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A Comparison of the Results of Rapid Tests with the Amounts of Available Nutrients Obtained by Quantitative Methods on Marylánd Soils

University of Maryland

ABSTRACT

A check on the value of the rapid soil tests on Maryland soils was determined by comparing the results with those obtained by recognized quantitative methods. A brief description of the procedure used is given. The results were compared on the following tests: organic matter, calcium, magnesium, potassium, manganese, phosphorus and nitrate nitrogen. The data are given in tabular form by soil types for each province. Although there were considerable variations in the results for specific soils between the two tests, the following conclusions seemed justified.

The short tests for organic matter gave consistently lower values.

The results of the two methods for calcium were similar for the Piedmont soils. The rapid tests showed slightly more available calcium in the Limestone soils, and slightly less in the Coastal Plains, Mountain, and Appalachian Plateau, and Bottomland and Terrace soils.

In the magnesium tests, the short method did not remove all the available magnesium. This test did indicate the small and excessive amounts of this ion.

The quick tests for potassium gave slightly lower results for the Coastal Plain, Piedmont, Mountain soils and Bottomland soils, and higher values for the Limestone soils.

The results for manganese by the rapid test compared very favorably with those found in exchangeable form, especially in the higher and lower amounts.

Practically the same amount of available phosphorus was obtained by the two procedures.

The short method gave slightly higher values for nitrate nitrogen.

The average of all the soils in the state showed a good agreement between the two methods.