Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1867-08-28

plants, that their carbon and nitrogen come
from the air and not from the soil, and that
for that reason the vegetable and animal ingre-
dients of the soil are not to be considered the
food of plants, but the mold of the soil is de-
rived from the plants themse yes and cannot
serve them hereafter as food. We cannO'
fully agree with this theory. We know very
well that we have it In our power to change,
10 improve or to deteriOrate the different kinds
IF f.uit and in fact the products of the veget-
able kingdom general y, by manurlng the
soil with different humus substances without
the interference of the air, because the differ
ent fertility depends on the soil and locality.
The air appears to be about the same every
VIII re, and we could hardly speak much of a
local difference in the vegetation. if the air
furnished any considerable part of the food OF
plants In a word, practice seems in this
as. - contradict the theory, and all culti-
vAtion amounts TO this, TO avail ourselves of
.1e huInus substances in the soil and to i'm
prove them by every means in our power.
his Is why we work so hard to save and APP
Ply the coarse manure Of the barDyard. And
with lhs same object in view we get out and
prepare peat manure
the easier peat substances decompose, the
t,rttcr they act vegetation, and 50 those
.igit and spongy kinds, with which every
farmer Is familiar. though not SO valuable Tor
fuel first rate for manures They make
tie 5 IL more absorbent of the moisture of
AR, and they rapidly and gradually de
. cjiI pose and rot down. adding to the mold or
, :s,itsds in the soil. This class of peat, the
ii5hJ and spongy kind, gives quicker results
caa other varieties. All turf or peat is
more or less heterogeneous or ammOniacal and
tine stronger it smells in burning the richer it
Is IN nitrogen, and the more fit it is to be
used manure for corn and grass. Owing
% tie quantity of nitrogen that peat contains,
animal manure becomes less necessary and
hence we know Of many instance. where "A
heavy top dressing of the land with peat or
muck has produced marked and permanent
iicct when manure was used.
Us to the source of nitrogen in peat Prof.
S.iiuizcnstein, of Berlin, says the general
pini0n is that carburetted hydrogen unites
it's, with the nitrogen of the air to
.oyn ammonia. This, however, he says, is
oontradicted by the nitrogen not being present
in the turf itself in the form Of ammonia,
which is only formed by the dry distillation
If the turf, Just in the same way it origi
mates through the dry distillation of animal
substances. This shows that the nitrogen in
the turf must be in the same condition as it
IN animal substances, az for instance in
norm, bone albumen and meat In fact. it
e,tn be proved that the nitrogen of the turf
really originates from animal bodies. which
live or nave lived therein AMI of which traces
are 10 be found in the turf. The classes of
lntusoria, polyps, worms, mOllusca, crus tacea
and insects are best represented, which
through their bulky development produce the
nitrogen in turf or peat meadows and in the
peat itself.
Turf manure docs not act so quickly as
stable manure, because it rots more slowly,
and thereby becomes more permanent in its
fleet Liebig says, that turf can only be con-
-idered manure for plants if phosphate of
lime be mixed with il. But as turf contains
IN itself considerable quantity of this sub
stance, his opinion is not upheld in practice,
and experiments in adding bone dust to the
5urf have not given any better results than by
using turf alone
Aianuring with muck alone, or with other
humus substances, shows that the food of
plants forms simple substance, which is rep
resented in the gases MANIFESTATION, hydro
gen. nitrogen-and that the plant does not
need 10 procure the carbon and nitrogen from
different sources, and to compose only the
food out Of the elementary substances.
Now is the time to get out muck from it's
bed where it has lain for ages. Throw it in
heaps to weather, and by another year you
may use it as top dressing, or in the com
post heap. Ploughmian.