How To Obtain Ammonia

It has beon dcnionstrntod in exporiments can-fully conducted over a series of years, in England, that the wheat plant, during the course of its growth, botween seedtimo and hurvest, destroys ainmonia. That is, a largar quantity of ammonia is Sreqtfired to perfect a erop of wheat than the entire erop, both straw and grain, COïltains when maturod. It was iound that to insuro a successful erop of wheat required the plant consumption of five times as ruuch ammonia as the erop grown will yield. Now the wheat plant is dependent almost entirely for its supply of ammonia upon what it can aliénate of it from the soil in which it grows. Purther experiments showed that olover, peas, beans and turnips do not destroy nmmonia during their growth, but obtain what they need from the atmosphere, and retain it in their tissuos. Henee it comes that one of the chief means of supplying any deficiency of ammonia in the soil for flhe production of wheat is to bo found in turnmg under green crops of clover or peas, or burying tho tops of the turnips, beans, etc., left on the land. On a farm, therefore, whcre wheat or barloy is grown extensively, the soil soon becomos exhaustsd of ammonia, unless that is suppiied by rtificisil means, either through the feeding of stock, in order to supply manure to tho soil, or the rotation of crops, that, not destroying, but rather attracting ammonia from the atmosphere, and retaining it, help to add to the soil. An average acre of clover or peas contein in roots and tops about eighty pounds of ammonia, equal in value, for a wheat erop, to twelve dollars. Whether this clover erop be plowed undfer a a green erop, or out and fed to aniinals, and afterwards returned in the 8hape of manure to tho soil, it would result in giving precisely tho same amount of ammonia. But the roots contain the lásKost proportion of ammonia, and these comd not be used as food tbr the stock. Still, if we grow clover as a renovating erop, cut for two years, and feed out fche tops to stock and afterward return the manure so made to tho land, and together with it plow up, and so destroy and subject to decomposition the roots of the clover, we shall obtain a sufficient amount f ammonia in the soil to manuro a heavy erop of wheat or barley. Henee it is evident that the success of the grain-grower (for barley, oats and corn require nearly as much ammonia in ■ the same way ag , wheat) will bo mainly dopondont upon two things - either his ability to make amends for the loss of tho ammonia destroyed by the grain crops, or to grow alternately crops of clover or peas, turnips, Jfcc., in order to furnish the ammonia partly through their attraction of it from the atmosphero to the soil, or the turning