Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1868-07-10


wuv "A that farmers differ 30 ma
teriaiiv IN their views as TO the ctiicac.
and economy of the application 0
common ooarse salt as manuret
Science and theory have long sine
clearly demonstrated that L must be bene
f,cial ynder certain conditions and In Ger
tain situations; practice demonstrates tha
n has bcen and Is a profitable application
under certain conditions and on some soils
vvhen snnlied AZ certain intervals ana times
some Of our best and most practical
farmers have tried salt applied In various
quantities. 10 various crops, with complete
success; Others, equally practical, have
tried n and af(er obtaining no benefit from
Il. condemn IL as a humbug.
Fortunate il Is for US, who expect TO
cain Knowledge from the experience OF
others that science and scientific agricul-
tnrists can reconcile these apparently
onnosite facts. Before proceeding farther
10 the investigation into the cause of these
faiiires / wish to lay down four axioms,
viz. Isl. That the ashes left after the
bnrninq of n plant, is composed of the in
organic part or soll-food of the plant; I'd,
That this food or inorganic part can only
he obtained from the soil, or through II by
the application of some manure or fertil-
izer 3D., That this inorganic food con-
sists of from ten to twelve inorganic sub
stances 4th, That each species of plant,
in order to secure full crop, must have
its proper amount in each substance, and
will. no matter how much may exist in
the soil, appropriate but little OF. no more
than its particular portion. Keeping these
facts In remembrance, let us investigate
some of the causes which led to these fail
ures, all of which, had we fair and exact
analysis Of the soil, could be accounted
for.
We know that salt Is composed mainly
of chlorine and soda, both of which enter
into the composition Of all or nearly all
plants and grains Now, soils may con-
tain enough of both chlorine and soda, in
some other form, TO supply the wants of
the plants, as for instance, chloride of lime
\ or sulphate of soda. In this case, accord
'''ing TO our fourth axiom, the application
of salt would produce little or no sensible
effect. If, on the other hand, the soil
should contain too small a portion of
chlorine or soda to supply the wants of
the plant, the application of salt would
produce good effect.
y
neighbors concluded to try salt as top
dressing for oats, and applied 1t broadcast
before the drill, at the rate of two and one
half bushels per acre over nearly all his
field, and found that it increased the grain
both in yield and weight and the straw
was brighter, making better winter prov
ender. This satisfied him that salt was
good application for oats and in order to
see whether it was good for wheat, he gave
the field another top-dressing of salt, at
the rate of two bushels per acre. At har-
vest he could detect no difference between
the crop on the portion to which the salt
was applied, and that which had no other
stimulant than farmyard manure. He had
made great discovery, viz; that salt was
good for oats, but bad for wheat Such
conclusion is just the reverse of the facts
as ascertained by careful experiment, for
salt has always been found more beneficial
TO wheat than to oats. Perhaps your
readers will ask, why then was il so in his
caseY Simply because he fell into the er-
ror, too common among those who apply
concentrated manures or fertilizers find
ing that one application was good, he con-
cluded that another of the same substance
would produce like effect. We must re-
member that the amount of any one inor-
ganic substance removed by one single
crop is comparatively small, hence one
apphcatlcation may supply enough for the
wants OF several successive crops, aud of
course the second application would pro.
duce no effect until the first was entirely
exhausted. This is not only true with
salt, but also of phosphate of lime, guano,
DC, nut as these two stimulants contain n
greater variety of inorganic matter, they
do not so soon cease TO show any apparent
action OF the crops. In many cases one
dollars worth of salt will produce a great
er increase in the crop than two or three
times this amount expended in some other
inorganic manure.
There are other considerations which in
nuence more or less the success or failure
OF an application of common salt. We
know that in the salt marshes near the
seashore only particular classes Of vegeta
ton will flourish, showing that some par
ticular products of the soil are more
benefited by salt than others, and 80 il Is
with our cultivated crops, for although al
ot them contain aportion of the inorganic
substances which compose common salt
yet some contain and require much larger
amounts than Others, and if the supply i.
not kept up, will sooner exhaust the soil
II common salt only benefited the croI
by the direct inorganic food which il fur
nished, we could easily ascertain what
crops would be most likely to be benefited
by il; but the salt acts in other ways. Il
salt is applied TO soil rich in other alkalin,
substances, it causes change to take
place among them, and thus benefits the
crop, without actually entering into the
circulation of The plant.
In order To show the effect produced bN
common salt, will make a few extract.
from a list containing the result of sevcra
experiments, which l have before me
When applied at the rate of one hundred
and sixty pounds TO wheat, il increased
the yield of grain four hundred and sew,
enty-two pounds per acre, ut a cost OF
ntteen cents per bushel, and the grain
weighed two pounds more per bushel
When applied TO barley at the rate o
three hundred pounds per acre, il increased
the yield six and half bushels per acre
But these experiments must moth taker
as certain index of the action of sal
upon these crops, for its effect upon diff
ierent soils is by no means regular, an,
TINS elect can only he ascertained by ex
pertinent; but there are few soils whicI
are not benefited by it.-SARsFIELp, i,
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