A chromatographic technique for the separation of sodium phytate and its enzymatically produced derivatives is described. From a mixture of sodium phytate and derivatives, nine organic phosphorus compounds were separated in sufficient quantities to permit determination of their inositol/phosphorus ratios. Phosphorus was determined colorimetrically following perchloric acid digestion, and inositol was determined by means of a biological assay. The determinations were replicated sufficiently that the number of phosphorus atoms per molecule of inositol was considered to have been determined to within one atom of the true value in all cases. The identity of the nine separated compounds was tentatively established.

In 1948, the Department became interested in oxalate intake as one of the factors possibly associated with the occurrence of carbonate calculi in the urinary tract of sheep. The oxalate content of a number of the pasture plants grazed by sheep in Queensland was therefore determined, and the results are presented in this paper. The water-soluble and total oxalate contents of 80 species of pasture plants were determined by K.W. Moir's modification (in press) of the method of Myers. The results are expressed as percentage of oxalic acid on a moisture-free basis.

Comparative decomposition rates of alfalfa, wheat straw, and whole partridge pea, or its various plant parts taken separately, were determined by measuring weight losses during laboratory incubations. Effects of these plant materials on nitrification rates in soil were also determined. The alfalfa lost the most weight by decomposition during a 32-week period. The loss in weight of straw also exceeded that of the whole plant of partridge pea. The nitrification rate with partridge pea added was lower than that with untreated soil. Partridge pea leaves increased nitrification, but the pods or stalks decreased it. The nitrate content of field plots previously grown to partridge pea was higher than that of plots without a legume, but not as high as in plots previously in sweet clover.

A method is described for the differentiation of sorbed water from structural hydroxyl ions for colloidal minerals of soils and sediments. It is based on the extraction of the sorbed water (including external surface sorbed and interlayer water) with methanol. The structural hydoxyl is determined by heating the sample in a silica tube oven, passing a gas through the tube, and collection of the liberated water in methanol. The water contents of the methanol solutions are determined titrimetrically by utilization of the Karl Fischer reagent. This method is preferred to the less satisfactory methods based on thermal weight-loss. Hydroxyl determinations are given some 2:1 layer silicates and other hydroxyl compounds as examples of the type of studies made possible by the technique.

Employing an improved nitrogen balance method the influence of mild heat treatment on the digestibility and biological value of a mixture of plant proteins has been determined. The heat treatment resulted in a small though significant improvement in the digestibility of the proteins. Protein quality was, however, not affected.

The apparent digestibility of a number of Queensland fodders was determined. The nutritive value was assessed directly for both roughages and concentrates, using 2-3-year-old Merino wethers housed in metabolism crates. The studies reported here were conducted to ascertain the feeding value of important fodders in terms of digestible protein, total digestible nutrients, metabolizable energy, and starch equivalent.

The authors repport in this paper, the results of trials by means of which were determined the composition and nutritive value of three grasses, that are cultivated in Piracicaba, in State of São Paulo, Brazil: Capim jaragaá, Hyparrhenia rufa, (Nees.) Stapf. (hay); capim de Rhodes, Chloris gayana, Kunth. (hay), and milho Santa Rosa, Zea mays, L. (silage). The digestion trials were carried out with sheep, following the technique of MEAD and GUILBERT. The chemical analysis of the forages were made by methods usually employed. The results are in the tables I and II, of this paper.

The effect of sizing mixtures on the slubby portions of a staple yarn was determined indirectly by the application of the size to a cotton roving and subsequent testing of the roving for strength, ultimate elongation, and stiffness. In contrast to the methods which employ yarn as the base material for the application of the size, large differences between sizing mixtures were found by this procedure. The evaluation method which was investigated proved useful for the screening of sizes for knitting yarns in which the failure to give good knitting quality was caused by the presence of slubs.

An evaluation of the factors affecting interlayer expansion of the mica type layered minerals was made by X-raying various dehydrated forms of montmorillonite and vermiculite while immersed in liquids of varying dipole moments and dielectric constants. The results showed that the extent of interlayer expansion was determined by the size, charge, and total amount of the interlayer cations and by the magnitude of the dipole moment and the dielectric constant of the immersion liquid. The results were explained on the basis of the nature of the electrostatic interlayer attractive forces within the crystal lattice itself and by the laws governing complex formation between charged particles.

Preliminary results have been obtained on the development of 11 types of grasses with average height varying from 0.70 to 1.15 m and from 11 other types with average height from 1.30 to 5.00 m. From plots with an area of 25 m², from the collection of useful plants of the Soil Conservation Department of the Instituto Agronômico de Campinas, one sample of the plants was taken for each plot the sampled area being of 0,50 and 1.00 m², for the grasses of medium and large size, respectively. The above-ground parts of the plants were cut at the heights of 80, 26, 8, 2 and 0 cm (ground level) respectively and determinations were made of the weight and volume of each portion of the plants under investigation. The results obtained are presented in tables 1 to 3. The underground parts of the grasses were studied in the same areas where the aerial parts were cut. Blocks of soil were taken with depths of 2, 8, 26 and 80 cm. The underground portions of the plants in each block were separated by the dry method, using wire screen, their weight and volume being determined (table 1 to 3). The soil particles holding capacity of each species of grass was determined by adding to the weight of the above-ground part at the lowest cut (block Aa) the weight of the underground portion found at the first block (block Ba, table 2 and 3). It has been observed that among the medium sized grasses the capim chorão (Eragrostis curvula Nees var. valida Stapf), capim de boi (Setaria poiretiana Kunth), capim Araguai (Paspalum fasdculatum Willd.) and capim de planta (Panicum purpurascens Raddi) and among the taller grasses the capim sempre-verde (Panicum maximum Jacq. var. gongylodes), capim elefante Merker, Napier and AxB (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) as well as capim vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides Nash), seem to be more promissing for holding the soil particles and more useful for soil conservation purposes.