Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1898-10-07

us OF Indian corn, rice, -sllct and 9th.
er grains, but none Of these grains has
the food value. the concentrated health
susthining power Of wheat, and Il 10
on this account that the accumulated
experience Of civilized mankind has set
wheat apart a. the at md proper food
for the Developments Of muscle and
brains"
Then comes one moro argument,
showing that the price Of wheat tends
to increase:
"Oheap production Of wheat depends
on o variety Of causes, varying greatly
In different countries. Taking the cost
Of producing q given quantity Of wheat
in the United Kingdom at 100 shillings.
the cost for the same amount In the
United States is CO shillings. in India
GO shillings and In Russia "a shillinga
We require cheap labor, fertile soil, easy
transportation to market, low taxation
and rent and no export or import du-
ties. Labor will rise In price and fertil-
ity diminish as the requisite manurial
constituents in the virgin soil become
exhausted. Facility Of transportation
to market will be aided BY railways, but
these are slow and costly to construct,
and it will not pay tA carry wheat BY
rail beyond q certain distance"
Then the laboratory door is opened
and tho broad caters salvation brought
forth, but not all at once. Sir William
likes TO work up gradually to his eli.
q Referring to the recognized fact
that all crops require what is called Q
dominant" manure, he says:
"Wheat prominently demands nj.
trogen, fixed in the form Of ammonia or
nitric acid. All other necessary constit-
uents exist in the soil, but nitrogen is
mainly Of atmospheric origin and is
rendered fixed by a slow and precari-
Gus process which requires a combina-
tion of rare meteorological and geo.
graphical conditions to enable It to I'D
vance at a sufficiently rapid rate to be.
come Of commercial Importance"
Nitrogen, then, Is evidently the fairy
godmother which has to work tho mir
acle. But how? We arc not to be made
happy just yet. Sir William ran over
tho several available sources of nitrogen.
and little comfort was to be found
therein. First Of all, there was the sui.
phate Of ammonia formed by the distil-
lation Of coal in the process Of gasmak-
ing. But all Europe only produces AGO.
900 annual tons. SO this 10 dismissed 40
Of not much significance.
Guano deposits go by tho board in the
same way as being 80 near exhaustion.
Next is the discovery Of Hellriegel and
Wilfarth that leguminous plants bear
on their roots nodosities Astounding In
bacteria endowed with tho property Of
fixing atmospheric nitrogen. Tho sug.
gestion therefore arises Of cropping the
soil with clover and blowing in the
plant, when its nitrogen assimilation is
complete. But that has already been
done as far as ia safe, for the land soon
becomes what Is called "olovor sick"
and turns barren. Another invaluable
source Of fixed nitrogen to which Sir
William referred was tho sewage aud
drainage Of the towns. He said:
Individually the amount 90 lost ia
trifling, but multiply the loss by tho
number Of inhabitants. and we have the
startling fact that in the United King
dom we arc content to hurry down our
drains and water courses into tho seq
fixed nitrogen to the value Of no less
than ZIG, 600, 900 per annum. This I'M.
s%peakable waste continues, and no effect
i've and universal method ia yet con.
trived Of converting sewage into corn.
The store Of nitrogen In the atmosphere
is practically unlimited, but 1t is fixed
and rendered assimilable by plants only
by cosmio processes of extreme slowness.
Tho nitrogen which with a light heart
we liberate in u battleship broadside has
taken millions Of minute organisms pm.
tiently working for centuries to win
from the atmosphere"
Nitrate Of soda, or Chile saltpeter,
Sir William declared to be the only
available compound containing sufficient
fixed nitrogen to be used on q world
wide scale az q heterogeneous manure.
The growing exports OF nitrate from
Chile at present amount to about ], 2OO,-
900 tons. Tho present worlds wheat
r Q is about 1885, 600, 900 acres.
"At the average Of 1917 bushels per
acre this gives 2,07O, 900, 900 bushels.
But 30 years hence the demand will be
$500, 600, 600 bushels, and there will
be difficulty in finding the necessary
acreage on which to grow the additional
amount required. BY increasing the
present yield per acre from 1877 to 20
bushels we should with our present
acreage secure q crop of the requisite
amount. Now, from IL. 2 to 20 bushels
per acre Is q moderate increase Of pro.
ductiveness, and there Is no doubt that
o dressing with nitrate Of soda will give
this increase and more. The action Of
nitrate Of soda in improving tho yield
Of wheat has been studied practically
by Sir John Lawes and Sir Henry
Gilbert on their experimental field at
Rothamstead. This field was sown with
wheat for Is consecutive years without
manure and yielded an average Of 11.9
bushels to the acre. For the next IS
years 1t was sown with wheat and
dressed with five hundredweight Of
nitrate Of soda per acre, other mineral
constituents also being present. The
average yield for these years was 1874
bushels per acre, an increase Of 24.5
bushels. In other words, 20. SO pounds
Of nitrate Of soda produced an increase
Of one bushel Of wheat.
"At this rate, 10, 600. 900 tons Of nj
trate would have to be distributed annu.
ally In varying amounts over the wheat