The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1908-08-27

Is Sir William Cr0okeS mere
alarmlst? He declares that unless
science comes to Its aid the world will
be depopuated In the twenty-first cen
fury. 1t is no devastating plague that
threatens to carry off millions; no
vague, inscrutable terror which is ex
pected to cast q spell Of death over
continents. but so commonplace con-
tingency as starvation that may have
to be faced a hundred or two hundred
years hence.
ST. William Crookes, physicist and
chemist. is eminent authority. 1t may
seen, to some persons like an echo of
Nautilus to say TO the world. Look
out: you will yet starve to DEATH but
the reasons underlying the warnings of
modern scientists are based upon facts
" inch could not have been known to
the sociologist who propounded his
theory more than a hundred years ago.
Overpopulation plays a lesser part in
the new theory than the reckless waste
of nitrogen in the soil by careless agri
c.lltur:sts, and the rapid consumption
of the earth's supply of nitrates.
1t would be most disastrous for the
world to find itself without nitrates
Gradually, but surely, the race would
die of lack of food. The drying up OF
nations and peoples would not lack
dramatic features. Cities would be-
come deserted skyscrapers fall in
ruins, and the end Of man would fol
low.
The basis for these reflections Is
very simple. The nitrates are salts es-
seGtial to the diet of wheat, and wheat
is the chief food of most mankind
Now the element In q nitrate which is
essential for the growth of the green
plant is nitrogen. Although the plant
like ourselves, lives in an atmosphere
which is four-fifths nitrogen, II cannot
assimilate this nitrogen from the air.
Both plants and animals, by the
process of breathing, can utilize the
oxygen which forms part of the atmos.
course, included nitrogen, but this ele
nient is thrown off by the lungs The
only way in which the higher plants
and animals can avail themselves of
nitrogen is in the form of its com
pounds.
The plant needs comparatively little
of the compounds OF nitrogen for its
sustenance. About one five-hundredth
compounds. nitrates or ammonia. will
feed ii, enabling 1t to grow and build
up those elaborate compounds which
animals in their turn feed upon. Thus
the worlds stock OF nitrogen com
pounds goes round in endless cycles
the plant taking the simplest forms
and Celebrating them, the animal
bringing these complex forms back to
the starting point. All the time. how.
ever, The great stock Of free nitrogen
in the air stands outside the cycle.
Deposits still Abundant.
There is still plenty of ready-made
nitrates In the world the bequest OF
past ages. There are beds of nitrate
of soda in Chile. guano on various
tropical islands and suIphate of am
n,onia. recovered when coal is trans
formed into gas or coke. The present
sources OF combined nitrogen. however
are so plainly limited that Sir William
CrOokes thought 1t advisable to sound
n warning. Sir William Ramsay has
raid that 1t is doubtful If the depos.
its in the Andes will last beyond 1850
and the guano deposits in the Southern
seas are suffering rapid depletion.
1t is very well known by agricultur.
lists that beneficial effects accrue tc
the land from the growth of clover
Certain bacteria which dwell on the
root OF the clover plant are able to
seize upon free nitrogen and bring II
into combination. Progressive farmers
however, do not feel that they can de-
pend upon the fertilizing effects OF a
clover crop, and those who make q sue.
cess of farming are they who know
how properly TO value more active nj
trates.
The wheat crop of the world in 1901
amounted to 3.162. 404, 900 bushels. OF
which the United States and Russia
furnished more than one-third. Eu.
rope has not for many years been able
10 raise all the wheat needed for her
own consumption, and the deficit has
been made good, principally by the
United States and India which raise
more grain than they reasonably can
use.
The time is rapidly approaching
when the failure OF the wheat crop In
either Russia, the United States OIL
India would have serious results, not
only locally, but TO the world gener-
ally. Russia, Roumania and Bulgaria
are the only European countries which
raise wheat enough 10 export But
their surplus would scarcely equal the
demand of the United Kingdom alone
TIC keep the wheat supply at least
normal is the work which science will
be expected to perform. Within the
next half century it Will be necessary
considerably to augment what at pres
ent constitutes n normal crop. unless a
leaf is taken out Of the book Of the
East. and rice becomes a substitute for
wheat
What science must do. then, is to
provide a supply Of artificial nitrates
is science equal to the demand??
The best answer to this question is
TO give an idea of what science is do
ing i'm what might be called commercial
chemistry. BY means of catalytic pro-
cesses. gigantic chemical works In va