . 2——Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.2 34 .0789 0345 3—-Cottonseed meal and lime . . . . . . . 19.0 34 .0646 . . . . . . . . . . 4—"COlLl.OI1S€8d meal and lime . . . . . . . 17.4 41 .0713 0291 5——Cyanamid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.8 40 .0872 . . . . . . . . . . 6—Cyanamid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.1 42 .0718 0407 7—0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9. 7 40 _. 0388 . . . . . . . . . . 4603 1—0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 30.9 36 .1112 . . . . . . . . .. 2——Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40.4 33 .1332 0120 3——Cyanamid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40.2 35 .1407 0295 4—Muck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.6 34 .0972 5——Horn and hoof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38. 1 30 . 1143 0030 4644 1—0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 73 .0387 . . . . . . . . . . 2—0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. 3 63 . 0497 . . . . . . . . . . 3—Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. 5 65 .0358 . . . . . . . . . . 4—C0ttonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 A 64 .0390 0024 5——Muck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3 60 .0438 . . . . . . . . . . 6—*Muck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0 58 .0406 0077 7—Horn and hoof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. 3 59 0372 0027 Cyanamid on some of the soils is much less available than cottonseed meal, and on other soils is decidedly more so. On an average, its nitro- gen is about 10 per cent. more available than the nitrogen of cottonseed meal. ' Muck tankage, so called, is a vegetable material. The availability of the nitrogen in this material is very low. Its nitrogen has about 10 per cent. of the value of that in cottonseed meal. Horn and hoof meal is often considered to have only a lowiavailability. The availability found in these experiments varies, but on an average it is about 16 per cent. less than that of cottonseed meal. Previous experiments have shown this material to be about as available as, cotton- seed meal. (See Fraps, “Principles of Agricultural Chemistry,” page 300.) AVAILABILITY 0F MINERAL PHOSPHATES In Bulletin 1'78 of this Station, the effect of additions of carbonate" of lime, starch, sawdust, and corn cobs upon the phosphoric acid of the soil was discussed and it was shown that the addition of carbonate of lime increased slightly the size of the crop and the amount of phosphoric acid withdrawn. - The experiment here reported was run on one soil with several min- eral phosphates, and additions of various substances. Corn was grown as the experimental crop, upon 5000 grams of soil, with mineral phos- phate equal to 0.2 gram phosphoric acid and with 25 grams of carbonate of lime or other addition. Ammonium nitrate and sulp-hate of potash were also added. . 4 ' The relative availability of the phosphates with and Without the addi- 1O TExAs AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIoN. tions is shown in Table 5. Duplicate pots were used, and the results given are the average. Table 5. Percentage of phosphoric acid received from phosphate alone and - with the additions named Car- Alone Serpen- bonate Siderite Starch Saw- Limo- tine of lime dust nite Rock phosphate. ._ . . . . . . . . ‘ 0 0 0 . . . . . . . . . . I . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2 Acid phosphate . . . . . . . . .. 19.8 18.4 17.2 16.3 - 4.1 17.3 20.4 Vivianite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 6.5 . . . . . . .. 5.6 16.0 2.8 7.0 4.0 Triplite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4.5 . . . . . . .. 13.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1.8 . . . . . . .. Wavellite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1.6 . . . . . . .. 1.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1.0 . . . . . . .. Dufrenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1.5 . . . . . . .. 2.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4 8 . . . . . . .. With this particular soil, the phosphoric acid of rock phosphate was not taken up at all. The phosphoric acid of vivianite had about one- third the availability of that of acid phosphate, and triplite about one- fourth. Wavellite and dufrenite had about one-tenth of the availability of acid phosphate. ' a Starch" decreased the amount of phosphoric acid taken up, probably on account of the fermentation it caused in the soil. Carbonate of lime decreased slightly the amount of phosphoric acid removed from acid phosphate, vivianite, and wavellite, and increased slightly that taken up from dufrenite. Carbonate of lime exerted a very high effect upon trip- lite, increasing the phosphoric acid taken up decidedly. Siderite de- creased the availability of phosphoric acid in rock phosphate, and in- * creased decidedly the availability of that in vivianite. Starch decreased the phosphoric acid removed very decidedly, from acid phosphatevand from vivianite. Sawdust decreased the phosphoric acid removed from acid phosphate, triplite, and wavellite, and increased that taken up from vivianite and from dufrenite. Limonite slightly increased the phosphoric acid taken up from the acid phosphate, and decreased that taken up from vivianite. p A . The results of this single experiment