1902.] QUESTIONS. 183 



of feed that is an adulteration in every sense of the word, and 

 that is the use of ground corn cob in wheat bran. We found 

 during the past week two samples of wheat bran which con- 

 tained about twenty-five per cent, of ground corn cob, an 

 almost worthless material. This, I am afraid, is a very seri- 

 ous adulteration, and every farmer should be on his guard 

 this winter when the prices of all feeds have gone so high. 



Secretary Brown. " Does grass land gather nitrogen 

 from the air? " 



Dr. Jenkins. Generally speaking, grass land does not 

 gather nitrogen in the way we usually speak of gathering 

 nitrogen from the air. Clover, of course, and many other 

 plants of that class, will gather atmospheric nitrogen and hold 

 it, but grass will not gather in any nitrogen as it is gathered 

 by such plants. During the late fall, and, in fact, within a 

 week, we have had weather when the grass was growing. 

 The surface of the soil was not frozen. So, when it is grow- 

 ing, if there is any available nitrogen in the soil it will assimi- 

 late that, but without covering it, would be wasted and be 

 lost into the drainage waters. .That is one of the great ad- 

 • vantages of a green crop during the winter, in that it holds on 

 to the nitrogen of the soil, and keeps it for the next crop if it 

 is turned under in the spring. 



Secretary Brown. " Can kainit or other chem.icals be 

 profitably used to keep stable manure from loss in the stable or 

 in the heap? " 



Dr. Jenkins. I think, Mr. Chairman, that it is pretty 

 safe to say that it can be used economically and profitably. 

 The whole matter is being studied into in great detail by 

 German investigators, and. as near as I can make out from 

 what has been published, they are not agreed among them- 

 selves and have not reached any very definite conclusions. 

 Kainit is of some use in the stable, as it will keep down the 

 ammonia arising from decomposing manure, but the best 

 means we know of for keeping manure, if it must be kept, is 



