The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1919-06-20
THE ATMOSPHERE.
Extracts From Talk Before Cecil
Farmers Club On May 10.


submitted some remarks on the
Atmosphere, partly results of his
own observation, but more from the
research of others during the last
half century.
The atmosphere is a large sub
ject, and the study of it las been
slow and difficult, but it has, SO far,
revealed many things of interest to
us as farmers, and it is promising
more. For instance we now heal
much of "air drainage" especially
in connection with the selection OF
orchard sites. 1t was about 1868,
before the expression "air drainage"
was current, that sharp contrast
in temperature between hills and
valleys on a cold winter morning,
induced the speaker to carry Their
mometer into some of the valleys on
the Westtown School farm in South
eastern Chester County.
The temperature fell from de-
grees above zero to II degrees be-
low zero in a distance of quarter
of a mile, and total vertical de-
scent of say SO feet. The last
seventeen degrees fall was a descent,
of say 20 feet in about 100 yards.
On cold winter mornings such as
we occasionally had between 1858
and 1894, the experiment was often
repeated, sometimes with more
striking results so far as low tenn
peratures were concerned, but with
nearly the same difference between
the location of the school buildings
and the Chester Greek Valley 500
yards away. During the winter OF
1880-81, we had very cold wave OF
several days duration. The last
two days of 1880 and New Years
day 1881, the temperature, at the
school at sunrise, varied from about
6 to about 9 below zero. Down near
the creek the temperatures for the
three successive mornings were 26,
% and 80 below. These tempera-
lures were taken by about five diff
ferent observers, each carrying hi.
own thermometer. On one occasion,
about 1894, even the above lowest
temperature was exceeded, when the
same standard thermometer which
was used on the previous expert
ments, and by which the others
were tested, indicated IA degrees
below at the speakers residence
near the school, and SO, below in the
valley.
These were all, of course, clear
still mornings. In the valley, not
far from Chester Creek, was large
dairy spring-house, where the dairy
man made wood fire each morning
to heat water for his milk vessels.
The smoke would rise in column
for say thirty or forty feet and then
spread out horizontally, and it was
when we got below the level of this
horizontal smoke-cloud, that the
temperature began to fall rapidly.
The density of air at temperatures
near zero, increases 5 % for a fall of
20 degrees Fahrenheit, which ex-
plains why the colder air settles, or,
as the orchardists say, drains off,
giving us sometimes FROST tempera-
lures in low lands, when the hill
sides are safe.
The subject of the manufacture of
a heterogeneous fertilizer by using
directly the nitrogen of the air, was
briefly referred to. The speaker
was not familiar with the operation,
but stated that in an electric furnace
Carbonate of Lime, Common lime
stone) probably in combination with
Soda Ash, Carbonate of Soda) is
made to combine with nitrogen of
the air present, the carbon and
nitrogen forming with the lime,s an
impure Calcium Cyanide, known as
'Cyananid At last accounts this
was being made commercially at
Niagara Falls, and has the chemical
formula of a valuable heterogeneous
fertilizer.
A method of getting free nitrogen,
as by product, directly from the
air, was explained. Air, as is well
known, may be liquified by refrige-
ration under great pressure. The
liquid air is intensely cold. 1t
evaporates quite rapidly under at
mospheric pressure, but in the pro-
cess of evaporation, the nitrogen
evaporates first, leaving nearly pure
liquid oxygen. The oxygen is then
allowed to evaporate under pressure
of say $50 pounds per square inch,
and is thus used for medicinal pur-
poses, and for the various lighting,
melting, and welding processes in
which oxygen is used. When the
speaker saw this process of making
oxygen about 10 years ago, the nj
trogn- was simply allowed to escape
into the air.
The fact that it is bacteria in the