The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1909-08-05
HELP THE FARMERS
EHE EARTH TO BE FERTI1IzED
FROM THE AIR.

BY It Human Necessities, human
Comfort and the Relief Of Human
Toll Will be Assisted.
unon the farmer and his sue
ressful cultivation of his lands rests
tbe prosperity of this and all other
countries. Therefore, the most I'M
portant problem that should engage
tbe interest of man is that having
to do with the most efficient cultl-
walton of the soil, making it easior
for the farmer to produce the crops
that are required to feed the peo-
ples of all lands. In other Woros'
rs the Greenville News says, to re-
tain the fertility Of the soil at Its
highest possible ratio there Is an
all-important PROPOSE ION with whicn
science must wrestle continuously uii
IT shall have achieved his purpose.
AL, the resources Of the natural
chemistry Of the earth and air nave
been utilized in practice.
The chemistry Of the. factory, too'
has done much to add to the farmer s
availing. Yet nothing keeps ade-
auate pace with the fatal march Oh
necessity. Were there no otneF
proof of this fact, the steadily aug
mentins cost of all articles of food
and of the raw material of manufac-
ture suffices for conviction. Trusts
and monopolies, however, they may
have sinned against the interests OF
the ultimate consumer, can be legl-
nally charged with only minor
+ moiety of the burden. Until the
vast storehouse of nature can DE
unlocked more efficiently in the per-
manent enrichment of the soil, there
will be only spasmodic relief.
By far the most important OF the
things which must be added to the
soil to keep it at its highest level
nf production are those known as
nitrates which carry great bulk Oh
nitrogen as the main constituent.
nitrogen is the essential food OF all
n,ants, and especially of the fooo
nlants known as cereals. THIS as
supplied by barnyard and various
artificial manures, by rotation OIL
crops and by the new process 10
which our own agricultural depart
ment has so largely contributed
sou-inoculation by nitrogen-pro-
ducing tubercles at present sums up
nearly what has been practlcaily
achieved in the all-important aim.
But a new hope, almost illimitaole
in it's outlook and Importance mas
been opened to humanity. II mas
.1ready more than satisfied laDora-
4ory tests; and there is the sounoese
reason to believe that before many
wears shall have passed, there Will
be a boundless supply Of nitrogen IN
7ts unrest form for the use OF tne
farmer. This will not only be IN
valuable in soil-enrichment, but II
will also greatly lessen agricultural
labor by lessening the need OF con-
slant warfare on weeds.
Sir William Crooaes in 1893 de-
c,ared that the economical extrac-
tion of nitrogen from the air was
one of the greatest discoveries await
ing the labors of the chemist. Inc
exhaustion Of the worlds Immediate
store of nitrates is placed by COM
netent students as within the COM
inq half century. With the exhaus-
tion the effect on the worlds needs
and industries will be disastrous. Az
the recent international Congress Oh
Chemists one Of the German mem"
hers fully demonstrated professor
Otto schonherr's new process OF ex-
tracing nitrogen from the air oy
experiments before the congress.
without entering in detail lnto
the scientific process, except tnat II
;s effeeted by the agency OF hlgh
temneratures made practicable by
electricity, it may be said that II
was received by the great BODY OF
scientific critics as thoroughly prac-
tical in it's working theory; however
further experimentation may cheap
en- the cost of production. AS four-
hfths of the atmosphere is nitrogen
mixed mechanically with oxygen us
successful elimination on a cheap
and, of course, inexhaustible SCALE
will solve a vast problem to the IN
fnie betterment Of the human race.
The gist of the matter, as 1t now
stands, is that the Schonherr dis
coyery offers in itself or in those
finer notifications which the stlm-
ulus of the inception will unques-
tionably furnish to chemical expert
ment, a practical certainty that the
desideratum is within reach, which
will have a boundless value in the
fertilization of the earth, when
would otherwise reach a slowly
starving condition in its adjustment
to expanding human needs. Ihe
cheap production Of electricity py
water power, which has become
striking fact in current industry, It