The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1861-09-21

eeoOicS olO ShiSh1 iOui- tOAISSNB b1uIOScns
nitogen and carbon, with a sight trace of
silica (sand). Oxygen, HYDROGEN. nitro
gen and carbon unite in various proportions
to produce what physiologists term albu-
men, caseine, starch, DC.
With this basis, we may proceed more
infinitely to examine the philosophy of
growing the various plants we consume.
And as the growing of wheat is the subject
of this article, it is proper now to notice the
various surroundings necessaky to the full
development of this outstanding plant.
Wheat is composed of three per cent. of
potash and for fear of extending this arti-
Gle beyond proper limit. theswriter will at
present only notice. the, substances contained
in wheat, which the sol Of Southern Kan
sas lacks.
A careful analysis of this sol shows that
slick (silica or sand. ST. O.'l and potash
*. o. do not exist in sufficient quantities
TO produce wheat in its greatest perfection.
While the other necessary constituents are
abundant, these two are deficient. Every
farmer who has raised wheat in Kansas, has
noticed the weakness of its stalk. Before
the wheat is fairly ripe, the stalk is SO very
feeble that slight prairie breeze is suffi
cient to "kink'' it, and thus destroy its
firm, cylindrical form; so that whenever the
field is ready for the reaper, many heads
hang pendant beside the parent stalk. The
cause of this weakness is the lack of sand
in the soil. Sand has the peculiar quality
of giving stiffness to the stalks of grains
and grasses. In contact with potash, it is
dissolved in the soil; the fbrous roots of
the plant suck it up, and the organs appro-
pirate it. And what is perhaps the most
wonderful in this connection is, that the
same sand Isl. O.1, which was once SO
readily soluble in water, the moment it is
deposited upon the stalk of the plant it be-
comes imperVious to the most drenching
rain. Were not this the case, the dews,
even, would dissolve the sand from the
stalk, and the plant would lie PROSTATE upon
the ground las would the human frame
without bones" Analysis shows that wheat
straw contains S per cent. of potash and u
per cent. of sand The berry itself, as be-
fore remarked, contains 3 per cent. of pot
ash (omitting the other elements).
The writer sowed some spring wheat,
during the past season, upon piece of
ground where some ashes had been acct
dentally thrown. The wheat straw upon
this spot was much taller and thicker, and
the berry fuller, than upon any other part
of the field.
Our soil in Breckenridge county is rich
in the extreme. and it must not be inferred
that it contains no silica (sand or potash.
But it needs fertilizing with these two in
gradients, in order to produce the greatest
crop of wheat upon the smallest space of
ground. The leafy deposit from the timber
contains all that is necessary for the most
perfect growth of all the grasses and grains
indigenous to this climate. It will be re-
membered that this leaf mold contains
thorough mixture of the ashes that have
been blown from the prairies for the last
leaves of the same period of time. It will
also be remembered that ashes contain fine
particles of sand. This manure is cheap,
and would make our soil much more reten-
tive of moisture, which is desideratum not
to be overlooked in dry seasons. Let any
farmer supply a single acre with twenty
loads of leaf mold (any soil in tbs timber is
mostly leaf mold, excepting in the bed of
the creeks), and he viii find the effects so
well marked as to justify the preceding re-
marks. Land once thus MANFRED will
scarcely need it again in lifetime. Leaf
mold is IN almost inexhaustible stimulant,
not only to wheat, barley, rye, oats, and
the grasses, but corn, potatoes. and vines
of every variety will spread themselves al
most beyond belief, by its application.
The peculiar method of blowing the soil.
the narrowing in of the wheat, &C., are
matters about which practical farmers diff
fer. The writer has learned, by bitter ex-
perience, that il does not answer to plow in
wheat on sod. The reason is plain: the
ibrous roots of the sod are so intertwined
that only about one-half the wheat sown
will ever find its way to the sunlight. And
as wheat is surface plant, it is hardly rea-
sonable to indorse the views of Young
Farmer" who recommends the blowing in
of wheat from two and half to three inches
deep, in order to place its tap-root beyond
the contingency of winter freezing. The
depth to which the kernel is. placed, it has
been found by experience. does not deter
mine the depth to which the tap-root will
penetrate, any more than the planting of a
potato foot beneath the surface causes the
young potatoes to set deeper in the soil
than if planted four inches. The truth is,
as all experience has shown, that all grains
and grasses-corn not excepted should be
1la1.nd neor fbn eurfaca cav IL ipnbao