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The Feeding Power of Plants in Different Soil Horizons 1
Author(s) -
Millar C. E.
Publication year - 1925
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/agronj1925.00021962001700030005x
Subject(s) - citation , soil water , mathematics , library science , computer science , environmental science , soil science
Considerable difference of opinion exists regarding the relative unproductiveness of soil material occurring below the humus-bearing horizon commonly designated as “subsoil. ” The long-accepted opinion that the lower horizons of arid soils are not raw is discredited by Lipman (1)s in so far as non-legumes are concerned. The frequent appearance of sweet clover and other hardy legumes on areas from which the humus-bearing soil has been removed suggests that certain types of plants are capable of absorbing larger quantities of nutrients from the lower horizons of certain soil profiles than are others. This view is supported by the work of Alway, McDole, and Rost (2) who found some of the “subsoils” of eastern Nebraska to be very unproductive in so far as non-legumes were concerned but capable of supporting a luxuriant growth of inoculated legumes. Harmer (3) found five Minnesota “subsoils” to be far less productive for inoculated alfalfa than the corresponding surface soils. In two other cases, however, the subsoil proved as productive for alfalfa as any of the seven surface soils tested. Tests indicated that the differences in growth were not due to a difference in content of carbonates. No comparisons were made between the growth of inoculated legumes and non-legumes.