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Science project idea on the importance of nitrogen to plants.
Nitrogen and Its Importance to Plants- Science Project Idea
How nitrogen may be given to the soil.Nitrogen is found largely in the organic part of the soil, and consequently the addition of plant and animal material will increase the stock of nitrogen.One form of organic matter put upon the soil is horse manure.In some parts of the country, fish which are useless for food are spread over the fields.It is said that the early American explorers found that the Indians placed a fish in each hill of corn. Waste from slaughter houses; guano, the excrement of countless generations of sea birds; cottonseed meal; linseed meal, etc., are useful sources of nitrogen.The nitrogen in none of these plant or animal substances can be used by the growing plant until the bacteria in the soil cause them to decay. Nitrate of soda, of which there are great deposits in the rainless regions of Chili, and sulphate of ammonia, which is a by product of the manufacture of gas, are other valuable sources of nitrogen. It has been known for a very long time that a crop of clove seems to enrich the soil.As a result of this knowledge, most farmers after using a field for various crops for several years plant clover in it.In order to understand this, we must first know that the nitrogen of the air cannot be used directly by plants.Plants may fail to grow because of nitrogen starvation, although the crevices in the soil around their roots and the space around their leaves are filled with air, four fifths of which is nitrogen.Clover and related plants, such as peas, beans, alfalfa, etc., have small enlargements on their roots which are not possessed by /others. These enlargements contain a certain kind of bacteria which have the power to convert some of the nitrogen of the air into a form which can be used by the plant. Several methods have been discovered by which the nitrogen of the air has been made to combine with some other substance, forming a compound which may be used for plant growth.The need for nitrogen compounds during the war, chiefly for making explosives, has caused large factories to be built for the production of nitrogen compounds.Now that the need for explosives has largely disappeared, the products of these factories may be used to supply nitrogen compounds needed for the growth of plants.
Science Project Idea Present diagrammatically how nitrogen fixation works and the products it uses and it produces. Find out other methods that are used by farmers to increase their crop yield.Present them all and how they each work in helping the farmer increase crop yield.
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