THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



Nexl in order of the organic portions of plants 

 is nitroyen — one of the most important organic 

 constituents of A-egetable matter. It constitutes 

 al)out four-fifths of atmospheric air. Animals 

 cannot live in it alune, yet they cannot be matured 

 without it. Plants die in it, yet it is necessary 

 to their growth. Reference has already been 

 made to its use to dilute the oxygen of the air, 

 so as to render it palatable and life-giving. Its 

 existence has been known since 177 '2, and it was" 

 recof)nized as a constituent of the atmosphere in 

 177'). It does not sujjport combustion, but extin- 

 guishes all burning bodies immersed in it. It is 

 not inflammable. It is generally supposed that 

 plants get no nitrogen from the air. Johnston 

 says, " Spring and rain waters absorb it, as they 

 do oxygen, from the atmospheric air, and bear it 

 in solution to the roots, by which it is not unlikely 

 that it may be conveyed directly into the circu- 

 lation of the plants." But plants are mainly fed 

 by nitrogen through some of its compounds. 

 Ammonia is one. It is composed of nitrogen and 

 hydrogen. Seventeen pounds of ammonia contain 

 about fourteen pounds of nitrogen and three 

 pounds of hydrogen. It is important to the growth 

 of the plant — one of the most important com- 

 pounds. It is common — every farmer has to do 

 with it and daily witnesses its effects, is made 

 aware of its presence by his senses, yet scarcely 

 heeds its value, and often regards it as a very 

 noxious vapour which ought not to exist. But it 

 does exist in the atmosphere everywhere where 

 animal or vegetable matter is decaying. It is 

 about three-fifths as heavy as atmospheric air. 

 Our readers will recognize it as spirits of harts- 

 horn, and it is sometimes called alkaline air, or 

 volatile alkali. It is colourless, does not support 

 combustion, and is inflammable. Here is another 

 wonder for you, reader — a combination of two 

 colourless and tasteless gases and without smell, 

 in the proportion of 14 and 3 produces another 

 gas that has pungent smell and a very perceptible 

 taste. And is it not more wonderful, that it should 

 exist, and enter so largely into all the successes 

 and reverses of the farmer's operations, become 

 part of his stock-in-trade, 'and yet create no in- 

 quiry into its properties, no curiosity as to its use 

 or value? It is escaping yonder from that manure 

 heap, from the liquid steaming excrements of your 

 cattle. Here again you witness the value of ab- 

 sorbents to mix with animal manures. Charcoal 

 or muck absorbs largely and should be largely 

 used. Water absorbs ammonia over 700 and 

 nearly 800 times its bulk of it, and is made the 

 medium to transfer the ammonia of the atmos- 

 phere to the growing plants. Ammonia is power- 

 ful in its effect upon the plant. It promotes its 

 luxuriance and growth. It is mainly and perhaps 

 wholly taken up by the roots of the plant from the 

 soil, not being inhaled by the breathing leaf as is 

 carbonic acid. 



Liebig says, "The effect of an artificial supply 

 of ammonia as a source of nitrogen is to accelerate 

 the growth and development of plants." And he 

 attaches great importance to this fact, and argues 

 that it should be taken into account in gardening 

 — especially in kitchen gardening, and as much as 



possible in agriculture on a large scale, when the 

 time occupied in the growth of plants is of import- 

 ance, as it is most certainly in our latitudes. In- 

 deed it is the most valuable fertilizer contained in 

 farm-yard manure, and it exists to a greater extent 

 in the liquid part than in the solid excrement. 

 And yet farmers — the great majority of them — 

 provide no means for conveying this important 

 fertilizer to the plant. 



The stable manure may be thrown out under 

 the eaves of the stable, and into the street, with 

 no absorbing mixture. The eaves of the stable 

 have no fixtures to convey the water into a cistern 

 for the use of the stock, but the dripping flood 

 inundates the manure heaj), and leaches away into 

 the street ditch, to be turned perhaps by a shrewd 

 neighbour, if one happens to Uve lower down a de-^ 

 clivity, into his own fields by a furrow or^ five' 

 minutes' use of the spade, and irrigates his fields, 

 furnishing his crops with a wealth of nutriment 

 and stimulant — the (/old of your manure. We 

 have seen it done. We are not imagining any- 

 thing. The same principle applied to commerce 

 would ruin every man who indulged in it. Sup- 

 pose the merchant should throw gold into the 

 street, and depend upon the silver or currency 

 received for m'ofits, and to replace and replenish 

 his stock ; what would be thought of him f Does 

 a farmer know these facts — know he is losing the 

 best of his resources for the replenishment of his 

 farm, and still neglect to take measures to retain 

 them? Cannot afford to provide against this 

 waste? If God had not blessed us with a land 

 unrivalled in fertility, and had not provided in 

 nature compensation for the consumption of 

 plants, man, if left alone, would soon impoverish 

 himself, and the earth would become barren and 

 unfruitful. 



Ammonia does not enter the plant by inhalation 

 (if we may use the term) through the leaves. It 

 is a gas, but there are few plants that do not 

 require it to knock for admittance at the roots, 

 and in company (solution) with water; and here 

 again we must urge your attention to the saving 

 the liquid manure of your stock, so full of nitrogen 

 for the plant. It has been suggested to leave the 

 stable floor open, with a muck-bed under it, to 

 receive the leakage. Another plan is, to have 

 a close floor, and litter the stable behind the stock 

 with muck, sawdust, or tanbark-charcoal. And 

 here we wish to say one word upon the use 

 of muck as an absorbent. Ignorant once of the 

 philosophy of composting, we helped a man, then 

 considered more progressive than his neighbours, 

 to clean out a swamp of its muck deposit— a purely 

 vegetable substance. It was thrown around an 

 orchard at once— at the roots of each tree. It had 

 its effect, it is true ; the trees grew marvellously. 

 But, if instead of depositing it thus to "save 

 handbng," it had been hauled to the large shed m 

 the barn-yard, and then mixed with the stable 

 manure, which was evaporating, and leaching un- 

 der the eaves on the south side of the barn, we 

 would have saved enough by the operation to have 

 paid the expenses and produced more wonderful 

 effects still. Why ? Because that muck was pure 

 and (almost) unadulterated carbon— the best of 



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