Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1874-07-17
Fertilizers for the Farm.

OUR farmers give far too little atten-
ton to the manufacture of homemade
fertilizers. In many localities no attempt
is made to keep up the fertility of the
soil to any standard whatever, but the
ruinous hand-to-mouth system of feeding
each crop with some kind of concentrat-
ed manure is practiced year after year,
and, as might be expected, the land
grows poorer and poorer, until abandoned
as worthless. We may say, without fear
of proof to the contrary, that no country
or region was ever prosperous for any
considerable time where such a system
is practiced, and it is sheer folly to hope
for great results without preserving un-
impaired the foundation of agricultural
wealth, which is, and ever will be, fer
tile soil. Whether this can be done by
EMPLOYING what are termed concentrated
or commercial fertilizers only may be
mooted question; but that it never has
been done by such means in this country
is apparent to every one who has exam
ined or knows anything of the regions
wherein such fertilizers are most liberal
ly used The old cotton and tobacco
plantations of the Southern States afford
striking testimony of the folly of at
tempting to cultivate land without TAX
ing better measures for its recuperation
than that of applying some slight stimu-
liant to each crop.
! Were it possible to fully preserve the
| fertility of the soil, or even increase 1t
from year to year, by the aid of guano and
similar manures, the question whether
| this is good policy would still remain to
| be decided. We are not to inquire wheth'
er these commercial manures are good,
! bad, or Indifferent, but whether man
] ~ nj n
/ a succession of years. Then, again, is il
] good husbandry to constantly take from
the soil, returning nothing beyond the
actual and immediate wants of the plants
! growing therein? This is the system faI
/ too universally practiced, and the intro
duction and wide distribution of the so
| called commercial fertilizers only encour'
age this hand-to-mouth, starvation style
/ of farming. These concentrated manures
are in the aggregate of immense value tC
the country, but are also curse to agri
culture through a perversion of use. Ii
other words, they are so easily obtained
and applied to crops that the more ra
tional systems of soil culture and theil
healthy development are neglected.
Many years since we stated it was oul
honest conviction, after full investiga
tion of the subject, that there was not {
county in any State of the Union which
did not contain within its boundaries sut
ficient natural fertilizing materials t
keep every acre of cultivated land ricl
in the elements required for the produc
ton of the various crops grown therein
There may be at the present time feV
exceptions, but they are extremely rare
Where land has become worn and desti
tute of the elements required for the sup
/ nj Af MA 70 alamnnfQ n
obtained as a starting point or base upol
which to build up fertility. OF cours
any system of recuperation by what ma,
be termed natural processes will requir
more time than strictly artificial one
and a man may begin with only portion
of his land, adding to this area from tim
to time as suits his convenience,
First of all, one of the cheapest an
most certain methods of restoring fertil
ty is that of blowing under green crops
such as clover, buckwheat, peas, or som
of the coarse and rank kinds of grasses
The plants restore to the soil in their de
cay portion, at least, of the element
which have been taken from the soil b
successive cropping. In the Norther
States the red clover is considered tn
best of all plants for green manuring, bu
where this plant does not succeed, almoS
, any species of varietyo or the pea may b
used instead. In the place of summe
following, or permitting land to lie idl
every alternate year, or even Tor Ions
, er time, as is frequently practiced WheI
, IL is very poor, some kind of crop shoul
.. !. be raised for turning under. BY adop
: ing such system the land would be col
: stantly improved, and very little, If an.
special fertilizers would be required /
, any time. If the planters in the Soutl
, ern States would practice this very sin
: pie and efficient system of rotation, the
could soon save the money which
. present is paid for commercial fertilizer
Lime, plaster, ashes and salt may o
, casionally be necessary to furnish certai
!, elements not obtained in the green croI
plowed under; but these are not eXpe
! sive, nor would they ever be required
= large quantities. There is no land whiC
- has ever been cultivated that cannot
q rapidly enriched in this manner, and
less expense than in applying manu-
direct unless the latter is near at haI
and abundant.
The next most important source OF ~
nure is to be found in our extensive pc
r beds or other vegetable deposits -four
l. near almost every pond and strea
e throughout the country. Many OF tho
deposits are inoxhaustible, and OF inci
h culable value, although 1t appears tn
# few farmers who own impoverished Y
e land adjacent ever think OF using q
Is material for manure. Cold, raw muc
IS as drawn from the swamps, without al
a previous preparation, seldom shows al
, beneficial effects the first season, simp
N because it is not in a condition to be a
d propriated by plants. But when co
o. posted with barn.yard manure, ash'
!. lime, waste lye from soap factory,
If fact, with almost any substance viii
a. will promote fermentation and decomJ
fe oition, il soon assumes a acondition viii
10 renders 1t available as food for plan
10 Near any of our large cities there .
Ln ALWAYS more or less waste materli