Diagnostic Techniques for Soils and Crops : Their Value and Use in Estimating the Fertility Status

Contents: Preface. Historical introduction/Firman E. Bear. 1. Chemical methods for assessing soil fertility/Michael Peech. 2. Correlation of soil tests with crop response to added fertilizers and with fertilizer requirement/Roger II Bray. 3. Operation of a state soil-testing service laboratory/Ivan E. Miles and J. Fielding Reed/Jackson B. Hester. 4. Operation of an industrial service laboratory for analyzing soil and plant samples/Jackson B. Hester. 5. Plant-tissue tests as a tool in agronomic research/Bert A. Krants, Werner L. Nelson and Leland F. Burkhart. 6. Plant analysis-methods and interpretation of results/Albert Ulrich. 7. Biological methods of determining nutrients in soils/S.C. Vandecaveye. 8. Visual symptoms of malnutrition in plants/J.E. Mc Muirtrey, Jr. Index.

"Many new methods have been devised to aid farmers in fertilizing their crops more effectively, by a large group of agricultural scientists working in the diagnostic field.

This book is to bring together in one volume a comprehensive discussion of both the underlying theory and the practical application of the various techniques. To attain that objective, the services of a group of distinguished scientists were enlisted to prepare the various chapters. These scientists are outstanding in their respective spheres of work, both as to theory and practice.

All diagnostic methods are designed for the purpose of estimating the fertility status of soils and the nutritional requirements of crops, the methods are to be regarded as complementary and not competitive, to which end all are useful and all may well be applied. The agricultural scientists, have contributed the literature for this a valuable book." (jacket)