244 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
bonate of ammonia. We hardly need stop here 
to adduce facts to prove that ammonia acts fa¬ 
vorable to vegetation. Every farmer knows it. 
Some trials made by Ville, are, however, too 
interesting to be passed over. He caused plants 
to grow in chambers, to the air of which he 
added a small quantity of ammonia. He found 
that the addition of 4-10,000 of ammonia to the 
air, produced a result apparent to the eye after 
a few days, and thereafter becoming more and 
more considerable, making the vegetation luxu¬ 
riant, and giving the foliage a deep green color. 
The highly important fact was fully proved by 
him that the amount of nitrogen in plants 
grown under these circumstances, was far 
greater (almost the double) than in an equal 
weight of the same kind of plant which had 
grown in the ordinary air. 
The fact that ammonia exists in the atmos¬ 
phere has been known for a long time, and sev¬ 
eral attempts have been made to determine the 
amount therein. The results of different exper- 
imentors are very various. Those of Ville are 
the most recent, and have been conducted with 
such care, and on so large a scale as to give 
them the preference over all previous ones. He 
found the quantity to vary between 31 and 16 
parts in 1,000,000,000. In 16 experiments the 
average was found to be 22 parts in 1,000,000,- 
000. In the article to which I have had access, 
he does not communicate the circumstances 
causing these differences, but they are probably 
to a great degree due to meteorological changes. 
How they might have been affected by rain, fog 
and dew, will be seen by the experiments of 
Boussingault, which I here communicate. 
Boussingault has investigated the amount of 
ammonia contained in rain water. Since the 
forms of ammonia found in the atmosphere are 
very soluble in water, it appears that a rain 
would wash them out of the air and carry them 
to the soil. This is found to be the case to a 
great extent. Boussingault’s experiments were 
conducted in the country, at a distance from the 
abnormal atmosphere of large towns, and the 
water falling during each rain was collected in 
5 to 8 separate successive portions, and the am¬ 
monia content of each separately determined. 
He always found that the first portions of rain 
contained the largest amount of ammonia, the 
quantity decreasing, and at last almost but not 
quite failing entirely. He also found that when 
an interval of but a few hours elapsed between 
two showers, the quantity contained in the first 
portion of the second shower was always 
greater than that yielded by the last portion of 
the first rain. After long-continued dry wea¬ 
ther the ammonia was more than when frequent. 
When the fall of rain did not exceed 2-100 of 
an inch, the ammonia formed 311,000-1000,- 
000,000. A fall whose depth was between 
2-100 and 4-100 in. contained 121,000-1000,- 
000,000, and between 4-100 and 20-100 in. 
70,000-1000,000,000, between 20-100 and 1 
25-100 in. 45,000-1000,000,000. During one 
rain of If hour in August, ’53, commencing at 
44 p. m. after ten days of dry weather, fell 54- 
100 in. water; about If- galls, were collected 
and contained in the gall, (wine measure) 8-100 
of a grain, Troy, of ammonia ; nearly the half 
of this was collected in the first sixth of the 
shower. Two days afterward it began to rain 
at 74, A. Ji., and rained gently till 11, a. m. ; 84 
in. fell; about 2f gall, of water were collected, 
the average content of which was only 2-100 of 
a grain per gallon. Of the total amount, more 
than the half was contained in the first fourth 
of the rain, more than 4 in the first eighth. 
The total quantity of ammonia was less than 4 
that found in the rain of two days before. At 
6, p. m., of the same day fell a sharp shower 
lasting 4 hour. The collected rain was about 
1-3, and the ammonia was 4-5 that of the morn¬ 
ing rain. The reason of the small amount of 
ammonia in morning rain is, doubtless, that the 
dew of the preceding night had washed the air 
to a great extent, while between 11, a. m., and 
6, p. st., evaporation went on rapidly, carrying 
the ammonia again into the air. Boussingault 
was able on several occasions to collect suffi¬ 
cient dew (4 gallon) to determine its ammonia. 
He found that body present in greater propor¬ 
tion than in rain. He also collected atmospheric 
water during fogs, and found in it as much am¬ 
monia as in dew, and on one occasion the water 
contained so much that it was detectable by the 
ordinary tests. Boussingault remarks to the 
effect that “ these facts explain themselves, by 
the nature of the carbonate of ammonia which, 
doubtless, is the form in which the greater part 
of the ammonia exists. This carbonate is vo¬ 
latile and very soluble in water. Formed in or 
upon the soil, from decay, &c., it continually 
passes off into the air as vapor, and it is clear 
that it will be taken up by rain, dew, &c., and 
brought again to the earth, and that rain will 
contain more when it begins than when it 
ceases. When the rain is over, the carbonate 
vaporizes again, and indeed faster, according as 
the temperature is higher, and the physical and 
chemical properties of the soil favor evapora¬ 
tion. There thus occurs a perpetual exchange 
of ammonia between the air and the soil.” 
From the 26th May to the 16th Nov., Bous¬ 
singault examined all the rains, dews and fogs 
which could be collected. On a surface of 268 
sq. ft. he collected 462 gallons of water, which 
contained a little less than 14 grains of ammo¬ 
nia, a rate of a little more than 5 oz. per acre. 
Admitting as much as this to be actually brought 
within reach of the plant, it is but a small con¬ 
tribution to the growing crop. An acre of 
wheat yielding 30 bushels, contains nitrogen 
equivalent to 30-35 lbs. of ammonia, or 100 
times the amount brought to the soil from the 
atmosphere. It must be borne in mind, how¬ 
ever, that the ammonia brought to the soil in 
the dews of every night, not taken into the 
above account, is quite considerable. 