on these materials cannot give more than indications. ‘ AVAILABILITY OF PHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS IN COTTONSEED MEAL Previous work by J. B. Rather (Texas Bulletin 146) has shown that the phosphorus compounds of cottonseed meal are largely organic in ' nature and not inorganic as has been supposed. (S. C. Bulletin 8.) The principal compound was shown to be a. salt of phytic acid. (Texas Bul-. letin 156.) Cottonseed meal has an extensive application as a commer- cial fertilizer in the South, especially in‘ Texas. While the amount of phosphoric acid introduced into a fertilizer by cottonseed meal is small, the availability of the phosphorus compounds of cottonseed meal is of theoretical importance. It is all the more so because the methods of determining available phosphoric acid in mineral fertilizers are not neces- sarily app-licable to organic fertilizers. According to Berthlot S. Record 19,528) phytin is readily assim- ilated by such lower plants as yeasts, fungi, algae, and bacteria. Aso y and Yoshida (J. College of Imp. Univ, Tokyo, I, 153-161) compared AVAILAisILITY or NITROGENOUS AND PHOSPHATIG MATERIALS. 11 the manurial values of phytin, lecithin, and nuclein with sodium, alumi- num,iron, and tricalcium phosphate. » Phytin was found to be nearly equal in manurial value to iron phosphate. - Method of Conducting the Experiments.—Three soils were selected which were very poor in both total and active phosphoric acid. Washed gravel was added in sufficient amounts to an 8-inch Modified Wagner pot to make the total weight 2 kilograms. Five kilograms of soil were then added. The soil had previously been pulverized in a wooden box with a wooden mallet until it would pass a 3-mm. sieve, gravel being removed. All pots received 2.5 grams of calcium carbonate at the begin- ning of the experiment and 1 gram each of potassium sulphate and am- monium nitrate before planting each crop. The seeds were weighed out with the aid of a balance so that each pot received the same amount of seed within 0.1 gram. Water was added to one-half the saturation capacity of the soils and brought up to this point three times weekly throughout the growth of the crops. Water was added between these periods as seemed necessary. The crops were grown in glass-roofed houses with canvas walls and ceiling. To two pots of each soil, no addition of fertilizer was made except that already mentioned, which was added to all pots. Forty milligrams of available phosphoric acid in the form of acid phosphate were added to two pots of each soil. Forty milligrams of phosphoric acid in the form of crude phytin from cottonseed meal were added to two pots. To two pots of each soil were added 4O milligrams of phosphoric acid in the form of a water extract from cottonseed meal. The aqueous extract was made as follows: One hundred grams of cottonseed meal was digested for three hours with 500 c.c. water at room temperature with frequent shaking. The solution was filtered and washed to a volume of 500 ‘c.c. Twenty-five cubic centimeters of this extract contained 32.85 mg. phosphoric acid (P205). i The crude phytin was prepared by digesting a portion of the above cottonseed meal with water, filtering and precipitating with alcohol. The precipitate was filtered, air-dried, and powdered. It contained 20.20 per cent. phosphoric acid. There was no further addition of phosphoric fertilizer during the experiment. During ‘the seasons of 1913 and 1914, corn was grown, followed by sorghum. The period of growth was in every case two months from the date of planting. After harvesting, the crops were air-dried in an oven at a low temperature, weighed, ground, and the phosphoric acid determined in each. Results of the Eaaperiment.—The amount of phosphoric acid in each crop from the phosphoric acid pots, less the amount in the crop from the blank pots, was taken to be the amount of fertilizer recovered. This is expressed in percentage of phosphoric acid added. The results are shown in Tables 6 and 7. 12 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. Table 6. Phosphoric acid recovered in crops, percentage. l iCorn Sorghum Corn ' Sorghum Total Form of phosphoric acid 1913 1913 1914 1914 four crops 5938 Acid phosphate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.0 22.0 1.0 3.3 61.3 Crude phytin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 19.0 13.8 0.0 1.2 34.0 Aqueous extract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.5 2.5 0.0 0.6 16.6 626s Acid phosphate . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.8 8.5 4.5 2.0 38.8 Crude phytin . . . . . . . . . . . . . .; . . . . . .. 14.5 15.5 3.1 3.0 36.1 Aqueous extract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 2.5 7.0 0.0 3.5 18.0 5969 Acid phosphate . . . . . . .' . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.3 25.0 25.6 13.0 86.9 Crude phytin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 11.8 51.3 13.5 13.0 88.6 Aqueous extract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. 5 16.5 2.0 13.5 37.5 Average acid phosphate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62.3 Average crude phytin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52.9 Average aqueous extract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.0 On one soil, the phosphorus in crude phytin has only ability of that of acid phosphate, but with the other two the same, when measured by four crops. s in crude phytin is about l The availability increases ability is practically measure-d by the first crop, the phosphoru half as available as that in acid phosphate. with the second crop. 