Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1858-12-17
'aarirnlturuI.
Agr.c~issr..i Chc,n,c., sc,c,,ce:

ioc'ufe recently delivered by Professo
anderson, chemist of the Highland 40
ricultural Society in Greas Britain; N,
subject Is an all-imporsanr one, namely
the food ofplants:
Inc constituents of plants are divide,
into two great classes, organic and ipor
R'hc the latter-lme and alkslies-
being fyed-the other en- exist in
iree state, or In certain compounds i,
she gaseou, or volatile form; the carlo,
OF plants is largely obtained from sh
caroonIc acid of the air. In regard I,
the amount of ammonia in the a.ipos
phere' as referred to by Iceberg, Bouss.
'"gault, and Barral, their experiments
had been repeated by Mr.. Way, who
iourd that the annual quantity of nitro
gen carried down by lain in 1855, wa.
6-63 It's. per acre; of this $50 were il
the form Of ammonia, and only 0-7s as
nitric acid. An extension of these ex-
periments during 1856. gave s 81 lbs.
Boussingault has experimental on rain
water, also on fogs and dew, the water
OF particularly dense fog, which fell at
Paris on January %. 1854, given 1873
parts Of ammonia per million, and fog
on u, cember 10th. giving Is parts of
ammonia per million. In the case of
dew the results are similar. thoagh not
80 striking, both fog and dew possessing
more of these constituents then rain
The result Of the various experiments,
though not barring out Bar al 5 view as
to the quaint ty Of ammonia and nitric
acid present in the air, yet shown tina,
what does reach the soil of there is of
Importance is an agricultural point.
As 1t regards the qualities of soils for
absorbing gases, Professor A. is CT opin.
ion that their power Of absorption is not
due, as is generally supposed, altogether
to the argilace ous part of the soil, but
TO many Of its constituents; also that
plants absorb their food from insoluable
substances, by exerting positive chem
ical action on them. 1t is not uncommon
to see turn;p throwing out a mass of
flores to surround and embrace a frag
ment of bone, which they are doubtless
dissolvins and absorbing into the nutri-
ment they require. Solubl, manures,
however, ford reader nutrimcnt. and
also are more equally distributed through
the soil, preventing the plan. stretching
Its root into new regions in search of
substances which it cannot find in suffi-
clent quantity. For this reason con.
centrated manure, such as guano. of
which the quality used per acre is so
tritiins, should be mixed with some 9TH
er substance to give it bulk, Professor
A. was inclined to attribute the benefit
derived rom the mixture of salt with
suano, in cases in which the former is of
't.elt, without effect, merely to it's ac
ton as dllutent,and he would urge the
importance of always reducing guano to
lne powder and mixing it with two or
three times its own weight or dry soil
before use. The result of experiment
shows, moreover, that the quantity of
nitrogen which passes from the soil BY
drainage greatly exceeds that which the
rain brings down. This nitrogen must
he derived manly from the manure
Hence the necessity of attending to the
condition in which we employ nitrogen
Gus manures. For instance. it would
absurd to use nitric early in the sea-
son, Or long before the time Of sowing,
and even if applied simultaneously with
the seed, the chances are against a sue
cessful result, because a continuance of
rains might have the effect of washing it
entirely away before tn young plants
were in condition to make use Of it
On he contrary, a nitrate ought to be
used as top dressing when the crop is
n full ovth and during the summer
months, not only because the plant can
then most rapidly and effectually seize
upon it, but also because that is the
period Of III, year during which little or
no water escapes by the drains, and
nearly the whole of the rains which fall
go eff by evaporation, leaving, Of course,
the nitrate unchanged in the soil.
The lecturer then noticed the contro-
versy between I.iebig on the one hand,
and Lannes and Gillet on the other, on
what is called the mineral theory" the
former maintaining that, while we must
supply the inorganic food of plants in
the shape of manure, we may safety trus,
to obtaining sufficient supply of am.
monia for EVEN the most abundant crops
from the air alone choosing however
latterly to assume nitrogen as mineral
Now, no cne doubts that the air will
afford sufficient quantity Of ammonia
TO produce an amount of vegetation such
as the soil produces in its natural state