214 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
July, 
brought to the soil from the atmosphere. It must be 
borne in mind, however, that the ammonia brought to 
the soil in the dews of every night, not taken into the 
above account, is quite considerable. 
Bouasingault 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 wa¬ 
ter loses its ammonia in filtering through the soil. The 
retentive faculty of the soil has been so often discussed 
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 ac¬ 
tually a supply. 300 lbs. of guano is a large manur¬ 
ing, 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 entire¬ 
ly too vague to warrant much speculation upon the ex¬ 
tent to which it is available to the plant. 
The extent to which ammonia exists in soiis, and 
the conditions under which they yield it most rapidly 
to plants, are subjects in the stud}' of which important 
practical results may be expected to be attained. It 
is immediately important to know if every acre of soil 
of fair quality does contain 3000 lbs. of ammonia, and 
to know how to make this possible stock tell most fa¬ 
vorably upon crops. 
It is very rare that the retentive power of a soil is 
called into full action* it always remains ready to ab¬ 
sorb new bodies that may be presented; at the same 
time small quantities of ammonia produce highly re¬ 
markable results upon plants growing in clayey and 
retentive soils. 
It is an interesting fact, that crop3 of meadow hay, 
clover and peas, grown on a tolerable soil, without ma¬ 
nure, contain far more nitrogen than wheat or other 
cerelians raised on the same soil, with the aid of ma¬ 
nure. In how far this depends upon the structure and 
habits of the plant, upon its ability to assimilate free 
nitrogen, 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 na¬ 
tural 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. 
Breaking Young Animals. 
A story is told of a person who traveled through Eng¬ 
land exhibiting feat3 of horsemanship, and when at 
the residence of a certain nobleman, after he had done 
with bis own horse, he turned and said, “ Now my lord, 
I am now willing to ride any horse of yours in the 
same manner. 71 The nobleman, for sport, had one 
brought out which unknown to the equestrian, was un¬ 
governably stubborn. The man deliberately mounted, 
but the animal when urged would not move. After a 
pause, he quietly dismounted, gave it one severe cut 
with his whip and again resumed the saddle. The an¬ 
imal remained unmovable, but the man retained his 
complete self-control, and got down a second time and 
repeated the blow, but with no better success. After 
the third stroke, however, there was no further trouble 
—the animal moved forward in perfect obedience. 
A great many, doubtless, would have looked upon 
this feat as an exhibition of some particular charm 
which the horseman had over the beast. But instead 
of this, it was one of the simplest operations imagina¬ 
ble, and one which any one could easily perform. It 
was_only necessary for the rider to keep himself and 
the animal cool , and to impress the latter with the dis¬ 
tinct and single idea what the stroke of the whip teas 
for , and the business was done. A single stroke, with 
a considerable pause between, excites an irresistible 
terror and dread ; but a shower of blows would be not 
only unintelligible to the animal, but would excite a 
fury of passion and a feeling of resistance that would 
only increase the obstinacy, and make the matter 
worse. At the same time such a course would have 
only destroyed the self-control of the rider s and it 
may be laid down as an axiom, that he who cannot con¬ 
trol his own temper, cannot properly manage an ani¬ 
mal. 
The writer has applied the same mode of treatment 
in subduing vicious and kicking cows, with complete 
success. Animals, that even the most daring of ordi¬ 
nary milkers would not think of approaching without 
previously cording strongly the hind legs, have been 
completely cured, not like the quack teachers of French, 
“ in six lessons,” but in three milkings. The cow, 
placed in a small yard, was neither tied nor otherwise 
confined ; a cow-hide was placed under the left arm, 
and milking commenced. The instant kick was eluded, 
and an equally instant and severe stroke of the cow¬ 
hide followed. Especial care was taken that the cut 
of the whip should always follow the kick, and never 
but one blow, no matter what the provocation might be. 
If the cow started to run, the same solitary blow 
fell upon her face. At all other times, she was spoken 
to firmly and soothingly, accompanied occasionally by 
a gentle friction of the hand. It required but very 
few administrations of this regimen for the animal to 
understand, very distinctly, exactly what was meant, 
and what the blow was for; and if this is invariably J 
and faithfully attended to. a single milking will com- 
monly be nearly enough *to change the habit, and one 
or two more will completely confirm it. But if the 
