This study compared three dichromate-oxidation methods adapted for use with 100-mL digestion tubes and 40-tube block digester (for controlled heating), the Walkley-Black method, a loss-on-ignition procedure and an automated dry combustion method for the determination of organic carbon in soils of the northwestern Canadian prairie. The Walkley-Black method required a correction factor of 1.40. The modified Tinsley method and the Mebius procedure, adapted for use with 100-mL digestion tubes, recovered 95% and 98%, respectively, of soil carbon against the dry combustion procedure. The presence of elemental carbon in some soils probably caused, at least partially, the slightly incomplete recovery; thermal decomposition of dichromate may not have been accurately corrected for. A dichromate-oxidation procedure with controlled digestion at 135°C gave 100% recovery, but somewhat more variable results. The loss-on-ignition procedure, even when allowance was made for clay content of the soils, was the least satisfactory of the methods tested. All procedures produced correlation coefficients of 0.980 or better against the dry combustion method.

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The objective of this study was to find a suitable extractant(s) for plant‐available metals in metal contaminated soils. Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris L. ‘Fordhook Giant’) was grown in greenhouse pots on 46 Ontario soils varying in degree of contamination with metals. The soils had been contaminated with metals to varying degrees over a period of years. After 40 days, the plants were harvested and Zn, Cd, Ni, and Cu concentrations were measured. Each soil was extracted with nine different extractants: aqua regia, 0.01M EDTA, 0.005M DTPA, 0.02M NTA, 0.5N CH3COOH, 1N CH3COONH4, 0.6N HCl + 0.05N AlCl3, (COOH)2 + (COONH4)2, and H2O. Zinc, cadmium, nickel, and copper concentrations in Swiss chard were correlated with the amounts of soil Zn, Cd, Ni, and Cu removed by each extractant. Of the nine soil extractants, CH3COONH4 was the best predictor of plant‐available Zn if only extractable Zn and soil pH were included as independent variables in a regression equation. Acetic acid was the best extractant for prediction of both plant‐available Cd and Ni when soil pH was included in the equation. Attempts to find a suitable soil extractant for plant‐available Cu were unsuccessful.

The effects of tillage and preceding legume crops on N flux in the soil–plant system require quantification for developing sustainable cropping systems. We measured changes in soil and plant N under the influence of tillage [no till (NT) vs. conventional tillage (CT)] and previous crops [spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) green manure, and field pea (Pisum sativum L.)]. The study was conducted from 1994 through 1996 on a well‐drained sandy loam soil (coarse‐loamy, mixed, frigid, Typic Cryoboralf) near Fort Vermilion, Alberta (58°23′N, 116°2′W). Nitrogen uptake by wheat was increased by NT and legume crops. At seeding, CT soil had 28 kg ha−1 more NO3–N to 100‐cm depth than NT soil. Apparent net N mineralization in the growing season was 71 and 22 kg N ha−1, respectively, for the NT and CT systems. Previous crop effect on net N mineralization (kg N ha−1) was red clover (56) > field pea (51) > wheat (34). Approximately 18 kg N ha−1 was net‐mineralized from red clover residues compared with insignificant amounts from pea and wheat residues. Microbial biomass turnover's contribution to net N mineralization (28 to 40 kg N ha−1) was increased by NT and previous legume crop. Soluble organic N decreased by 7 kg ha−1 between seeding and maturity for all experimental treatments. The results indicate that N fertilizer recommendations should allow for greater mineralization of organic N under NT than CT and following a legume green manure.