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I257: 0000 no.6 c: no.5 0: 90.20 no.5 0: no.5 c: 9030 no.5 c: no.5 c: £0.30 no.5 c: no.5 0: 5500 000m 000m no.5 000m 000m no.5 000m 000m no.5 000m 000m no.5 0:2 50o 5m 000:3’? 0:>: 50o 5m 000:3’? 0:>: 05o 5m 000:3’? 0 :>: 50o 5m 000:3’? 0:5 o:.50nwo0n 0o 5.5m 5:00.50 :50 . 050050 0.50 50.000 00:3 3205200000 .5 2:00am: .S 0:00,:- 14 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. " AVAILABILITY OF PHOSPHORIC ACID OF OOTTONSEED MEAL In this test, 40 mg. phosphoric acid was added in the form of avail- able phosphoric acid in acid phosphate or as total phosphoric acid in; cottonseed meal, to 5000 grams soil, together with 1 gram each potas-ppi‘ sium sulphate and nitrate of soda. Pots to which no phosphoric acid} was added were also used. 'The percentage of phosphoric acid removed is shown in Table 8. De-lé n tails are given in Table 9. The percentage of phosphoric acid removed; from the cottonseed meal is always higher for the first crop than for] the acid phosphate. If we comp-are with the preceding work, we findlt that phosphoric acid of cottonseed meal is more available than phytin used alone. Possibly the decomposition of the organic matter of the p cottonseed meal aids in the decomposition of the phytin. I {F Table 8. Percentage of phosphoric acid removed from acid phosphate and cottonseed meali Acid Cottonseed é phosphate me ‘- 9284 Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 9.5 16.5 9286 Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 15.0 18.5 9286 Sorghum, second crop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .* . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.0 5.0 9271 Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 7.9 11.7 9271 Sorghum, second crop . . . . . . . . . . . . .- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.5 1.5 Average. . ._ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 24.3 17.4 Relative value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 72 Table 9. Details of experiments on phosphoric acid of cottonseed meal. Per cent Grams _ _ Grams phosphoric phosphoric ’ ~I Addition crop ' acid acid . in crop in crop 9284 1—-0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. 5 12 0.0078 ——0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 5.7 19 0.0108 - 3——Acid phosphate . . . . . . -. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 .2 2O 0.0144 . 4——A<'id phosphate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. 6 21 0.0118 5-—Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12. 5 . 16 0.0200 6——Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. 5 .14 0.0119.‘ 9286 1-—-0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.8 . 18 0. 40>’ 2——0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8.3 .13 0.0108 * 3———.Ar-id phosphate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2 .21 0.0193 a 4——Acid phosphate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4 .21 0.0176 5-—Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.9 .14 0.0153. 6—-Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.4 ». 18 0.0241 _‘ 9286 1—-0 Second crop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 . 18 0.0043 .p 2——0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . 7 . 24 0. 0041. 4-—Acid phosphate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4" . 17 0.0126 ' 5—Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. 7 17 0.0063 - 9271 1—-0 Second crop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.6 .21 0.0181 2——0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8.4 .24 - 0.0202 f 3—-Acid phosphate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9. 9 .27 0.0267 * 4—Acid phosphate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 9.1 .30 . 0.0273 ; 5-—Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14. 6 .24 0.0350 ; 6——Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.1 .22 0.0288 _, 9271 1—-0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.0 . 16 0.0192 * » 2——0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 9.4 .13 0.0122 3—Acid phosphate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.2 .14 0.0269 I 4—-Acid phosphate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.2 . 13 0. 01-98 i, 5——Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.9 .11 0.0142 6—-Cottonseed meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12. 5’ . 15 0.0188 _ I m I t AVAILABILITY or NITROGENOUS AND PHOSPHATIG: MATERIALs. 15 AVAILABILITY OF THE PHOSPHORIG ACID OF BASIC SLAG Basic slag phosphate is a by-product obtained in the manufacture of steel from iron containing phosphorus. The phosphoric acid is combined with lime, and is more available than phosphoric acid in rock phos- phate, but less available than the phosphoric acid in acid phosphate. Some _years ago, a committee was appointed by the Association of y Ofiicial Agricultural Chemists for the purpose of studying methods for determining the availability of the phosphoric acid of Thomas phosphate, and the experiments here reported were made on samples furnished by ‘ this committee, and in co-operation with them. The final report of this committee was made by Mr. Haskins at the meeting in-October, 1921. The amount of soil used was 5000 grams, and the“ amount f phosphatic materials corresponded to approximately 35 milligrams. The quantity taken Was based upon the total phosphoricacid in the basic slag and the phosphate rock, and on the available phosphoric acid in the acid a phosphate. i . 