Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1909-01-20


building them up In stil dicercnt WAYS
IL makes the hard wood Of the oak or
the delicate petals Of rose Man.
with all his skill and machinery. has
never been able 10 make an prt ducts
half so wonderful as are beia. made
every day In every field on your .arn.
III plants are TO grow ra1idly aud
produce large yields they mast &c well
fed. About half the dr. vei-'.; OF u
mature plant is made up IF carbon.
Practically all OF this comes from the
carbon dioSide Of the air. Every acre
OF wheat will use ten o. this "a; ar
all that is in a layer OF air tnree miles
deep over the acre. The constant mix.
Ing Of the air by the wind Is always
bringing fresh supplies within reach OF
the plant
The farmer does not need To concern
himself with the supply CT carbon d!.
oxide, FOR every uCie he build. tire
or even breathes he Is adding 10 tn.
store OF this material I'm the ni-.
The smooth upper surface ~ a leaf
Is both air and water tight on the
underside. however. are many S.nall
openings. which are really the mouths
OF the plant. 1t is through these tiny
holes that carbon dioNide Is taken into
the leaf TO be used by the chlUrophyn.
In making starch and other prcdus Is
out OF carbon dioxide and water some
oxygen is given of. This passes out
through the openings in the caves.
Thus you see that plants breathe in
much the same way as animals do.
only they give of oxygen. the product
which IS used by animals, and take IN
carbon dioxide the gas which Is
breathed out by animals In this way
plants make animal life possible AMI.
mails give OF carbon dioxide and
manure as waste products. Plants
tear these waste products TO pieces
and by rebuilding them make them
once more into food for the animals.
Next to carbon hydrogen and oxy-
gen are the foods that the plant uses
I'm largest quantities. Since wafer is
composed of these elements. the sup
ply will be plentiful as long as there
Is plenty OF water in the soil.
There Is one element. nitrogen.
which forms q considerable part OF
the plant. that Is harder TO get. While
threefourths OF the air is nitrogen.
the plant does not seem to be able to
use IL in this form. The only kind OF
plants that can use the nitrogen I'm the
air at all are the legumes. such as
clover and alfalfa. Certain bacteria
that live on the roots Of these legumes
have the power Of changing the at
mospheric nitrogen into forms In
which the plant can use It. We shall
study more about this process later.
Nitrogen is one OF the most impor-
tant plant foods. and IL Is one that is
very often lacking. If the plant can
not get a sufficient supply OF nitrogen
it will be stunted, will stop growing
early. and the yield will be very much
reduced Since all the crops. with the
exception Of the legumes, must get
their nitrogen from the soil, the farm
er must see TO 1t that there is n plen-
tiful supply there If he wishes to OBJ
tain n large yield.
II you will drop little rich black
soil on n hot shovel some of Il will
go up in smoke. The part that burns IS
humus and is made up OF vegetable and
animal matter which IS partly de-
cayed. This humus contains large
amounts OF nitrogen, and from this
source the greater share of this ele-
ment used by the plant must come. II
your soil is black, spongy and well
supplied with humus there is little
danger that the plant will go hungry
Tor nitrogen. One OF the best WAYS 10
keep field in this condition IS to ap-
oily liberal quantities OF barnyard ma.
nure Another way Is to plow under
green crops. especially clover. Some
times it is necessary to buy nitrogen
for the plant in the form of CONNER
cial fertilizers. but this is very ex-
pensive way OF obtaining IT.
Even when the plant is given all the
nitrogen it can use 1t sometimes fails