Combination treatments of hemicellulosic waste (HW) from paper manufacture and urea (U) were studied for their nematicidal activity and their effect on enzymatic activities and nitrogen transformations in soil under greenhouse conditions. Urea applied at rates of 200-1000 mg N/kg soil reduced populations of plant parasitic nematodes but caused severe phytotoxicity in 'Ransom' soybeans [Glycine max (L) Merr.]. When HW was combined with U the effectiveness of urea against nematodes was retained but urea phytotoxicity was reduced or eliminated over the range of 200-800 mg urea-N/kg soil. Treatments with HW alone over the range of 2-32 g/kg soil reduced nematode numbers; however, the degree of reduction depended on both the nematode species and HW rate. HW alone failed to eliminate all plant parasitic nematodes but when combined with urea (400 mg N/kg soil), the combination was nematicidal at all rates tested. HW + U treatments containing 16 or 32 g HW/kg soil and 400 mg urea-N/kg soil w