1i Table 10. Average rank based on phosphoric acid recovered, compared with acid phosphate A as Acid __ _ phos- . , _ ACld p-hate Rock " S011 Slag A Slag B Slag C Slag D phos- double . phos- phate quantity . phate j 6881Rank,3crops..... 53 5s i 79 43 10o 911 g ' 32 6684 Rank, 3 crops. . . . . 16 104 56 38 100 118; 109' . 7236 Rank, 3 crops . . . . . ._ . . . . . . . 107 62 40 100 113' _ 22 7230 Rank, 3 crops. . . . . 78 79 37 34 100 85§ 62 6885 Rank, 3 crops. . . . . . 94 142 48 . . . . . . . . 100 . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. . i 9283 Rank, 2 crops. . . . . 89 77 86 70 100 . . . . . . . . , 84 ‘ Average . . . . . . a so 94 o1 45 10o 102 62 I 9288 Rank, 2 crops (not 7 included in aver- _ age) . . . _ . . . . . . 260 173‘ 73 _ 67 100 . . . . . . . . 277 Table 10 gives the relative rank of the phosphoric acid in these ma- ijterials, compared with the available phosphoric acid- in acid phosphate ‘ as 100. The phosphoric acid in the crop without phosphate was deducted- ‘This is based on the relative amounts of phosphoric acid taken by three fcrops with five of the soils, and two crops with six. If the first crops _j,nly were considered, the rank of the basic slag would be lower. That it to say, the phosphoric acid of the acid phosphate is taken up most uickly by the first crop. There is a considerable variation in the availability of the phosphoric acid of the basic slag in the different soils. It does not hold the same relative rank in all the soils. The average availability compared with cid phosphate varies from 45 to 94, the average of all being about .5 per cent. ~ .~The availability 0f the phosphoric acid of rock phosphate combined iith acid phosphate is higher than that given in Bulletin 212 of this ‘ligation, but this difference may be due to the continuation of" the ex-t firiment after the available phosphoric acid in the acid phosphate was tactically exhausted by the first one or two crops. This would result 16 TExAs AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. in an apparent availability much lower for the acid phosphate and muci higher for the rock phosphate than should really be the- case. The sam thing would work in favor of the other less available materials, iriclud ing the basic slag. A - t ACKNOWLEDGMENT The work here described Was taken part in by S. E. Asbury, . Rather, E. C. Carlyle, R. H. Ridgell, and other members of the staff. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 1. The nitrogen of charred Wheat has little fertilizing value. ., 2. While .carbonate of lime increases nitrification of cottonseed meal when added to soils with cottonseed meal, in two cases there was a de-_ crease in the amount of nitrogen taken up by plants, and in one case~ there was a slight increase. 3. Cyanamid on some of the soils is much less available than cotton-T’ seed meal, and on other soils is decidedly more so. As an average on; tests on six soils, the nitrogen of cyanamid is about 10 per cent. more. available than the nitrogen of cottonseed meal. 4. The availability of nitrogen of muck tankage is about 10 per cent.’ of that of cottonseed meal. ~ 5. The nitrogen of horn and hoof meal has an availability about 84f per cent. of that of cottonseed meal, in the experiments here reportedf 6. In a test on one soil, the phosphoric acid of rock phosphate was} not taken up atall. The phosphoric acid of vivianite had about one-j’ third the availability of that of acid phosphate, and triplite about one-j fourth. Wavellite and dufrenite had about one-tenth ‘the availability of the phosphoric acid of acid phosphate. , - '7. Starch decreased the amount of phosphoric acid taken up, prob- ably on account of the fermentation. Carbonate of lime decreased slightly 3 the amount ofphosphoric acid removed from acid phosphate, vivianitelr; and Wavellite, and increased slightly that taken up from dufrenite. Gar- bonate of lime increased the phosphoric acid taken up from triplite decidedly. ., y 8. Siderite decreased the availability of phosphoric acid in rock phosr ; phate, and increased decidedly that of vivianite. ‘ 9. When measured by four crops, the phosphorus in phytin is taken A up about the same as that of acid phosphate. When measured by the first crop the phosphorus in crude phytin is about half as available as ;__ that in acid phosphate. f 10. The phosphorus in the aqueous extract of cottonseed meal has a y. much lower availability than that in crude phytin. 11. Phosphoric acid is taken up from cottonseed meal to a greater extent than from acid phosphate. 12. There is a considerable variation in the availability of the phos- ’ phoric acid of basic slag in different soils. The average availability p compared with acid phosphate varies from 45 to 94 per cent., the aver- v age of all being about 65 per cent. This is based on experiments on six soils and on three crops. If the first crops only were considered, the , rank of the basic slag would be lower, since the phosphoric acid of the acid phosphate is taken up more quickly by the first crop. i.