340 
THETROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
LNov, 1, 1898. 
THE AVAlLAliLENESS OF ATMOSFHEKIC 
NITROGEN FOR AGiaCULTUKAL 
PURPOSES. 
lb is -generally known tliat plants owe their 
nitrogenous fooil to tlie rirctila'iiig nitroj,'en 
anions l)lants, animals, an^l the soil, anil Uiit 
with "lliis circulation the nitrogen ol the alino.s- 
plieie hast very little connection : in other wonU, 
that it is the decomposition of organic matter 
and the nitrilicaiion of the or;;anic nitroi'cn con- 
tained in it that turni->h the soil witii the 
nitrates which are ulliniately availahle for ab- 
sorption hy the roots in the small proportion of 
ammonia and nitric acid which are held to be 
directly absorbed by the leaves. 
The comparatively small contributions whicli are 
made by atmospheric nitro;,'en to the stock of 
nitro;,'enoiis tood are due to the combination of the 
nitrogen and oxygen through natural electric dis- 
char'^es, and to the fixation of nitrogen by the 
bacteroids (root bacteria) found in the root t'lber- 
cles in certain plants. These phenomena are 
recognized as the only two oiiginal source.? of 
combined nitrogen to the plant, imparting, as 
tliey <lo, compounds directly derived from the 
elementary nitrogen of the atmosphere into the 
general circulation of nitrogen through soil, plant 
and animal. The possibility of making u.se of 
these two natural proce.s.ses, or artilicially repro- 
ducing their results, so as lo render the agri- 
culturist altogether independent of the nitroge- 
nous fertilizer.s now in demand, is an important 
Bpeculativc problem. Indeed, in the case of the 
action of root bacteria in storing up atmospheric 
nitrogen in the tissues of certain plants, the 
process has been practically applied for fertilizing 
the soil by using nitrogen-collecting plants 
either in rotation in the case of annuals, or as 
a mixed crop in the case ol perennials, so as to 
secure tiie results of tlieir action on crops 
that follow or grow contemporaneously with 
lli'em The attenn»t to facilitate this action 
liv means of )mre cultures of root-bacteria 
C' nitragin") has no far not produced sufHciently 
reliable" results warranted to make the use of 
inoculating media of any jiractical value. 
As rcards the other original source of combined 
nitroi'en"to the plant, it has remained for Sir 
William Crookes, in his address before the 
British Association, to declare his belief in the possi- 
bilitv of artilically producing the combined 
nitrogen tor whieii we are now indebted to the 
action of natural electric discharges, whenever 
thev occur in the atmosphere. This he proposes 
to do by utilizing water power to generate an 
plectric current for bringing about the oxida- 
tion of nitrof^en and thereby the produciionmila 
"'cii'emists tell us that the process of assimili- 
tioa in plants, whereby they exhaust the carbonic 
acid of the atmosphere and replace it with 
oxvcren, is necessary for preserving the air we 
breathe in a condition suitable for the requirements 
of animal life, which would otherwise be rend- 
ered intolerable if no such counter-action went 
on and if the process of animal respiration con- 
tinued to exhaust the oxygen and replace it with 
carbonic acid jras. Chemists also refer to nitrogen 
as an eminently inert substance, whose lole as 
a constituent of the atmosphere is as a diluient 
of the oxygen (the two gases existing re- 
«nectivelv in the practically constant proportion 
of 4 to 1) since an atmosphere of pure oxygen 
an.s or even one in which oxygen predoim- 
pat'ed wouW be uusuitable for animal respiration. 
If ■•'•e may be permitted to speculate with Sir 
William (Jrookes, liow, we would ask, ia tbe 
constant ratio of nitrogen and oxygen to be 
maintained in the atmosphere, and the couiposi- 
tion of the air iire.serveJ in ihe most suiMble 
condition, if agriculture all the world over is to 
flourish by the exhaustion of at.'nospheric nitro- 
gen ? Where would be the counteraction by 
whicii the supply of the dilutent is to be kept 
up, and the composition of the air remain un- 
changed, if it is to bi drawn into ih'i i;eneral 
circ ilation of combined nitrogen and never drawn 
out again in the elementary condition ? 
So far, as we have slated, the nitrogen of the 
air has been looked upon as a nentral element, 
and it ap)iears Btrange to the student 
of nature to tiiink of such a character, for 
so valuable a substance, taking jiart as it does 
in the constitution of the higliest organic com- 
pounds. Rut who can say wiiat discoveries have 
yet to be made througu seieniilic research in 
the future, after ive liave seen " argim " eluding 
the search light of ('hemisiry all these many years 
«ince the lirst chemist entered liis laboratory* 
Who knows but tiiat there will yet be an 
exi)lanation of tlie apparentlj' anomalous char- 
acter with which Bcieutilie men invest nitrogen, 
and that we shall learn what would seem to be 
less in-jonsisteut wiih the designing power of 
Nature, that atmospheric nitrogen also plays its 
part in the general economy of the woricl, or at 
least as Sir William Crookes predicts, tiiat it is 
<lestined to do sr), while still subserving its 
jmrpose in maintaining a suitable atmosphere 
tor the benelit of mankind and the inferior 
animal.s, if its presence is indeed really necessary 
for this end '! — C.U. 
INDIAN TFA ASSOCIATION. 
TB.\ FOH rKRSIA— tiUKEN TK.V. 
Tlie Committee considered the question of the 
local consumption of tea referied to in the London 
Secretary's letter of .")ili August anil the sugges- 
tion )mt forward \ty a memoer of the London 
Association that tea xhouKI be p.icked in small 
2-oz. tins and disseminated throughout every bazaar 
in India. Tiie Committee believed that "the im- 
ports of China ami Ceylon teas into India for 
use in the country were not nearly as extensive 
as was apparently believed in London, as a large 
proportion of tea thus imported is re-exported to 
the Persian Gulf and other foreign markets. The 
Secretary was instructed to write to the Bombay 
Chamber of Commerce for particulars of the im- 
ports of tea from China and Ceylon and also 
for the exports of tea from Bombay to Persian 
Gulf ports. The general question of the sale of 
Indian tea in this country was to be fully taken 
up at the next meeting of the Committee after 
consideration of the papers now in circulation. 
Considered letters of the 1.3th, 2Srd, and 29th 
July and 5th August fioin the Secretary, Indian 
Tei Association, jjondon, in connection with the 
American Market Fund. . Tlie reference made by 
Mr. Blechynden at a meeting of the London Com- 
mittee to samples of Green and Oolong teas sent 
from India and highly appreciated in America 
was considered by the Committee. Information was 
afforded by the members of the Committee as to 
their own experience with manufacture of Green tea 
and it was stated that experiments recently made 
proved that it was almost inii)ossible to produce 
tea at all equal to samples sent out, even with 
panning and hand-rolling. In addition to this the 
cost of manufacture was very high. 
