ant foods
quickly available, but prevents a build-up of humus in the soil. The
effect is very pronounced in times of drought, the alkaline soil crops
drying up much more quickly than do those on acid soil. On the other
hand, such soil elements as phosphorus seem to require the lime as a
flux to prevent the phosphates from becoming fixed and unavailable to
crops.

"In regard to peat moss, it is undoubtedly acid, but it is beneficial in
its water-holding properties and in the comparatively slow release of
its nutritive elements. Lime added to the peat will break it down
rapidly and make it more available as a fertilizer, but until the
decomposition reaches a certain point; its effect is to impoverish
rather than to enrich the mixture. This seeming paradox can perhaps best
be explained by some experiments I have been making with sawdust. A
number of plots were prepared and given various treatments, including
mixing one surface-inch of sawdust with the soil, and wheat was sown on
the area.

"Wheat sown on the test plot without any treatment or fertilizer was
normal for the poor clay soil on which the experiments were made. Where
sawdust, only, was added, the wheat came up but sickened and produced no
filled heads. The same was true where lime was added to the sawdust.
Where heavy applications of nitrate of soda were added to the sawdust
treated plots, both with and without lime, the 'sickness' disappeared
and wheat was matured.

"My analysis of this, coupled with experiments in composting, leads to
the following conclusion: During the period of decomposition of the
sawdust (hastened, no doubt, by the lime), the bacteria of decomposition
fed so heavily on the nitrates in the soil that the plants were starved.
When the material had reached the condition of humus, the bacterial
activity decreased to the point where fertility was restored.

"The above analysis accounts for the fact that coarse vegetable
material, injures crops, when plowed under, for the current season.
Fresh succulent material decays so quickly that it becomes almost
immediately available, releasing its constituent plant food.

"With proper conditions of moisture and aeration, sawdust, when mixed
with quickly decaying material like kitchen garbage, can be reduced to
an excellent, usable humus in three summer months. In fact, it is then
better material than if permitted to lie out in the weather for fifteen
years.

"There is another factor I think impor