The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-03-25
Fertilization. as related to the use OF
Commercial Manures.

Fertilization, as related to the use of
Commercial Mnnures.
Their merits were 50 well established
now that an extensive system of farming
would seem impossible without them par
ticularly when it is proposed to apply
them in connection with barn-yard man.
ure. Their use had resulted from what
chemistry had revealed as to the nature
Of the constituents entering into plant
life. More credit was due to Prof. Lie
dig US the pioneer in these discoveries
than to any one else. In 1910 he rec
commended the use Of guano, when not
pound Of it had yet been seen in Europe,
although Humboldt, in 1914, made men
ton OF it in a report about the Chincha
Islands, and its use by the Peruvians. 1t
is true that the ancient Romans attached
value to bird manures and made some
agricultural use Of ashes, bones, gypsum,
lime, mari and other mineral substances,
but their essential relations to plant life,
as now understood, were not known, and
their successful application to agricultur.
al purposes is striking illustration of the
value which correct modes of inquiry,
with well defined questions, have over
mere experiments without correct ap.
probation Of the agencies and principles
involved in the operation. An analysis
in agriculture, as in other sciences, ind.
Gates the most economical course for ex-
perments. Our most recent improve.
ments in farming cannot be claimed to be
following, or rotation Of crops, irrigation,
drainage, or the culture of deep rooted
plants, such as luccrne or red clover, be.
cause those systems date back thousands
OF years but real progress consists in a
more efficient use Of their best features.
Science to-day aids the farmer in drawing
more correct conclusions-he does not
depend alone on isolated results, and when
results apparently conflict, the science Of
to-day steps in to explain them and refer
them to conditions before overlooked
Improved farm implements have done
much to aid agriculture, but the main
advance is due to a better knowledge
regarding tho relations of the life of the
plants to the soil, to the air, and to the
various relations of these three agencie!
to each other, besides due appreciation
Of the mutual dependence of the ANNA
and plant life in ordinary farm manage
ment. Modern, rational agriculture rec
ognizes as its basis the necessity of ;
strict restitution to the soil OF those sub
stances which the crops have distracted
10 prove the existence of these relations
and to teach how to comply with theil
requirements, is the work of scientific in
vestigators Of the present generation.
And the wide use now made of CONNER
cial fertilizers is the best proof of tn,
faith-perhaps involuntary sometimes
which farmers have in the value of sci
entifc investigations. One result of tn,
use of these fertilizers is greater lati
tude in the choice Of crops, so that the
be adapted to the local market, length o
; the season, or tho cultivator's tastes O
J means. They are important also in sup
plementing the waste of home manure
still allowed by some farmers, and ais
in view of the unsolved sewage problem
, and the relations they bear to specia
crops for industrial purposes.
; Barn.yard manure is, very properly
} the main dependence in ordinary farm
ing. The value depends largely on tn
, kind of food consumed by stock, and @
the absorbents used in holding the secre
e tions. The annual sale Of any considera
] BILE quantities Of farm produce makes
4 farm poorer, unless the ash constituent
G Of these products are replaced in som
form oil fertilizer-cyen yard manure bt
d comes practically poorer, and a chang
t in the fertilizer is equivalent to a chang
in the composition of the soil. Tn
n change may be slight for a single yea
r but in time its becomes serious. Rot,
= tioD Of crops, following, Or any improve
l. means for manipulating the soil, ma
y postpone final exhaustion, but cannot pr
|, vent it; mineral plant food made availi
n BILE by dlsintegration Of the soil, h,
d proved to be very uncertain factor
Ie farm calculations. The concentrated fe
IS tilizers will supply what may be lackir
d even in stable manure, but exactly VIII
N a farmer should buy will depend mu,
90 on what he raises to sell. A chemic
= analysis will aid in determining Ii
question. In Europe on large farms,
y, book account is sometimes kept as to h
t. amount Of plant food distracted. #
in benefit Of liberal use of commerce
he manures in connection with stable ma
ure is well illustrated by the large Gro
q 50 frequently grown in England and OF
of er parts Of Europe, The leading cersi
r. abstract large amounts of phosphoric &
he id from the soil-(wheat, so per cent
en- the grain and 23 per cent for the stray
nv corn. So Der cent for the grain and