Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-09-19

T., order that piants grown III an al
|,e@ial soil may attain the ueVeiophent
un NY ,igor necessary to enable them TO
thus.ailate free nitrogen they must, nc-
asn;ng 10 VILE, be provided with a
|oossin amount of heterogeneous food In
|csl''1i, VILE. therefore. added TO the
'nu I. which he used not only the or
s s'nsry mineral matters used by Bous-
u,,nnaaylt and by Lawes, Gilbert and
prsh but he added certain small
.e,,nt OF nitrate of soda-viz, the
sn,,t which he considered sufficient
[.-snstain the plant till IL had attained
Y eI ,' degree of development and yigor
'na',irod TO give II the power to as
Is,Ir,,ate free nitrogen. What that
s.,,n,nt was depended on circumstances
~, he showed that there was a GER
attn minimum required. and he point
| "a out that there was also certain
ssvimum. not much exceeding the
.nsr,m,im that must not be overstep-
"a n the amount of Nitro did not
sch the minimum the plant never
1 rau, To proportions capable OF enabling
~ utilize free nitrogen. If the maxi
.nm was overstepped, the plant found
~ The nitro of the soil sufficient nitro
ssn for Its needs, and 1t did not require
y absorb atmospheric nitrogen. Evil
l.,i, the plant found it easier to as
slmilate nlne than to assimilate the
s,aa nitrogen of the air, and, as Vile
.sys In the preface to the second edi-
~, IL his uilblished researches. when
living creature find in the sphere of
. NJ activity certain products which are
srually capable of supplying Its wants,
IA az which some are more easily as
simllated than others, 1t begins by alb
.nrhlnr those whose assimilation is
'sslesf" He therefore took care in
.,nnIvInr nitrogen to his plants In the
sorn, of nitre, to give them Just sur
I eclent TO tide them over the precarlous
rsrt Of their lives. and to leave them
when the supply of nitrogen from the
Nitro and the seed was used up, still
Win yigor enough to extract their
Airther supply from the free nitrogen
4 m the air. | have referred at some
ieneth to Vllle's experiments, conduct
| Al npvarda OF forty years ago and re-
Il published by the author about thirty
i Years ago, because, although they were
\ rretty generally discredited at the
ilme, and their results were at variance
with those Of other more distinguished
4 ,sperimenters they will be found, as
A sban show hereafter. to be a remarka-
i III anticipation OF the most recent dis
! coyeries regarding the relation OF
pants to atmospheric nitrogen. A
4 few years ago no fact In the physiology
Of plant life was more universally ac-
etpted than tho entire inability OF
j plants to assimilate any particle of
that great ocean OF nitrogen in which
they are growing. and now / should
think there is no one who has kept
himself informed of recent research in
that direction that doubts that some
plants, at least, possess that power.
Although Ville's experiments failed
10 convince almost anybody, there new
ertheless was suspicion in the minds
i Of chemists that there would be found
lob hA fEAa NNit ~
Of the air became available to plants,
II not directly, then indirectly. a gen.
eral review of the fate Of nitrogen on
the surface Of the globe led Inevitably
to the belief that there must be some
very universally distributed means OF
forcing free nitrogen in combination
in order that what has been called the
balance of nitrogen might be main.
i taned, for a more careful study OF
4 the decomposltlons of heterogeneous COM
pounds had made II more and more
evident that much OF the combined nj
irogen OF the world was constantly be-
"a Ing set free. When animal or vegata-
bic substances are burned, or when
+ they putrefy or decay, "A certain amount
" Of their heterogeneous matter Is permit
Il ted to escape into the air as free nitro
ID gen. II IL not, as was supposed by
liebig the Inevitable fate of the or
ganlc heterogeneous matter of the world
n 10 become converted into ammonia, and
80 to be Immediately ready for assmll-
alton by plants into their various nj
trogenous compounds.
n As far back as 1856 It was shown by
n Relset that putrefylng animal matter
when enclosed In glass vessels gave VI
nitrogen, so that the air in the vessels
contained from l l-2 to IA per cent
more nitrogen than did atmospheric
air Vile found that on igniting SAND
IN which seeds of luplne were buried
about onc-thlrd of the nitrogen of the
seholosng, in 1873, found that nitratei
when kept in soil, and In an atmos
phere containing no oxygen, were re
uuced and gave up part of their nitro
i zen In the free state. Similarly, Gayor
and Dupetit, In 1882, found that the
nitrates when brought In contact with
diluted urine We're reduced in the alb
tenee OF oxygen and became partially
converted Into nitrogen, while stimuli
,eheously there was found remnrka
pc growth OF HETEROGENEOUS
Deherain and Macquenne In the SAINT
YER noticed a similar reduction whet
pirates were mixed with rich soil II
experiments in which he found tina
y Inc alimentary canal of animal
lamentations occurred which produces
we same results, while Frank, in 1884
FOUND that soils rich in humus and t.
which nitrates had been added los
nitrogen to the extent of from TO i
~ cent OF their total nitrogen, whicl
.sscaped In the free state when ventila
uon was restricted. From IA purel!
snenllcal standpoint II is known tina
mnen amines or andes. or simila
INSTANCES. come In contact witt
turtles, a decomposition occurs Il
,nluh nitrogen gas is set free, and Il
nsse substances are found in the sol
s go In the places where large quaint
w OF organic matter are decompos
Is and subjected TO the action of tn
~, y Is natural to suppose that mucl
s,n.olned nitrogen may be lost to agri
sure IN that way. The extent Of tina
Tfoltce OF loss IL far from being estah
ssshed but 1t is one of the ways i
cur 'os' VI 4'ti'se" ''"' -
APART from the sources of loss re
Mea TO as certain or as probable
nee nee has to be taken into account tn
r,,sa loss TO the land of combine
thogen in the constant washing out @
NM hltrates from the soil by rail-
-en carries them down the river