Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1876-05-04

DIAMOND CITY, M. T., MAY |, 1876.

tine the tndisputcd master of the soil. and
1t ,aS given up its secrets. The food OF all
plants is essentially the same. On being
buned in fire they are resolved into carbon
lc ;cid, water and ammonia, and these same
substances constitute tie principal TODD OF
all plants they also feed upon lime, potash,
soCh, magnesia, sicum, srlpatcs and phos-
phacs. Ihc ashes OF vegetables were proba-
blythe first fertilizers ever added to the soil
ny man. Then came barn-yard manure,
tnebcst ofall enrichcrs of the soil yet known
to man--containin@ all the clcmcnts of
ri;nts In the winter feeding Of animals il
lasbcen demonstrated by experiment. that
i3a!ithc dry substance OF the fodder Will APP
}e%l lii the manure, and that this residue
WillCOntain four-tiiths of all the nitrogen
and nearly all the phosphoric acid and pot
ash hat was in the food when Given. Iur-
hips are great cnrichcrs of manure, for thev.
Ike dover, collect the potash from the soil.
and consumed hy sheep and cattle, is given
back again with triliin@ loss. Haln-yard
manure is much more valuable for some
plants than for others. II is Indispensable
to the successful growth of potatoes: but is
less useful to the bean than to the pea.
Narl is a natural mixture of clay and car
Donate Of lime, sometimes containing sand
and other impurities. Il has benN used as Il
fertilizer from ancient timce An En@iish
statue Of the time of Henry III. gave every
man right to sink q marl-pit on his own
land.
Lime is the oxide of the metal calcium.
and supplies only one OF the constituents of
plants. Limestone rocks occur in every geo.
GRAPHICAL epoch, and are widely distributed
over the earth. The cora! builds its NINA
rctS and towers. and ali the beautiful many
colorcd shells OF the sea are formed of the
carbonate Of lime. The principal varieties
of li'ne.@ie: First, chalk; second, oolite :
third. compact limestone; fourth, crystalline
limestone; fifth, doiomitc; sixth, statuary
marble from Which PraXillcs, Michael An
gelo and Canoya have fashioned yorms of
such wolderous beauty That they will cx-
cite the admiration Of men until the end of
time.
ing power within itself, it aids the decompo-
sition OF all kinds Of vegetable matter in the
soil, corrects any acidity in the organic SUBJ
stances. and by the decomposition of vari-
Gus salts prepares and digests the food for
plants.
Bone-dQst contains only those substances
which ere valuable additions to the soil, and
particularly rich III the phosphates. If@rass
land is reproductive. it is easy to ascertain
if a deficiency of fphosphoric acid is the cause
by the application of a little bonc-dust, and
noting tle effect. Bone-dust cannot be prof
itably applied to wheat, oats, or rye, unless
late sowl and backward, when phosphates
will be Of great benefit. Upon the tulnip
crop. however. the benefit derived from TIE
use of bul-dust is the most marked and I'M
mistakalle. The use of bone-dust is of re-
cent origin. The first machine ever erected
for crushing bones commenced work IN
YORKSHIRE, England, in 1911. 1t is said that
the bones of 1.-The six hundred" " and the
other solliers who fell in the Crimea We're
broughthome to England and ground into
dust to fTtilze l4er fields and meadows.
Guano was used as fertilizer by the Pc
r1lyians ;ges before the conquest Of Pizaro.
4 law was enforced by the Incas forbiding
any one o visit the guano islands during
the breeding season of the sea birds; and
woe to hm who Killed one Of these gulls at
any time Its value as an cnricher of the
soil depends mainly on the amount Of am
monia, soluble and insoluble phoaphates and
alkaline ,alts that it contains. Owing to the