The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1897-06-27

rain washes from the atmosphere into
the coil small quantities Of nitrogen
compounds. says an experimental sta
ton bulletin. Then the roots foraging
for food and sending out shoots here
and there In their quest take up BY
means Of an apparatus carried by all
root hairs. wherever and whenever they
can. bodies containing nitrogen. Blu,
Il may be asked. since Il Is a well
known fact that four-hfths OF the at
moaphere Is pure nitrogen why does not
the plant take this element directly
from the air7 The reason Is simply
this; That all the higher plants can
take up nitrogen only when II Is com
bined with other elements. The leaves
can take II Up when Il is united with
another element 10 form ammonia; and
the roots prefer Il when II Is combined
In the form Of nltrates a.. for example.
faltpetor Yet there are plants. as re-
cent experiments have demonstrated.
that. by slightly indirect means. can
take nitrogen from the air. Among the
many microscopic organisms disc0y-
cred IN the latter days and shown TO
be the cause OF many subtle material
changes. some exist with the power 81
eating free nitrogen. or Of taking nj
trogen from the air. They. the nitro
gen eaters. will live on the roots Of GER
tain plants. though. as FAR as our
knowledge goes az present. not oa ALL
When a plant Is fortunate enough TO
meet the demands Of the nitrogen at
ere Us supply Of nitrogen compounds Is
assured. u all other conditions are Ia
yorable. The minute organisms will
settle on the roots OF the plants and. BY
means yet unknown. will cause the nj
lrosen Of the air surrounding the roots
20 enter into combinations tnat will be
acceptable 20 the plant. This. however,
Is not done without a Just return. The
minute organisms need for their well
being such organic substances a. the
plants can produce: these are taken
from the roots Of the plants. and the
organisms are thus seen 70 be parasites
on the plants. The plants TO which
these nitrogen eaters" will attach
themselves are the members Of the
leguminous family. important mem
bers OF which are the pea and lucern.
We have nov considered In a very ele-
montary manner the Importance OF the
altrogenous compounds OF a plant 10
| the farmer, and the sources on which a
plant depends for is supply Of nitro
gen. Since u Is a fact that several diff
ieront kinds o. nltrogenous substances
are found 10 all plants. we may now
logically ask: are all the heterogeneous
substances found Ia plants Of eqaal
value as aesh formersG The answer
10 the question Of the last paragraph Is
emphaucally. no. AL the bodies con.
tanning nitrogen tn any plant may be
divided into two classes. those that
nay be used by an animal In building
muscular tissue. and those that may
not. The frst class is made up OF sew
eral members which resemble each 9TH
or IN composition and In general be-
havlor. They all. further. resemble the
white Of an egg or albumen. and are
therefore. called alhuminoids. like al.
bumen. The other class OF nltrogenous
substances may be called non-albumi-
noldA In the study Of the aiblminolds.
Il has been found that they weigh very
nearly SIX and a quarter times as much
as the nitrogen they contain. Since
the non-albumlnoids usually are pres.
ent only In small quantities. the chen.
let very often determines all the nitro
gen a plant contains and. after multi
plying Il by six and a quarter. calls Il
Crude Protein.