Boussingault has made numerous analyses of 
spring and river water, with reference to their 
ammonia, and finds its amount exceedingly 
small, except in cases where it might naturally 
be looked for in unusual quantity. It hence 
appears that the atmospheric water loses its 
ammonia in filtering through the soil. The re¬ 
tentive faculty of the soil has been so often dis¬ 
cussed in your paper that it is now unnecessary 
to recur to the subject. As a consequence of 
it, ammonia accumulates in the soil to a certain 
extent, though to what extent is not accurately 
known, as the experiments made upon this 
point have been incorrectly carried out. In 16 
recent analyses of soils, I find an average of 14 
pts. of nitrogen in 10,000 of soil. Were this 
all ammonia, as some have assumed, and as is 
probably the case, it is equivalent to more than 
3,000 lbs. per acre in a depth of 6 inches—a 
very large supply, if it be indeed actually a 
supply. 300 lbs. of guano is a large manuring, 
yet can yield not more than 60 lbs. of ammonia; 
and if this amount be doubled the crop is often 
spoiled from excess. It is plain, then, that our 
knowledge of the state in which nitrogen exists 
in the soil, is entirely too vague to warrant 
much speculation upon the extent to which it is 
available to the plant. 
The extent to which ammonia exists in soils, 
and the conditions under which they yield it 
most rapidly to plants, are subjects in the study 
of which important practical results may be ex¬ 
pected to be attained. It is immediately impor¬ 
tant to know if every acre of soil of fair quality 
does contain 3000 lbs. of ammonia, and to know 
howto make this possible stock tell most favor¬ 
ably upon crops. 
It is very rare that the retentive power of a 
soil is called into full action ; it always remains 
ready to absorb new bodies that may be pre¬ 
sented ; at the same time small quantities of 
ammonia produce highly remarkable results 
upon plants growing in clayey and retentive 
soils. 
It is an interesting fact, that crops of meadow 
hay, clover and peas, grown on a tolerable soil, 
without manure, contain far more nitrogen than 
wheat or other cerelians raised on the same soil, 
with the aid of manure. Tn how far this de¬ 
pends upon the structure and habits of the 
plant, upon its ability to assimilate free nitro¬ 
gen, or appropriate the ammonia of the soil, 
upon its slow or rapid growth and maturity, its 
greater or less expansion of root and leaf, must 
be decided by future investigations. 
But this article has already reached such a 
length, that some remarks that might be made 
upon the natural supply of nitrogen through the 
nitrates , may be omitted, more especially as it 
is highly probable that this source of nitrogen 
is very insignificant under most circumstances, 
and our knowledge of the subject is certainly 
very limited. S. W. Johnson. 
Munich , Bavaria , May, 1854. 
- - • • •——- 
DOMESTICATION OF THE CAMEL IN 
AMERICA. 
TnE natural history of the camel, showing 
that it is the animal of all others best adapted 
for the transportation of burdens across the 
deserts lying between the Mississippi and the 
Pacific ocean, is the subject of a phamphlet just 
issued by the American Camel Company, now 
being organized in this city under a State 
charter. Apart from the commercial object 
which this essay is intended to promote, we re¬ 
gard it as an extremely valuable and interesting 
contribution of zoological science. The author, 
Mr. Edward Magauran, probably knows more 
about the camel than any other man on this side 
of the Desert of Sahara. He seems to have 
read and studied all there is to be found about 
the animal in books of travel and natural his¬ 
tory, and to have collated the facts described by 
original observers with great care and judg¬ 
ment. 
Of all animals, the camel is the most ancient, 
the completest, and the most laborious slave. 
The whole species is enslaved; for none are 
known to exist in a wild state. Properties, 
which are denied to other quadrupeds, are 
possessed by this stately animal, and in their 
fullest extent converted to the use of mankind. 
It feeds on thistles, on the stunted shrubs and 
withered herbage of the desert, and can pass 
successive days in total deprivation of water; 
thus seeming as if purposely designed by nature 
for the most cheerless and inhospitable regions. 
It is exceedingly fond of the huge succulent 
leaves of the cactus, a plant which abounds in 
the table-lands of Texas and New-Mexico. 
Brackish water, upon which other animals will 
not thrive, is as acceptable to camels as the 
water of the purest streams ; a most important 
quality, which, among others, fits it for travel 
in our western deserts, where vast expanses 
are to be met with, either wholly destitute of 
water, or dotted with saline pools. 
The camel attains its maturity in its fifth 
year, and lives about forty-five years. During 
its whole long life, from the time it leaves its 
mother, which is in about one year from its 
birth, it never ceases to be used as a beast of 
burden. 
The Bactrian camel will carry eight hundred 
pounds on long journeys. Immense numbers of 
this variety are bred in the Tell of Algeria, a 
region of country which is isothermal with the 
table-lands of New-Mexico; and it may there 
be purchased for eighteen or thirty dollars. 
The Arabian camel, with only one hump on its 
back, will carry six hundred pounds. The 
dromedary stands in the same relation to the 
Arabian camel that a thorough-bred racer does 
to a cart horse; and, of course, is never used 
for carrying heavy burdens. Its habitual pace 
is a trot, which it is able to sustain at about the 
same speed as the ordinary trot of a horse. 
Both the Arabian camel and the dromedary 
are to be found in Algeria, and the other Bar¬ 
bary States. 
In Algeria, and Northern India, the camel is 
used for military purposes. Field pieces and 
field hospitals are carried on its back. 
Like man, the camel adapts itself to every 
clime; nature enabling it to endure with equal 
fortitude the extremes of heat and cold. Tt has 
