The sun., 1910-05-23
SOEC R0ES0EG
New LAghf on the canSS - Inssgmsy N
Agrleullnral lama.

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Previous Investigations have indl,s,..
that solls may b lnfertils or 'sxhap,,sss
because Of the Dresence IN them Of r-r,rr,
comp0unds Injurious 10 plants. IA A.
preaching this pF0blsm. which u .yr.,g
insly compiler. 1 was found nsoss.s,,.
10 review briefly the knowledge % n.
origin Of che organic matter In mo s.l
This review ahOWa that the sou 0-g,r..
matter arises through the decay Of orgaD.g
compounds Of vegetable and animal origin
that among these compounds ar, u.s-v
Of well known composition and constitute,
which get into the soil and may even p.-.at
for q time, and that many compound vt "a
are formed from these In the prors.s y
decay are llksWias well established a. den.
mite chemical compounds.
when the effect Of these compound,
which are known 10 get into the soil or "a
b. formed In the soil h considered. i /,
found that many Of them have been shoup
20 BE- harmful 10 plants, some even Vhss
In very small amounts. On the other hAnd
it Il not yst possible 10 trace any EcnsrI
relation between the harmful propertis,
and the chemical composition or oonss.
tuition. and consequently u y hOt rossisl,
20 determine the eject Of any compound
on plants except BY experiment
In addition 10 known products of we're
table and animal origin and their productl
OF decay Il Il possible that still other com.
pounds are produced and exist in the sod
about which thers IA no knowledge, not
even Of a speculative kind. Il was found
that although the organic matter In soIs
IL an important Ingredient. amounting N
most cases 10 many tons an acre. almost
nothing u known Of the chemical nature
Of this material
The difficulties, then. In attempting 70
Isolate harmful organic compound from
infertile soils are due 70 Ignorance of what
compounds are harmful 10 plAnts and uhal
are not. and also 20 lack OF knowledge oi
the chemical nature OF the organic matter
OF the aOil and consequent lack Of methods
for dsalinE With such material
The firtt crystalline organic compound
Isolated from a soil was a nltrogpnnuS
body. picOline carbOxylic acid, which VA
obtained By q process which had - starting
point in q solution OF q portion Of the organie
matter in sodium hydr1te solution This
with very faint acid properties and has
also the power Of actlnR a. a base toward
strong acids. Along with the ISOLATION u
this compound there were obtained indica-
lions OF the AfNaHl1F W Wv eAlllF HNll " 0Auer
bodies, some of which are related 10 H.
From the same and another soil by q modl.
ncatiOn Of the same method another organic
compound vas obtained. This compound.
dihydrOK ystearic acid, is non-nitroEen0us
and = 10 no way related 10 the nitrogen0us
body hrst isolated. DihydroKystearic acid,
like picoline CarbOKylic acid. IL q we'll de-
fined crystalline chemical compound here
tOfore knOWn only a. a laboratory product
The properties Of these Two organic com
mounds we're tested by the elect Of their
solutions on wheat seedlinRF picoline
carbo1ylic acid was found 10 he harmful IN
concentrations Of 100 parts 10 the million.
and like many potsOna had aiimulafing
effect when present In small quantities
Dihydroxysiearic acid Was Injurious 10 al
concentrations tested and ultimately caused
death Of the plants In concentrations OF
IOO pasta 10 the million
Two other crystalline organic COMPOUNDS
prev iOusly undescribed IN the literature
were ISOLATED from a soil One n these.
which has been named agroceric acid. u a
member OF the waxy acids the other. which
has been named agrosterol. belOngH 10 the
chOlesteroi group of bodies. Neither %
these substances appears to be harmful -
wheat and they are OR interest In the study %
soil fertility chiefly with regard 20 their pos-
aihle connection With the generation or de-
stFuctiOn Of Injurious or beneficial COM
pounds, although Il u not impossible that
they may be themselves harmful 10 plants
other than that tested.