The Rural New Yorker 
The Business Farmer’s Paper 
Vol. LXXIV NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 27, 1915 No. 4296 
Weekly, One Dollar Per Year 
Postpaid 
Single Copies, Five Cento 
Published by 
The Rural Publishing Co. 
333 W. 30th Street 
New York 
THE NITROGEN PROBLEM. 
The Limiting Factor in all Agriculture. 
A CONTRAST IN GROWTH.—“How yellow and 
sickly-looking the corn appears on the north 
side of that field yonder, and how healthy and 
bright green it is on this side/’ "Yes. this half of 
that plot has been sup¬ 
plied with a fertilizer 
containing plenty of ni¬ 
trogen. while the north 
side has received no ni¬ 
trogen other than that 
w li i c h was normally 
present in the soil. 
Plenty of nitrogen must 
be present if the crop is 
to r e s p o n d .properly 
Speaking of nitrogen, do 
you see any difference 
in those two plots of 
Timothy just this side 
of the corn?” “Why, 
yes; the one this way 
appears much thicker 
and taller, also much 
darker green in color, 
while the further plot 
is short and yellow in 
color, and without much 
body.” "You have told 
the story correctly, for 
the field this way which 
shows such a luxuriant 
growth has been top- 
dressed with an abund¬ 
ance of nitrate of soda 
twice during the early 
Spring and Summer, 
while the second plot 
has received no addi¬ 
tional nitrogen. These 
are but two illustra¬ 
tions of many around 
us which show conclu¬ 
sively that nitrogen is 
one of the strongest 
limiting factors in crop 
production.” Such was 
the conversation which 
took place one .June 
afternoon last Summer 
as I was accompanying 
Irving L. Owen, man¬ 
ager of the College 
Farm at New Bruns¬ 
wick, N. J., on a trip 
about the fields and 
plots of the N. .T. Agri- 
cu 1 tu ra 1 E x p e r i m ent 
S t a t i o n. Such pro¬ 
nounced results accom¬ 
panied by so emphatic 
a statement naturally 
led me to analyze the 
nitrogen problem more 
thoroughly, especially in 
its application to other 
phases of agriculture. 
s’liii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiimiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiuiniiH mu, mi, mic = 
NITROGEN. 
11 Every plant must H 
|| have it. 
PROTEIN. 
|| Every animal must 11 
have it. 
r ...• i mi t ii i hi i iiiiiiii mu ii i nut ini hi || mm iiiiiuiiiiiiiimiiif' ;£ 
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliilliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinimim,in,,,i m|||| f 
Nitrogen, as you 
know, is that elusive 
particle of matter which the chemist calls an ele¬ 
ment, and to which he gives the name (N). It is 
an element which is hard to get and still harder to 
hold, and consequently, it is expensive. In fact, 
nitrogen, in the form of fertilizers and protein in 
feeding stuffs, is the most expensive material which 
the farmer has to purchase. Nitrogen exists in the 
air and also in greater or less amounts in the soil. 
Soluble forms of nitrogen are constantly being pro¬ 
duced in the soil, by the action of nitrifying bac¬ 
teria. It is by the action of these minute organisms 
that nitrogen is continually changed over into a 
form in which it can be utilized by the plants. 
NITROGEN AND PLANTS.—Of the three ele- 
MATURING LEGHORN PULLETS ON AN ALFALFA RANGE 
CORN WITH HEAVY FOLIAGE. DUE TO ABUNDANT NITROGEN. Fig. 77 
ments which go to make up a fertilizer, nitrogen, 
potash, and phosphoric acid, nitrogen has to do es¬ 
pecially with the health of the plant and the proper 
formation of protoplasm, which is the living matter 
of all tissue. It is due to nitrogen that well-nour¬ 
ished plants show a bright green, luxuriant growth 
and color. The potash goes more to the making of 
the stalks and to give backbone to the plant, while 
the phosphoric acid goes into seed production. Ni¬ 
trogen is available for fertilizer in three distinct 
forms. First, nitrogen which is quickly available 
and useful for immediate results. Second, nitrate 
of ammonia which is more slowly available, but 
just as efficient. Thirdly, there are the less soluble 
and cheaper sources of 
nitrogen, such as tank¬ 
age, fish, etc., which 
are never as efficient as 
the more soluble forms. 
The best commercial 
fertilizer c o n t. ains a 
combination of all three 
of these sources, hence 
making a continual sup¬ 
ply of this most import¬ 
ant element available. 
NITROGEN GATH¬ 
ERERS. — Eliminating 
chemical fertilizers, the 
nitrogen problem can lie 
largely solved by the 
frequent use of legum¬ 
inous crops, such as Al¬ 
falfa, clover, cow peas, 
etc. These little plants 
get the name legumes 
from the fact that on 
their roots are found 
small nodules, w h i c h 
contain minute organ¬ 
isms which take nitro¬ 
gen from the air and 
give it to the plant. It 
has been proved by ex¬ 
periment that Alfalfa 
not only yields a great 
supply of hay rich in 
nitrogen, but if t h e 
stubble or sod is turned 
Fig. 70. under, the humus, to¬ 
gether with the nitro¬ 
gen present, is just as 
efficient for the growing 
of a good crop of corn 
on the land as if a com¬ 
plete corn fertilizer had 
been used. Aside from 
this fertilizing value, 
there is considerable 
protein in the cured Al¬ 
falfa, which makes it a 
very valuable stock 
food. Clover is also 
very valuable for hay, 
as well as a soil improv¬ 
er. By the ability to 
take nitrogen from the 
air, legumes are able to 
grow luxuriant foliage 
and heavy growth with¬ 
out depleting the nitro¬ 
gen in the soil. 
COVER CROPS.— 
Again, the nitrogen in 
the soil can be main¬ 
tained by the growing 
of suitable cover crops 
such as clover, vetch, 
and even wheat or rye. 
All cover crops tend to 
take from the soil nitro¬ 
gen in soluble forms 
which otherwise would 
be wasted. They take 
this nitrogen into their 
tissues and hold it until 
such time as they are 
p 1 o w e d under, after 
which, as the vegetable matter decays, it becomes 
available for the next year’s crop. These legumes 
add to the stock of nitrogen already present in the 
soil, by taking nitrogen from the air. Observation 
shows that the growth of all crops, with the excep¬ 
tion of legumes, is limited by the minimum amount 
of nitrogen present; lmnce the necessity of appro- 
