The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1875-07-07


a decomposed or rotten and soluble
condition-that is capable Of being
dissolved by water-we have O fer s.
tile soil, one that will highly remu-
nerate cultivation, and that under
proper management may be presery-
ed unimpaired, and handed down
rich heritage TO posterity. and
noble monument TO the memory of
the ancestor. The organic matter
must be present, because it is the
food of the plant, and without its
food it can not be nourished. It is
true that plants draw some Of their
nourishment from the atmosphere,
some more than others, the quantity
depending on the structure of the
organs of the individual but it is
from the soil that the main supply
is derived, and il the plant food be
not in the soil, the plant can not
grow. 1t is impossible for it to grow
without the matter necessary to the
composition of its roots, stalk, leaves
flower and fruit. Something can not
be made out Of nothing, by any pow
er less than that Of the Creator.
When at His fat things existed, be
Impressed upon them certain laws,
by which they must be governed I'M
til He DEGREES their humiliation.
The rules and conditions of exist
ence, animal and vegetable, are fix
ed, certain and memorable, and. con-
eeption, termination, nutrition, and
all the phenomena of life must pro-
coed according to the order of ma
ture. Yet while these truths are
generally conceded and acted upon,
in the matter of the cultivation of
the soil, they are practically ignored
and disregarded. All over the land
we see men ievying contributions
from their fields year after year,
with constantly decreasing returns,
without an effort to replenish the
source of supply. It is passing
strange that we so stubbornly per.
sist in this fatal extortion upon our
fields; and have often wondered
when traversing the country at
seeding and planting time how the
farmer could have the heart to pillow
and to delve when it was absolutely
certain that the coming harvest must
be less than the one preceding, and
his oppressed and injured land one
more crop the poorer, and less able
to reward his toll and maintain his
family. Some close their eyes
against the cold reality of the situa-
ton, and trust to ''a good season.
and others continuously submit their
fields and there crops to Providence.
A favorable season, without plant
food, can no more make a good crop,
than can pure water without grass
ard grain make fat OK and Prov
idence never iuterferes in behalf of
an improvident farmer who is either
too indoIent to use, or too ignorant
to understand the means which has
been provided for the Improvement
of his soil, and the nourishment of
his crops. 1t is in farming, as in
war; Providence is always on the
side of the heaviest artillery, by
which we understand Lee, mot Ma
poleon, as is sometimes sadly to
have meant that man must help him
self before he expects much aid from
on high, and with this construction
there is no irreverence in the remark.
AS to the chemical constituents of
organic matter it is unnecessary in
this place to say any thing. We are
writing briefly for practical pnr-
pose, and it is now sufficient to state |
a practical criterion Of Judging as to
what is organic matter within the |
meaning of the term as here. used : !
Any substance. or matter, be it |
stem, stalk, leaf, flower or fruit, reed, |
twig, weed, or trunk of a mighty for
est tree; be it flesh, fish or fowl
blood, hair, feather, wool or hoof, or |
bone; be it the exerement of ami
mails. or any other existing matter
if it now has, or once had. animal or
vegetable existence. in any form or /
shape, when placed in the work shop |
of plants, that is in clay, sand aud |
lime, and there properly reduced by /
the Glow but sure action OF certain |
natural forces. it will certainly, I'M
der the hand of culture again become
ga thing of life or in farmers
familiar phrase, "will make manure y
And we repeat in direct form, if |
organic matter is not present in
sufficient quantity, it must in some
way be supplied, or profitable crops
can not be grown; and if it be now
present, as crops are taken, it is of
course removed, and must be in
some other form returned, or IN the |
course of time all the crop food will
be exhausted, the clay, the sand and
the lime will be all that will remain,
and production must cease.
The sources and means of supply
Of organic matter, and the best
mode of saving and applying it, may
be, ut some future day, made the
subject of another brief paper. Some
Of these are sufficiently apparent
but others are not generally under
stood, and a discussion OF them
might result in good to some one
whose Investigations have not been
to such an inquiry. It is
now well ascertained that certain
plants themselves may be made to
largely to fertilization.
and most wonderfully when aided
by certain chemical agents.
the science and the art Of agri- |
culture are not only Of the first mo-
nent TO the State and the individu-
II, but their study is most delight
ful, elevating and ennobling. Our
English pastorals present in fascin-
ating pictures the joys of country life.
There is In this much of sentiment.
ality that but few in fact ever feel
but in the pursuit Of knowledge of
The laws and rules Of action of ma
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