The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-11-07

West. 1t has also formed the soil Of
the great forest areas of fertile region.
in the South with its valleys of won
derful richness. So again to this cause
is the hill and valley region of the East
indebted for its fertility, as well as thai
of the far West and California, those o.
the latter country lacking only irriga
ton to render them the most fertile or
the globe.
So also does the air possess most won.
derful powers of fertilization. By the
constant action of its oxy gen, it is con.
tinually destroying and creating; or,
rather, converting into new forms all
which it is capable of acting upon;
and there are few substances which
can resist the action of this
wonderful agent, which may be
truly called the great builder-up
and the great destroyer, destroying
only that it may again build up. 1t is
the only known source from which
comes the nitrogen of the soil, so indis-
pcnsable to vegetation. Again, the air
carries with it into the depth of por-
Gus soil much. moisture always held
mechanically, and a curious property
of the air is that by an elevation Of its
temperature by about ~ deg. Fab, it
is rendered capable of holding double
its previous quantity of moisture. 1t
descends into the depths of the soil,
and, being cooled, loses some of its
moisture, and with it whatever this
moisture-the universal solvent of Ma
ture-may hold in solution; loses some
of its oxygen, perhaps, and, with it,
some of its nitrogen as balance. Thus
we see how through long ages frag-
ments are eroded from the solid rock,
rolled about, carried by wind and wa
ter. ground in the mills of tie gods,
and at last thoroughly disintegrated,
rest where we now find them form
ing these fertile hill prairics of
Northern Illinois, famous for its dairy
products, its wool, its small grain and
Indian corn. The same forces have
composed the more level prairies Of
Central Illinois, the great corn zone, the
true home of fat steers and swine. Co.
ing still farther south, we come to the
timbered hill region of the State, so ia
nous for its winter grain and its great
wealth of fruit. All were formed by
the same great forces of Nature-from
the solid rock. Those silent but IRE
sistible forces, air, water and frost
formed probably in the order named,
for before there was water there must
have been air, and both air and water
before frost. How wonderful! How
awc-inspiring, the vast epochs of time
that must have elapsed to have brought
about these great results-results which
too many of our farmers are seeking to
destroy, or at least lock up, by slip
shod and uncertain, not to say vicious,
system of tillage. Fortunately, the
last agent mentioned, and the last
created Of these great forces of Nature
mentioned-for heat, that source of all
force, must ever stand alone in awe-in-
spring majesty where it was placed by
its maker-this last force is frost, one
of the greatest blessings ever vouch-
safed to the slack farmer of the North,
and the great and beneticent helper
of all. 1t is frost acting upon the Sec
ond great agent of Nature mentioned;
working silently but surely through the
great ages of the past, that has kept
our soils of the North friable and dis
integrable. Every farmer knows that
q post set in soil liable to heave-
and all close soils, that is, all soils not
composed largely of sand and gravel,
do heave-all farmers know that the
post, If not set below the line of frost,
will gradually, it is true, but surely,
be raised more and more until at last
it may be thrown entirely out upon
the surface. 1t is owing to simple
law of Nature by which water, in the
act of freezing, expands. 1t is this
law that compels the water which finds
its way into the crevices of rock, along
the edges of cliffs, by its wonderful
expansive power, to still force the
mass farther and farther apart, until
at last, breaking away, 1t goes thun-
dering down into the valley below. 1t
is frost. by its expansive force upon
the moisture of the soil, that separates
the particles one from another; ex-
pands and even disintegrates them.
and thus renders them again light and
porous with each succeeding spring.
Thus we see that frost may become
one of the most active agents in
breaking down and pulverizing the
soil of temperate climates. 1t is
thus that frost exercises its most
beneficial action. For this reason
the soils of temperate climates. which
are subject to be frozen in win
ter, are found to be the most fer.
tile on the face of the earth, save
only those in tropical as we'll as
temperate climates that are fertilized
year by year by the overflow of streams
and the deposit of silt. Frost is moi
only a disintegrator,. but, through this
disintegratiOn, and consequent separa-
ton of its particles, one from the other.
the soil is capable. of taking up and
holding as plant food the elements that
are always found floating in that great
reservoir of fertility, the air we breathe;
Through the agency Of the oxygen o.
the air, as before stated, the elements
of fertility contained in. the soil are sci
free. and wait to be taken up as plant
food through the skill Of the farmer,
The knowing. how to, do this is science
that stumbling block sneered at by
the ignorant; simply concise art
which any farmer must understand ,tc
be successful. So, every successful
farmer is in "a greater or less degree
scientific farmer; and the more he
uses its practical application in his la
Dor the more successful will he be as 9
farmer. .Tr By, ~~
Disintegration of the soil, therefore
is the measure of its product as soil
The knowledge how to produce this in
the easiest manner Is science-an ar
cana yet unrevealed to many who cal
themselves good farmers. 1t is natural
ly brought about by the action of air
water and frost, and is kept intac
through the growing season by thorough
cultivation.-Prair Farmer.
Professional Vanity Sacrificing Life,
THERE was a considerable attend
ance of doctors, surgeons and student.
at the Blank Hospital one day. DR.
-, a celebrated surgeon, was to am
putate boys leg, and a brilliant oper
ativn was looked for. 1t was brilliant
1,,,t IL, thu ~, ;1c% ~ - ~,ro ~~e <l -~.ooAc