Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1857-08-19
farmers 99epartnent,
From the C puntry GcntleH an.
MANURING, RAINS. DROUGITS, &c.

1t is obvious from the remarks which we
meet with occasionally, both in conversation
and in reading, that there;is not as yet any.
thing approaching TO- a, general or at least
unioersat agreement among farmers as to
the proper depth fot!tte deposit of'manures.
Some tlikk and write as it the natural ten
dencX Of most nianurcs was to rise in gas
eous form to the surface. and that they ought,
/, therefore,'to lie plowed in deep to prevent a
: too ready escape in the form of a gaseous
'exhalation. Others, again, talk and write
as if the natural tendency Of most manurial
matters was to sink into the soil, or even to
leach away; and flat, therefore, they should
be;applied at the surftcc or within few
inches Of it. Tho one party fix their atten-
tion upon the risk of loss by evaporation,
and the other on the risk of loss of the fer
tilizing substances, by their soaking away
beyond the reach of the roots and spongioles
of plants, and by magnifying one or other
. of these risks, and shutting ou: of view or
Understanding the opposite one, the exist
ing differences OF opinion on the subject are
the result.
Moderate or udicious men on either side
will be ready to admit, we presume, that
plants will be- most benefited by manures
which give out their strength in the stratum
of the soil containing the largest amount OF
rootIcts and Spongiules. As the depth at
which the greatest mass ot those feeding
mouths is To be founl, differs i'll different
plants so ough. the depth at Which the tcr,i-
liZcrs of these different plants may be most
adv;.ntagcousty deposited. Those fertilizers
s which depend mainly on water for diSs"ir-
ing them, or preparing them to be taken up
, blythe feeding mouths of the rootrs. should
be:pMced,a little above the level where the
bulk of the small roots is to be found and
those. again, which depend mainly on heat
Ito evolve their ammonia or other fertiliznS
: constituents in, a gaseous form, should be
placed a little below the level of the mass
of roots, so that in each case the strength
of the several terti!izpg substances would
have to pass through the stratum in which
the largest, quantity Of feeding mouths is
usually located.
The above consideration may do some
thing to harmonize the existing differences
of opinion and practices upon this subject.
There is yet another consideration which it
might be well to ponder in connection with
these differences. Nature has provided both
for the descent and the ascent of all the
;dissolrsd portion Of. whatever fcrtiIizing mat
ter there may he in The soil. When the
surface is saturated with moisture, the dis
solved food Of plants deseends, and when
the surface is dried by'heat, then the liquid
which is evaporated by the soil aud by the
plants upon it, brings up with it whatever
dissolved manural matter the rains had car.
ried down. Nature in this way has provi
ded for constant circulation, upwards and
downwards, of whatever tertilizmg matter
may be already at any time dissolved and
ready for the use of plants. Hot days and
droughts bring it up, rains carry it down
and so the roots catch share, whether pas
sing upwards or downwards.