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June 25-27. Agricultural Show at Pietermaritzburg, Natal.
July 2-4. Agricultural Show at Durban.

Spain.

May 21-26. The National Society of Breeders (Asociación general de Ganaderos) organizes a Stock Show and an Exhibition of National Dairy Produce; an Exhibition, open to foreigners also, of Agricultural Machines and Implements. For particulars apply to Secretaria de l'Asociación de Ganaderos, 30, Calle de las Huertas, Madrid.

Sweden.

May 15-September 31. Malmö. Exhibition of the Baltic Countries. General and industrial exhibition with a section for agricultural machines. The exhibition is mainly devoted to the countries bordering the Baltic: Sweden, Russia, Germany and Denmark. For particulars apply to Styrelsen för Baltiska Utställningen, Malmö, Sweden.

United Kingdom (1).

April 14, 15. Dublin, Ball's Bridge. Spring Show of the Dublin Royal Society.

May 14, 15. Newark Agricultural Show, Newark. C. T. Baines,
Secretary, 52, Lombard-Street, Newark.

May 14-16.Somerset County Agricultural Association, Taunton.
W. R. J. Greenslade, Secretary, 3, Hammet-street, Taunton.
May 21-23. Devon County Agricultural Association, Barnstaple.
E. R. Callender, Secretary, The Warren, Starcross, South
Devon.
May 28,29. Leicestershire Agricultural Society, Victoria Park,
Leicester. P. L. Kirby, Secretary, 25, Horsefairstreet, Lei-
cester.

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May 28-30. Royal Ulster Agricultural Association, Balmoral,
Belfast. Kenneth MacRae, Secretary, Balmoral, Belfast.
June 3-5. Herefordshire and Worcestershire Agricultural Society

Hereford. T. H. Edwards, Secretary, Corn Exchange Offices,
Leominster.

June 4, 5.- Northamptonshire Agricultural Society, Towcester.
Entries close May 10. J. E. Lovell, Secretary, Harpole,
Northampton.

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June 10-13. Royal Counties Agricultural Society, Windsor. F. Simmons, Secretary, Basingstoke.

June 24,25. - North-West of Ireland Agricultural Society, Lackyroad, Londonderry. Entries close June 4. Oliver Bond, Secretary, Castle-Street, Londonderry.

June 25, 26. Doncaster Agricultural Society, Doncaster Race Common. Entries close June 7. F. H. Chafer, Secretary, 9, Market-place, Doncaster.

(1) See also No. 102, B. Feb. 1913.

(Ed.).

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July 1-5. Royal Agricultural Society of England, Bristol. The prizes amount to over £10 000. Special efforts are being made for the success of the "Overseas exhibit. Application for further particulars should be made to Thomas McRow, Secretary, Royal Agricultural Society of England, 16 Bedford Square, London, W. C.

July 8-10.

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Peterborough Agricultural Society, Peterborough. Entries close June 2. J. E. Little, Secretary, Queen-street, Peterborough.

July 16-18. Lincolnshire Agricultural Society, Lincoln. Entries close June 7. W. Frankish, Secretary, St. Benedict's Square, Lincoln.

July 23-25. Yorkshire Agricultural Society, York. Entries close June 7. John Maughan, Secretary, Blake-street, York. July 31, Aug. 1, 2, 4.- Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society, Burnley. Entries close June 9. E. Bohane, Secretary, Derby House, Preston.

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August 26-29. Royal Dublin Society, Ball's Bridge, Dublin. Oct. 21-24. British Dairy Farmers' Association (Dairy Show), Royal Agricultural Hall, London, N. Entries close September 12. F. E. Hardcastle, Secretary, 12, Hannover-square, London, W.

Nov. 1; 3-7. Brewers' Exhibition, Royal Agricultural Hall, London. Entries close October 14. Jno. G. Hardy, Secretary, 46, Cannon-street, E. C.

Nov. 20-22. -Norfolk and Norwich Christmas Show Association, Norwich. Entries close October 25. Caleb Barker & Co., Secretaries, East Harling, Norfolk.

Nov. 29, Dec. 1-4. Birmingham Cattle Show, Bingley Hall, Birmingham. Entries close October 20. W. H. Lythall, Secretary, Bingley Hall, Birmingham.

Dec. 8-12. Smithfield Club, Royal Agricultural Hall, London, N. Entries close October I. E. J. Powell, Secretary, 12, Hannover-square, London, W.

Dec. 15,16. Suffolk Fat Cattle Club, Ipswich. Entries close November 12. Robert Bond, Secretary, 6, Butter Market, Ipswich.

United States.

September 17 to October I. Chicago.
Chicago.

Third International Ex

hibition of Cold Storage Plant. For particulars apply to 819 Exchange Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.

International Competition for a Beet Lifter and Topper organized by the Great Western Sugar Company, Denver, Colorado, United States. The competition is open until March 1915, but the Company may at any time before such date close the competition and award the prize if a practical machine is presented and if the trials have given satisfaction.

