The Hillsborough recorder., 1854-11-08

In our last we noticed the uare in,
portaut relations af carbon or char.
et4l) % VIE coanpasitian uf vcgetabl,
matter. sndremark ed thatit constitutes
sbout nne half Of their organic co,nbus.
tibIe parts. The remainder Of the or
ganic matter consists Of three gases
hydrogen, oxygen. and nitrogen--whieh,
in the constructions rf s.hs plant, as.
sumo, Of course. a solid furm. Two Of
these gases. hydrogen and oxygen. er-
list largely IN nature as water. which
they entirely compose. Weknow this
becausr we can combine them and furm
pure water, nr we can decompase wa
ter and produce, AS a result. simply
hydrogen and oxygen. Plants perform
such analysis. and are thus enabled 10
obtain the required amounts of these
gases. consequently. they are never
taken into consideration in applying
manures to the soil. and need not oc-
cupy our present attention.
The remaining gas, nitrogen, is a
the utmost Importance in cultivation.
and TO supply it is one Of the most inn
peratise duties of the good farmer.
Nitrogen in its pure form, consists Of
about four iifths Of the atmosphere, jet,
from the present teachings Of science,
it seems that plants obtain no nutri-
ment from this source. They must
depend for their supply entirely upon
some Of the compromised the nitrogen.
The most common nf these is ammonia
which consists of nitrogen and hydro-
gen combined. Ammonia as familiar
10 all as the fumes of hartshorn. The
same odor may be perceived around
stables. aud other places where animal
matters are -usaeryainy decampssitisn,
and throwing their resultant gases into
the atmosphere. Nearly all animal
substances contain nitrogen, which on
their fermentation. unites with hydro
gen, and passes off in gaseous form
as ammonia. From the decomposition
going On all over the world. the atmos.
phere always contains greater or less
quantity Of this gas, which is one Of
the direct sources of vegetable food.
When organized bodies, such as wood.
flesh, &c., are burned or otherwise de-
composed. their nitrogen takes the form
of ammonia. constituting temporary
impurity of the air.
The tendency Of ammonia to evapo-
rate is matter which every practica!
farmer should FULLY understand, as its
proper management is one of the most
essential items Of good cultivation.
But comparatively few farmers. how
ever. know any thing about it. and a
still smaller number pay the least re-
gard to its management.
Every man who has travelled in our
rural districts must have observed that
ii is the common custom Of the country
farmers to have their manures in open
yards. exposed to the action Of the
weather often for many years, pay.
Ing not the least regard to the losses
thereby incurred. In this connection
we will notice only the loss Of the
ammonia. Every part of recent ma-
nure Especially the mine) contains
more or less nitrogen, which the ami
NAL procured from its food. This nj
trogen is part Of the capital stock Of
the farm. The world would ri,licule
the merchant who should invest por-
tion Of his capital in camphene or 9TH
er volatile substance, and then expose
il. to the action of the air and sun until
it all should eyaporate; yet the world
views with complacency similar waste
Of the most important Ingredient OF ye>
.getable nutriment. Nearly every barn
yard in America pays heavy tribute
to the ignorance and improvidence ot
its owner. The manures therein cx-
posed are constantly during mild wea-
thcr) undergoing an incipient or active
fermentation, whereby their nitrogen
is resolved into ammonia, which almost
universally passes into the atmosphere,
efforts for its retention being vain. AT.
ter its evaporation it is NOT lost 10 fht
organic ,Oorid, but il is essentially Sc
to the producer, inasnuch as it is more
polite. under our present social sys-
TEN, to keep our dollars within our
own Golfers than to turn them INTO a
common fund for the public good.
In future number, on the treatment
Of manures, We shall endeavor to show
in what way this most universal waste
of valuable material may be arrested,
The subject is one OF more than usual
importance in political point of siew,
as the ammoniacal wastes uf the Uni.