Studies on the carbon and nitrogen cycles in the soil II The extraction of the organic matter of the soil with alkali

The alkali extraction of the organic matter from the soils of certain plots of the classical permanent experiments on Barnfield and Broadbalk at Rothamsted, receiving respectively organic manure, artificial fertilisers and no manurial treatment, has been studied, together with a colorimetric examination of the extracts for the comparison of the content of humic matter.It is shown that, in spite of the different cultural and manurial treatments which the different plots have received, there is a marked similarity in the properties of the organic matter of these soils, with regard to its behaviour on extraction with cold and hot dilute caustic soda, and the colour intensity of the organic matter in the extracts.The methods used for the determination of organic carbon in the soils and their extracts are noted in an Appendix.The results discussed in this paper are further considered, along with those in the two next following Parts (III and IV), in Part V of this series, in their bearings on the origin of the humic matter of the soil. RESP-00706