The Association of the German Sugar Industry (Verein der Deutschen Zuckerindustrie) had offered for 1911 and 1912 a prize of 10 000 Marks (about £500) for a lifting and topping machine answering the requirements of the Association; but only a partial prize of 5000 Marks (about £250) has been awarded. A new competition will be held a few years hence after the prizes of the Great Western Sugar Company have been awarded.

342 - Agricultural Congresses.

National Dairy and Cold Storage Congress at Ghent. This will be held during the 1913 International Exibition. Corresponding Secretary of the Congress: O. André, 59, Rue des Arquebusiers, Bruxelles.

Third International Cold Storage Congress, New York, Washington, Chicago. September 14 to 24, 1913. Information can be obtained from the Secrétariat de l'Association Internationale du Froid, 9 Avenue Carnot, Paris; the Secretariat of the American Cold Storage Association, 431 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, and from the Secretariat of one of the Associations, or National Committees, affiliated to the Association Internationale du Froid.

Fifth International Congress of Rice-Growing at Valencia, Spain, in 1914.

SOIL PHYSICS,

CHEMISTRY

AND

MICROBIOLOGY

CROPS AND CULTIVATION.

343 - Occurrence and Nature of Carbonized Material in Soils.
SCHREINER, O. and BROWN, B. E.

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- United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau

of Soils, Bulletin No. 90, pp. 1-28. Washington, December 1912. An examination was made of that portion of the organic matter in soils which is soluble neither in water, nor in alkali, nor in any other ordinary solvent, and which remains visible to the naked eye as small black particles subsequent to treatment with solvents. Such particles were isolated from the soil mass by a system of hydraulic screening and of sedimentation in liquids of different specific gravities, and finally by a separation under the microscope. On careful examination they could be classed under six headings :

1) Plant material of organic structure.

2) Insect and other material of organic structure.

3) Charcoal particles.

4) Lignite particles.

5) Coal particles.

6) Other material, some of which suggested intermediate stages of formation.

These types of insoluble organic matter were found to exist also in the finer soil fractions, and black particles as a whole were invariably

found, not only in a large variety of surface soils examined, but also in subsoils even to a depth of 15 and 50 feet.

The question of the origin of these dark carbona cous particles is considered. The occurrence of transition stages suggests their formation in situ from animal and vegetable remains by a process of slow carbonisation, and of infiltration and deposition of organic matter from soil water. Other agencies which would contribute such material to the soils are suggested: viz. forest fires, the erosion of coal seams by water or ice with subsequent deposition, and the disintegration in situ of rocks containing veins or seams of such material.

344 The Influence of a Preceding Crop on Nitrification in Soil. LITTLETON, L. T. and BIZZELL, J. A. Department of Soil Technology, Cornell Uni versity, Ithaca, N. Y. - The Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 136-138. Easton, Pa., Feb. 1913.

The study of the principles of crop rotation will necessitate the investigation of the effect of plant growth on the soil. The writers have suggested (Journal of the Franklin Institute, Jan. and Feb., 1911, pp. 116, 205-220) that certain higher plants have a distinct influence on the process of nitrification in the soil; that this influence varies in intensity with plants of different families, and at different stages of growth. It was found that in a soil on which maize was growing the nitrates were sometimes higher at certain periods than in a similar soil on which no plants grew. Phleum pratense maintained uniformly a very low nitrate content in the soil throughout the growing period.

The question then arose whether the higher plants exerted any influence on the activity of the nitrifying bacteria after the plants had been. removed. To test this, plots that were used for studying the effect of plants on the nitrate contents of soils in 1910 were kept bare in 1911 until July 1st. To keep down the weeds the plots were disc harrowed. Samples of soil were taken from the sections of the plots that were planted and bare in 1910, and the borings were made to a depth of 8 in. from the surface, and again from 8 to 16 in.

Nitrates in Planted and Unplanted Sections of Plots, Average for the

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The small maize crop is partially responsible for the high nitrate content of the maize soil, but this high nitrate content has also been found in maize soil in previous years when the crop was good. Again, nitrates are higher in the potatoes soil than in the oats soil, although the former crop removed 50 per cent. more nitrogen. The nitrate content of a planted soil is not determined by the total quantity of nitrogen removed by the crop, but by a number of factors, of which one appears to be a direct influence which each species of plant exerts on the activity of the nitrifying organisms.

Nitrates in Soil Planted the Previous Year and Soil Unplanted, free from vegetation until July 1st, 1911.

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The nitrates on the bare soil are in the same order as on the planted plots; except in the case of maize, they are lower on the planted soil than in the bare plots. The nitrates are highest in the soil previously planted to maize, next in that planted to potatoes, and lowest in that planted to oats.

Ratio of Nitrates in Bare Soil to Nitrates in Soil of Same Plots Previously

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To obtain this statement of the nitrates in the planted sections of the plots in terms of the nitrates in the unplanted sections taken as 100, the nitrates in both planted ends of the four plots planted to the same crop are averaged; the result is divided by the average for the nitrates on the unplanted sections of the corresponding plots. This furnishes the most accurate means of comparison, as it removes more effectively than any other method the local variations in the nitrate content of the soil. There is a distinct and characteristic difference in the nitrate content of the soil previously bearing the different plants. While the ex

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