The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1885-05-07

ceedihgly minute quantity ofunlmouia.
The amount of carbonio acid I'm the
atmosphere is not large, but there is no
great difficulty in accounting for tie
one or two tons, which are fixed bv
the vegetation growing upon an acre
of land, when we know that air travels
over neld at rate not much short of
800 miles daily.
a soil covered by dense foliage is
not tavorably situated for coming i'm
contact with air in motion, and nj.
though the fact that soils will condcpse
ammonia may be accepted, still IL is
very. difficult to believe that much of
the increased fertility, which follows
the growth ola crop Of peas Or clover,
Is que to ammonia condensed by the
soll from the atmosphere; more es-
peclaliy when we consider that the
application of O salt of ammonia to q
iegumlnous crop is rarely followed BY
incrcscd growth.
In England white turnips shade the
laho quite as citectually as any crop
grown, and this crop is larpeiv i'm.
creased by an application of salts Of
ammonia, but no one accustomed to
tho growth of turnips would credit
their bulbs with any propertv Of in
crcasing the fertility of q soil in tho
same way as the leguminous crop.
1t would be exceedingly INTERESTING
II an accurate examination could hc
made OF the quantity, and also of the
range OF the roots, of the peas grown
on some OF the poor, light soils in the
southern States. Such an examination
1t IS true would not settle conclusivclv
what was the source of the nitropcn
or the crop, but it would give some in
dlcatlon ofsuch source.
III is was found that the UNDERGROUND
machinery of the peas was extensive,
| ana thht the roots penetrated deep into
inc snDsoil, one might feel sure that
tue 1lbrcs of these roots were in search
Of flood.
The very low price to which grain
| has 1cllen, almost prccludcs the use Of
lntrogenous, artificial mauurcs, and al
though men of science may, for a long
time to come, hold different opinions
as regards the source of the nitrogen of
lcguminous crops, the practical farmer
may rest cOntentcd SO long as he gets
tue nitrogen somehow, and at very
small cost: sometimes with no manure
at all, sometimes with little plaster,
or little kainit and superphosphate.
a crop of some lcguminous plants
VIII contain an amount Of nitrogen.
which, if purchased in artificial man
urcs would cost several dollars. An
instance of this may be given i'm ono of
our experiments at Rothamstead,
where turnipS, barley, beans and
wheat lad been grown for twcnty-four
years. All the produce grown was
earned away, and the only manure
used was some supcrphosphate which
was applied to- the roots every fourth
year. The twcnty-fifth crop was rcd
clover, and the quantity Of nitrogen it
contained amounted to 1I6 pounds.
Although the clover roots in this par
hcular experiment were not taken I'D,
III some other fields they have been
most carefully separated for ANALYSIS,
ana their roots may be estimated to
contain an additional fifty pounds, of
nitrogen, making the total 1876 pounds
per acre; or as the chemists say, equal
TO 2oO of ammonia. 1t would, | i'm
aglne, cost about thirty-tivc dollars to
purchase this amount in sulphate of
ammonia.
In this experiment we carried off fhe
whole of the three crops Of hay.
amounting to three and half tons per
acre, but even then the influence of the |
decaying roots Of the clover was very
marked both on the wheat crop which |
succeeded the clover, and on the root
crop which followed the wheat
Southern Planter.