DITT!?TOy OF chemh^trt 



127 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



THE FERTTLTZIXG VALUE OF RAIX AXD SNOW. 



The data for the seventh year of this investigation, the chief object of which ii 

 to cletorinine the possible enrichment of the soil, per acre, from the nitrogen corn- 

 pnuiids furnij^hed by the precipitation, ai'e hero recorded. It will not be necessary to 

 fli^euss in any detail the ])lan of the work, nor the factors that have been found to 

 iiitliiencc the nitrogen-content of the rain and snow, as these matters were more or 

 Ipj- fidly dealt with in our report for lOl-*^, to which the interested reader may be 

 referred for further particulars of this research and its relation to practical agriculture. 



The seventh year closed February 2Sth, 1014, and during the preceding twelve 

 months 84 samples were analysed, 61 of rain and 23 of snow, representing a total pre- 

 cipitation of .11.78 inches. 



Ju t;dile I the data are given for the monthly totals of precipitation, the monthly 

 a\o:'age nitrogen-content of the precipitation present as free and albuminoid ammonia 

 and as nitrates and nitrites and for the pounds of nitrogen so furnished, per acre. 



The total precipitation 31.78 inches, is 8.18 inches less than that of the previous 

 year and. as we shall see from a subsequent table, 2.56 inches less than the average at 

 Ottawa for the past 23 years. In both rain and snow the amounts are below the aver- 

 ages, though the reduction is chiefly in the snowfall. 



Ottawa as a rule is favoured with a fairly equable precipitation throughout the 

 year and the records for the year ending February 28, 1914, show but one summer 

 month, June — and one winter month — February — when the precipitation fell below 2 

 inches. June was exceptionally dry, with less than an inch of rain. March and 

 October were the only months in which the precipitation exceeded 4 inches. 



Table I. — Rain and Snow at Ottawa for the Year ending February 28, 1914. 



1013. 



March . . . . 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



Sfpteiiibfr. 

 C)t tober. . . 

 November. 

 December. . 



1914. 



January. 

 Febru.ary 



raEciPiT.^TiON IX Inches. 



Month ano Ykar. 



Total 



Rain. 



2-20 

 2-00 

 2-39 

 ■82 

 2-30 

 3 13 

 2 69 

 408 

 2-48 

 58 



64 



23 31 



Snow. 



24 25 



200 

 17 00 



30-50 

 11 00 



84 75 



Total 



in 



Inches 



of Rain. 



4-62 

 200 

 2-39 

 ■82 

 2-30 

 3-13 

 2 69 

 408 

 268 

 228 



3 69 

 1 10 



31 78 



Nitrogen. 



In 



Free 



Ammonia. 



p. p.m. 



•17 

 •63 

 •40 

 •60 

 •37 

 •93 

 •68 

 •54 

 ■82 

 ■58 



26 

 •82 



In 



Albumin- 

 oid 



Ammonia, 



p.p.m. 



•12 

 •17 

 •09 

 •13 



■u 



■16 

 •W7 

 19 

 ■04 

 •OS 



14 



In 



Nitrates 



& 

 Nitrites. 



p.p.m. 



•16 

 •34 

 •19 

 •65 

 -41 

 •49 

 •23 

 •20 

 •02 

 •15 



•17 

 •21 



Total 



p.p, 



m. 



45 

 14 

 68 

 38 

 90 

 58 

 98 

 93 

 88 

 81 



•61 

 ■68 



Pounds 



of 

 Nitrogen 

 per acre. 



•471 

 •517 

 •368 

 •256 

 •469 

 1-121 

 •597 

 •860 

 •5L'5 

 •410 



•42<; 

 •169 



6208 



The total nitrogen for the year amounted to 6.208 pounds, per acre — an amount 

 practically identical with the results obtained for the two preceding years. A com- 

 parison of the annual precipitation and amount of nitrogen furnished per acre for the 



