24 THE I'LAKT. 



bulk of this gas, and water with which it comes m 

 contact wiU immediately take it up. Spirits of 

 hartshorn is mere!}' water through which ammonia 

 has been passed until it is saturated.* This power 

 of water has a direct application to agriculture, 

 because the water constituting rains, dews, etc., 

 absorbs the ammonia which the decomposition of 

 nitrogenous matter had sent into the atmosphere, 

 and we find that all rain, snow, and dew, contain 

 ammonia. This fact may be chemically proved in 

 various ways, and is perceptible in the common 

 operations of nature. Every person must have 

 noticed that when a summer's shower falls on the 

 plants in a flower garden, they commence their 

 growth with fresh vigor, while the blossoms become 

 larger and more richly colored. This effect cannot 

 be produced by watering with spring water, unless 

 it be previously mixed with ammonia, in which case 

 tlie result will be the same. 



Although ammonia is a gas and pervades the 

 atmosphere, few, if any, plants can take it up, aa 

 they do carbonic acid, through their leaves. It 

 must all enter through the roots in solution in the 

 water which goes to form the saj). Although the 

 amount received from the atmosphere is of great 

 importance, there are few cases where artificial ap- 

 plications are not beneficial. The value of farm-yard 

 and other animal manures, depends largely on the 

 ammonia which they yield on decomposition. This 



* By saturated, we mean that it csontains all that it is capable 

 of holding. 



