FIXATION OF ATMOSPHERIC NITROGEN 599 



Associative action of legumes and non-legumes. When non-leguminous 

 plants are grown together with legumes, the former will obtain from the 

 soil a larger quantity of nitrogen; this has been known since earlier times 

 and has been pointed out by La Flize 167 in 1892. It was later confirmed 

 by other investigators. By placing a small unglazed porous pot in which 

 a non-leguminous plant was growing, inside of a large glazed pot, in which 

 a legume was growing, Lipman 16S observed a favorable influence of the 

 legume upon the non-leguminous crop; he ascribed this to the diffusion 

 of the nitrogen fixed, from the legume to the non-legume. Lyon and 

 Bizzell 169 found that timothy grown alone contained 12.75 per cent pro- 

 tein and, when grown together with alfalfa, 15.56 per cent. The same 

 was true of oats when grown together with peas; the non-legume con- 

 tained a greater amount of nitrogen when grown with the legume than 

 when grown alone. 



167 La Flize, S. Experiences sur L6gumineuses. Ann. Sci. Agron., 1: 174- 

 178. 1892. 



168 Lipman, J. G. A method for the study of soil fertility problems. Jour. 

 Agr. Sci., 3: 297-300. 1909: The associative growth of legumes and non-legumes. 

 N. J. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 253. 1912. 



169 Lyon, T. L., and Bizzell, J. A. Availability of soil nitrogen in relation to 

 the basicity of the soil and to the growth of legumes. Jour. Ind. Engin. Chem. 

 2: 313-315, 1910; also N. Y. (Cornell) Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 294. 1911. 



