Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1897-07-24

rain washes from the atmosphere INTO
the soil small quantities Of nitrogen
compounds. says an experimental stA-
tion bulletin Then the roots forasihs
for food and sending out shoots mere
and there In their quest take up by
means Of an apparatus carried py al
root hairs, wherever and whenever thss
can. bodies containing nitrogen. bas.
il may be asked. since Il u ven
known fact thar four-htths OF the Az
mosphere Is pure nitTogen Why does mol
the plant take this element dsreetls
from the ARR The reason u simply
this. That all the higher plants Gan
take up nitrogen only when IL l. com
hlned with other elements. The leaves
can take ii up when Il 10 united VILE
another element 70 form ammonia ana
the roots prefer il when Il - eombthea
In the form OF nitrates as, for example.
saltpeier. Yet there are plants. a. ~
cent experiments have demonstfaAea'
that. BY slightly indirect means. eaa
take nitrogen from the air. Among She
many microscopic organisms diseof-
cred In the latter days and shown y
be tue cause Of many subtle material
charges. some exist with the pow@E 81
eating free nitrogen. or % taking nj
trogen from the air. They. the afro
gen eaters. Will live on the roots Of GER
tain plants. though. as far a. our
knowledge goes al present, not % all
When a plant Is fortunate enough 70
meet the demands Of the nitrogen Al.
ers its supply Of nitrogen compounds =
assured. II all other conditions arc IA
yorsble. The minute organisms viii
settle on the roots Of the plants and, W
means yet unknown. will eauae the MI
trOgen " the air surrounding the roots
10 enter into combinations taat Viii be
acceptable 10 the plant. This. hosescr.
Is not done without 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 ihs
on the plants. The plants 70 watch
these nitrogen eaters" will attach
themselves are the members Of the
leguminous family. important mem.
bers Of which are the pea and iucsrn.
We have now considered in a very eis-
mentary manner the importance Of the
aitrogsnous compounds Of a plant to
the farmer. and the sources on which .
plant depends for its supply Of nitro.
gen. Since IL Is fact that several diff
serent kinds Of heterogeneous substances
are found in all plants. we may nov
logically ask: are all the nitrogenous
substances found In plants OF eaaas
value an flesh formers7 The answer
to the question Of the last paragraph IL
smphatically. no. All the bodies con.
tanning nitrogen in any plant may be
divided into two classes: those that
may be used by an animal in building
muscular tissue. and those that may
not. The FIRST class Is made up Of 9sv.
eral members which resemble each 9TH
or In composition and In general be-
havior. They all. further, resemble the
white Of an egg or aihumen. and are
therefore. called alhuminoids. like al.
bumen. The other class Of heterogeneous
substances may be called non.aIbumI.
noids. In the study OF the alb1mlnoida
II has been found that they weigh very
nearly six and a quarter times az much
as the nitrogen they contain. since
the non-albumlnoids usually are pres.
ent only in small quantities. the chem.
LIST very often determines ali the nitro
gen plant contains and. after multi.
plying II BY six and q quarter. calls Il
Crude Protein.