Premium
Nitrification and Total Nitrogen as Affected by Crops, Fertilizers, and Copper Sulfate
Author(s) -
Jensen Chas. A.
Publication year - 1916
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1916.00021962000800010002x
Subject(s) - nitrification , citation , nitrogen , agronomy , mathematics , library science , chemistry , computer science , biology , organic chemistry
This paper deals with a study of the changes in nitrification and total nitrogen under field conditions at Rocky Ford, Colo., during the summers of 191I and 1912. The object of the nitrate determinations made in 1911 was to find some cheap and practical method of counteracting the detrimental effects of excessive nitrate accumulations which, during the seasons of 191o and I9II , gave promise of becoming a serious factor in beet culture on certain soils in the Arkansas River Valley in Colorado. Excessive amounts of nitrates in the soil tend to produce a large, coarse, and brittle beet which does not ripen properly in the fall and which is apt to be low in both sugar content and purity. Such beets generally do not work up well in the factory and their low sugar content and low purity reduce the sugar yield and increase the molasses, hence the beets are expensive to work. It may be stated here that while the accumulations of ..nitrates were on the increase in 191o and 1911 in the Arkansas River Valley in Colorado, the accumulations were less marked in 1912 and 1913 and have since ceased to be a serious factor in the area to which these investigations were confined. The distribution of the nitrate areas and the excessive nitrate accumulations in the area here st-udied, as well as in other portions of the state, have been quite extensively reported upon by Dr. Headden of the Colorado station. 2