The San Juan County index. (Aztec, N.M.) 1890-19??, 1902-02-14

Very little Of chemistry al a suehue was
known before the latter part Of tile 18th. cen.
tury Az an art It was known to the aucientsl
having been praoticed BY them before the
Christian era. Then the chief goal Of the
Chemist, ,r Aiohemist as he was then called.
was 10 convert tho base into the noble (preci-
Ousj metals.
Ia the 1lth century Chemists, led by Para
Calsus, began to study chemistry solely In its
relations to medicines aud their effect ON the
humane system. This they continued for
several centuries, and even to-day tho inn
preston seems TO be pretty generally prevalent
that a chemist Is a msn who knows all about
drugs, and the word chemist and druggist are
synonyms in some parts Of the world
It was not until the beginning OF the 18th,
century that Sir Humphrey Davy began the
first serious and CONTINUOUS study Of chemist
ry in It's relation TO griolture. In one Of his
lectures delivered before the Royal Institute
(Londnn) he says that Agriculture must lock
to the Natural sciences, chemistry especially,
for the explanations Of its problems, aud the
improv ement Of its practice; that no one can
reason upon agriculture. nor advance q step
10 it without recournp to this science
At the time these statements seemed very
radical, for then, doubtless more than at the
present day there were so many who argued
that practice and experience were the sole
qualifications essential TO success, and con-
dened all attempts to improve agriculture by
the application Of natural laws and chemical
methods.
To no one else is agriculture more indebted
than to Justua Won Liebig, a noted German
chemist, who in the desire to advance agri-
culture, left the paths Of pure science and
began the practice of agriculture in con juno
tion with laboratory experiments in agri-
cultural chemistry thus furnishing object
lessons to the farmer Of economic advantages
to be obtained by the application Of chemical
principles.
The success Of his labors resulted in ostab-
fishing agricultural chemistry as a distinct
branch of science and today it's importance Is
shown ia the large force Of chemists employed
in the United States government agricultural
experiment stations, there being 14s agri-
cultural chemists out Of total scientific
working force of 693 men, while only forty
three of those are agrculturalists. 1t has
been tTuthfully said that he was the LUX
Agrorum Uultorum"
Let us see what are the relations OF ohemlst-
ry to agriculture that caused Sir H. Davy,
just 100 years ago, to say that a knowledge
of It was 50 essential to the advancement Of
farmingi and caused this new science to grow
Chemistry is a study OF the elements
lsimplest forms OF matterl there are probably
seventy-five or eighty Of these, but the agri-
cultural chemist is not particularly concerned
with more than about fourteen OF fifteen; this
being the number Of which plants and ami
mails are composed. Plants get these elements
Of food from the air and soil, and animals in
turn get them from plants. In the decompOsi
ton and decay of plants and animals they re-
turn to the air and the soil, from whence the
plants obtained them; thus they are con.
tinually making cycle IN nature
Unfortunately, towsver, plants and animals
in returning these elements to the soil do NOT
distribute them as they found them, but many
Of them are found collected 10 beds and de-
nosifs. aaisseen I'm thelaFge Dhoephate potash
and nitrate depositB found 10 different parti
Of the world, The Chemists must detormiL
whist elements are deficient. or soon to become
So Ia order that the farmer may supply them
from these natural deposits.
Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen the three
elements which largely prcdominate in the
plants and animals, are obtained by plants
from carbonic acid and water, which are de-
composed in their leaves by sunlight and
clOrophyl deaf greeni partially reunited doubt
less by the same agency to form the sugar
is the source OF the carbonie acid, aud while
it contains only three or four parts in 10000,
experiments show this to bc more than suhi-
cient, and analyses made recently Of jars Of
air sealed centuries ago, prove that the carbon
10 acid in the air is not decreasing 1t occurs
in the air as a gas, hence does not readily
collect IN deposits like some OF the other
plant food elements, but it ia diffused through
out the atmosphere, which renders Il equally
available to plants In any soil,
The hydrogen and oxygen, being obtained
from water, are only dehoient in csse Of
dTaught, and the only remedy the chemist can
offer is the use of Soils fertilizersl and plants
best suited TO resist it.
The other elements concerned In the growth
of plants are nitrogen, phosfOrus potassium,
calcium. sodium, sulfur. filioon, chlorla n
I iron, magnesium, aluminium, and a few others
found 10 traces in certain kinds of plants
All OF these, except the first four, are found in
sufficient abundance in most soils to last for
q many years to come,
Air and decompOsing organic matter 10 the
source Of nitrogen. sincP as the Chemist has
I proven, only liguminous plants can take nitro
{ gen from she air, plants other than these Will
nOt hoFish on soils free from, or deficient in.
organic matter, unless nitrogen In some form
be added TO them. So great is she demand for
nitrogen in this class of soils, that the nitrate
{ deposits in Chill produced l5OO,OOO tons Of
/ Chill salt peter In 1900. This was used aImoh
entirely a fertilizer, the United States alone
r using $5lOOQ,OOO worth besides large amounts
} from other sources, such as barn-yard manure
slaughter house refuse, eto.
] The soil is the source Of the phosphorus and
potassium, but many soils are found de-
f0ent in them, an the demand or them is 30
great that over ti1i 100000 worth Of phospaies
! 2,o0O,OO0 tona Of potash were mined from de-
posi- Is OF these substances during 1899. Many
soils are dehcient Ia calcium alaol hrt deposits
! Of il are found % generally distributed %
place Il Ia easy reach OF all.
There are many problems Of this kind for She
! Chemist 10 a0lve for the iafmer, but space will
not permit me 20 mehtlOn more Of them now.
III 4. hatsl College Of Agriculture, Mesilla
. Park, N. M