112 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF 



are not absorbed by plants in the same 

 way as the nitrogen to which we have 

 referred, but which is also derived from the 

 atmosphere, although indirectly. All culti- 

 vated plants, however, are able to obtain 

 nitrogen, which is present in the soil in a 

 combined form, as in the organic matter of 

 plants, roots, and dung, and from such man- 

 ures as nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, 

 nitrate of lime, guano, and farm-yard manure, 

 both liquid and solid. The method by which 

 soil nitrogen becomes available for the use 

 of pla its and the manner in which it enters 

 their system are fully explained in such 

 handbooks as The Chemistry of the Farm, 

 which will repay a reader who desires to know 

 the functions of soil and manure. It is 

 sufficient for us to point out that just as it 

 is imperative to feed a cow with liberality 

 to enable her to provide a large quantity of 

 milk, or a bullock, a wether sheep, or a pig 

 to increase its production of meat, so must 

 we feed the soil, for without liberal treatment 

 it cannot respond. 



Let us employ an illustration that the reader 

 may better realise the importance of what is 

 generally described as 'fertility' in the soil; 

 and we include under this term not onlv 



