Cadmium, Zn and Mn in eleven paired soils (one which had a history of sludge application and a control from adjacent land where sludge had not been used) were partitioned into five fractions: exchangeable, adsorbed, organically bound, carbonate bound and sulfide, by the use of KNO3, H20, NaOH, EDTA and HNO3, respect‐ively. The data indicate that the major portion of the total metals was found in the carbonate, sulfide and organic fractions. Addition of CaCO3caused an increase in the exchangeable + soluble fractions of added Cd in the soils, but had little effect on native or sludge derived Cd.