The Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Victoria . the same timeit yields NH5 in the nascent state in the process of its reduction. This,,however, is merely a suggestion; whatever the physiological reasons thesuperiority of nitrate to ammonia nitrogen for direct crop production maybe taken as an established fact. It has been indicated that nitrification is the work of certain soil bac-teria. There are two kinds of bacteria and two stages in the change, butapparently both have very much the same requirements, save in the natureof their nitrogenous food. One kind changes ammonia into nitri
The Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Victoria . the same timeit yields NH5 in the nascent state in the process of its reduction. This,,however, is merely a suggestion; whatever the physiological reasons thesuperiority of nitrate to ammonia nitrogen for direct crop production maybe taken as an established fact. It has been indicated that nitrification is the work of certain soil bac-teria. There are two kinds of bacteria and two stages in the change, butapparently both have very much the same requirements, save in the natureof their nitrogenous food. One kind changes ammonia into nitrite, thesecond changes nitrite into nitrate. The conditions for growth of thesebacteria are therefore the conditions for nitrification. They require— 1. The ordinary plant food of crops except iron. 2. An available base to neutralize the acids produced—carbonate of lime being the ammonium salt—probably the aeration of the between 41 deg. and 130 deg. F., 97 deg. being; the I-ILLIXG THE [ i_E. If moisture is necessary for nitrification, it follows that conservation ofsoil moisture has a double purpose. The moisture is held in reserve for theuse of a future crop, but its presence meanwhile tends tO the production ofnitrates. To find how far exactly, and within what limits the presence ofsoil moisture has an effect upon the production of nitrates was the objectof these experiments. Method of Work. The method of investigation was as follows :—Air-drv soil equal to 300-grams dry soil was placed in a bottle of 3 inches diameter, 6 inches high,. lo May, 1912.] IiifliHiiCi of Soil Moisture upon Xiirificafinu. neck il inches, and of 500 capacity. Sufficient tapping was given tomake the soil compact. A mark was placed on the bottle at the soil level,the .soil was replaced by water to the same mark, and from the weight ofwater required the api)arpnt of the soil was determined. From thisand th
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectagricul, bookyear1902
