Amador ledger., 1910-12-16

the hour, and it is being applied moi
only to the human unit, the individual
specialized to fill IN the most helpful
manner his place in the evolving plar
of Nature, but to the plant and animal
attendants upon man and even tC
Mother Earth herself. 1t has been re.
Gently estimated that the nitrogen
taken from the air by electrical means
will add so per cent to the productive.
ness of the soil. Recent years have
shown that the earth's yield is to be
further increased by such means as
intelligent rotation of crops, the best
use of nitrifying organisms, more at
tention to the action OF sunlight and
neat in preparing soil for seed and a
better understanding of the disinfection
of soils from the plant poisons left by
growing crops. Electrifcation Of the
air above plants has been found to
have great influence. Sir Oliver Lodge
finds that it has always existed, and
he and others are endeavoring to so in
tensify and adapt it artificially as to
get the greatest possible results in
agriculture. Even more is expected
from scientie breeding. Improvements
of breeds of plants and animals has
become a world undertaking, and the
astonishing achievements already made
give promise that man s wants are to
be even better supplied in future, with
an increase in abundance that will pro-
vide for a great increase of the world S
population.
Modern industries give liability to
fire where water is not only Ineffective
but dangerous as an extinguisher, and
the use of sand is among the substi-
tutes. The new fire apparatus of Lon
don on electric lighting station is a
truck holding 600 pounds of sand and
carrying a fiber bucket and couple of
spades. This equipment is specially
adapted for the purpose, and is advised
for motor garages, oil stores, electric
theatres, etc.
The Weather Service of Prussians,
is to be supplemented by a special
aeronautical service. The Aeronautical
at Llndenberg, proposes
making regular observation of upper
cir currents by captive balloon, and
issuing an afternoon weather map.
Lacking water power for developing
cheap electrical energy, engineers in
England are beginning to turn their
attention to the tides. In a paper read
the other day to the Ipswich Engineer
ing Society. W. D. Hornsnail pointed
out that to make tidal power profit
able now there must be available a
natural pound, which should be free
from use for navigation, must require
only a short dam to close 1t to the
sea, and should have minimum tidal
range of at least ten feet. Such con-
iitions snany be found along the Essex
coast and similar low-lying shores
with moderate tides. Some use of tide
power has been made for hundreds of
years, corn having been ground by it'll
in the eleventh century, but the early
method was the turning of wheel by
the current flowing back and forth IN
natural channel. For this inefficient
plan the storage of water during the
IT, IS kbo t;da ond ;fS ,,ca nc n oop
siderable fall only during the outward
low has been substantitued. A tide
mill at Woodbridge, still regularly
corn, has shallow pound of
10, 900 square feeI, with a tide range
If 101a to 1879 feet, and the wheel is
worked with a fall of feet, continu
ng AZ to 51a hours at each tide. The
lndershot wheel, Ia feet IN diameter
and feet wide, develops 10 or IL
lorse power at revolutions minute.
The tide mill at st. Osyth had a pound
If l, 12O, 900 square feet and used two
wheels, each 10 feet in diameter by 6
feet wide and credited with 20 horse
power.
Each kind of soil is found by A.
Muntz to have a definite moisture
limit below which seeds actually dry
up instead of gaining. In a sandy
soil, O.5 per cent of water is sufficient
FOR termination; with loans the re-
Iuired percentage is from 2.5 to 10
as the proportion of clay in
,reases; and with garden soil. contain
ng a large proportion of humus, near
y 10 per cent of water must be pre-
sent before termination can take
place.
A newly-patented British lamp is a