139 



])y earefiil oxperiraents ? Let us have all that can bo known of the mys- 

 teries of plant-life. 



CAriEOLic ACID AS A DISINFECTANT. — C. Homburoh, of Berlin, pro- 

 poses to use carbolie acid as a disinfectant, by saturating sheets of Bris- 

 tol-board, or any thick spongy paper, with a solution of carbolic acid 

 in water. The paper, in pieces of any convenient size, may bo hung 

 up in the room to be disinfected, or may be ])laced in drawers or v\-arcl- 

 robes, where it is desired to protect clothing from mothsor other insects. 

 This suggests a convenient method of using this excellent disinfectant 

 and insect destroyer. 



Available niteogen. — P. P. Dehcraiu (in Comptcs Eendns) ad- 

 vances a somewhat novel theory of the reduction of atmospheric nitro- 

 gen to an available^ form for the support of plant-life. He endeavors 

 to prove that the fi'ce nitrogen of the atmosphere is brought into com- 

 bination during the oxidation of organic matter in the soil. To demon- 

 strate this he dissolves glucose in a dilute solution of ammonia in wa- 

 ter placed in a large flask filled with a mixture^^of equal parts of nitro- 

 gen and oxygen. JJaving closed the flask, he heats the mixture gently 

 for one hundred hours, at the end of which time the whole of the oxy- 

 gen has disappeared, and 5.0 per cent, of nitrogen has been taken up. 

 The same process with humic acid and potash shows a loss of 7.2 of ni- 

 trogen. If these results are confirmed by subsequent experiments, they 

 will throw light on the hitherto obscure subject of the production of 

 nitric acid. « 



FoEMULJE i'"OE FEETILIZERS. — ^I. Gcorge Yillc, iu the Journal 

 (V AgricnUnre Frartiquc for February 22, 1872, gives the following form- 

 ula^ of chemical manures at present in use in France, with the modifica- 

 tions which he proposes to introduce, to which he appends the prices 

 of the several ingredients used in the compound, both in the old form- 

 ula of 18G8 and the new of 1871. By way of explanation to some of 

 0ur readers, it may be proper to say that a kilogram is equal to 

 2.204737 pouiuls— a franc rs a value of 18.0 cents, and a hectare is a 

 land-measure of 2.4711 acres. 



Old formula for clover and hay. 



Acid phosphate of lima c 400 kilograms =^ G4 francs. 



Nitrate of potassa - .200 kilograms = 124 francs. 



Sulphate of lime (plaster) 400 kilograms = 8 francs. 



190 francs. 

 Cost i^er hectare := 100 francs, or $30.45. ^ 



For which he substitutes the neio formula with the prices of 1871 ap- 

 pended : 



Acid phosphate of lime 400 kilograms, worth 52 francs. 



Chloride of potassium 200 kilograms, worth 50 francs. 



Sulphate of lime ? 400 kilograms, worth 8 francs. 



110 francs. 



Cost i>er hectare -=110 francs = $20.40. 



For clover or Burgundian hay, M. Ville says he does not hesitate to 

 recommend the chloride of iiotassium as a substitute for the nitrate, 

 but for cereals (wheat, rye, barley, &c.) it is necessary to supply nitro- 

 gen in some available form, and for this i)urpose he uses the sulphate 

 of ammonia as in the following formula: 



