THE CHEMICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ALFALFA. 167 
one. In the leaf both total and proteid nitrogen decreases 
as the plant ripens, the proteid nitrogen, however, decreases 
more rapidly. (The proteid nitrogenis that obtained by the 
use of Stutzer’s method as given in the Methods of Official 
Agricultural Chemists. This proteid nitrogen has a greater 
food value than the nitrogenous material that exists in the 
non-proteid form.) In thestems, the total nitrogen decreases 
while the proteid nitrogen remains quite stationary which 
accounts for the increase in the percentage of proteid to total 
nitrogen, Thisseems to show that the nitrogen is taken 
from the soil in non-proteid or amide forms and is changed 
to proteid forms in the leaves and then transferred to the 
stems to be finally stored in the seed. 
The ether extract increasesin both leaves and stems but 
rather irregularly in the leaves. The fiber increases in the 
leaves but is almost stationary in the stem. 
The percentage of ash or mineral matter remains almost 
stationary in the leaves but decreases in the stems. We find, 
as is to be expected, that the leaves contain the most ash, 
for it is in the leaf that the complex compounds found in the 
ripened plant are elaborated from simpler materials, and in 
this work the mineral elements take an important part. An 
examination of table LXVIII will show that the ash ele- 
ments are taken up most rapidly during the early stages of 
growth. The results of the analysis of the ash of the leaves 
and stems are given in table LX XII. 
TABLE NO. LXXII. 


IN 100 POUNDS OF ASH 





Leaves Leaves Leaves Stems Stems Stems 
Cut Cut Cut Cut Gpq. || — Gime 
June 3 June 16 June 30 June 3 June 16 | June 30 
lbs Ibs Ibs lbs Ibsen |yenlos 
Phosph't’s(P205) itd. O: 5.90 4.20 9562) +) LO%70) |) LOGS 
Potash (K20)..... a fe te 14.61 11.60 26.68 | 31.16 | 27.54 
Heine (Ca@®)))\0.s2-00- 24.90 24.39 32.41 14.10 13.42 | 15.98 
Magnesia (MgO). 3.88 6.49 3.66 5260 449 | 4.70 

In the leaves, the ash elements are in almost every case 
found in the greatest abundance during the early stages. In 
the stems, there seems to be but little variation in the compo- 
