AbstractA cell consisting of a chloride‐selective electrode and a nitrate‐selective electrode was directly put in the soil suspension to determine the concentration ratio NO3−/Cl−for studying the adsorption of these two ions by three soil samples from variable charge soils. It was found that such factors as the iron oxide content of the soil, the pH of the suspension, the concentration of the respective anion, the kind of accompanying cations, and the dielectric constant of solvent etc. can all affect the amounts and the ratio of the two anions adsorbed. The adsorption was chiefly caused by coulombic force, but another mechanism, presumably a covalent force between the anion and the metal atom on the surface of soil particles, may also be involved, at least for chlori