Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1879-11-05
The Young Farmers Catechism.

nure
Anaccr-Everything requisite for their
thrifty growth that is not supplied to them
by the soil or the atmosphere in sufficient
quantity.
Question-Then on soils where crops come
to a thrifty maturity naturally, is manure
required ?
Answer-No as long as crops grow and
yield well no manure is needed.
Quesiion-Why, in naturally fertile soils,
do crops ever need manuring2
Answer-Because successive crops taken
off the ground carry away with them the
nutritious matter from the soil until the
kinds which are least abundant there be-
come exhausted.
Quesiion-What substances necessary for
plant growth are least abundant in our soils,
and therefore most likely to be exhausted ?
Answer--Of minerals, potash and phos.
phoric acid; and of aerials, the compounds
of nitrogen.
Question-Ilow are we to know, when
crops fail for lack Of nutriment, which thing
is lacking?
Answer-By experiment and reasoning.
Question-Ilow by experiment
Answer-By separately dressing strips in
the same field with each of the three sorts
generally lacking, and other strips with
mixtures of two and of all three of them,
and observing the result.
Question-How by reasoning?
Ans0er-We may reason by inference
that where field has long been planted for
successive seasons with crops that draw
severely on potash Gas potatoes, clover or
beans), potash is likely to be short there ;
and the same with plants that draw hard
on phosphoric acid, as do the cereals. And
we may reason also that, as heterogeneous
compounds are very apt to leach out, be de-
composed, or form insoluble compounds in
the soil, those compounds may be needed to
to some extent every year by any crop,
after they have once been exhausted.
Question-In what other ways may we
gain information on this subject?
Answer-By studying the writings of men
who are skilled in the matter; also by visit.
ing the farms of successful cultivators and
seeking oral instruction from them.
Question-When all three of the items of
plant food named are required, what do we
call the fertilizer that will supply them
Answer-A complete manure.
QuestiOn-What is the most complete
manure for any plant2
Answer-A manure formed by the decay
OF that plant in such way that none of its
elements are lost or become insolube.
Question-How is such decay effected?
Answer-By breaking the plants into
small fragments and keeping them moist and
warm.
QueStion-Is there better way?
Answer-Yes; by subjecting them to di
gestion in the stomachs and bowels of living
animals.
Question-Why is this better
Answer-Because the digestive fluids OF
animals act more rapidly and more com.
pletely to decompose the plants subjected tc
their action than mere warmth and moisture
Question-Does manure made in this way
contain anything more than what the plant:
require for their growth ?
AnsUer-Yes as they contain everything
OF which the living plants were composed
they necessarily contain all the minerals ant
aerials taken up by the plants in theil
growth. If only three of these are want
ing, all the rest is superfuous.
Question-Absolutely unnecessary?
Answer-This can hardly be said, because
they may be presented to the plant in
more available form than it would otherwis,
find them in the soil. This is one reason
why barn-yard manure when carefully and
completely saved and properly applied t.
land, is generally found better than an arti
fetal compound containing potassic, phos
phoric aud heterogeneous chemicals. Another
reason for the superiority of good barn
manure is that the superfluous parts, though
not needed for plant food, may in their de.
cay while in contact with the soil SO &C
upon its elements as TO set free potash
phosphoric acid and perhaps nitrogen from
any insoluble combinations they may hay,
formed there. At any rate, experience ha
generally shown that good barn-manure i
not only the most complete but also tn
most effective fertilizer for farm crops.
Question-What proportion of potassc
phosphoric and heterogeneous plant food doe
good barn-manure usually contain
AnsUer-Less than ten per cent.
Question-Then, an artificial manure ma
be made from these chemicals much lighte
and very much less bulky than barn-ms
nure, and yet nearly as effective in the pre-
duction of crops2
Answer-Yes; and this portability an,
ease of application Gas well as their free
dom from the seeds of weeds) in a consid
cradle degree offset the inferiority of sue
manures to barn-manure in other particulars
Question-Have chemical fertilizers an
other advantage2
Answer-Yes; they may be used seps
rately in those cases where a complete ferti
izer is not needed, either on account of tn
presence of one or two sorts in sufiicien
quantity, or for crops that can supply then
selves sufficiently with single element, a
is the case with clover in respect to nitrogen
Question-Can it be said, absolutely, tina
no artificial additions need be made TO soil
for purposes of fertilization other than tn
three named
Answer-Not absolutely. 1t is possibl
that some soils may be in time exhausted q
their available lime, magnesia, sulphur
acid, or iron. And besides this, some sui
stances, such as gypsum (land plaster
quicklime, and common salt, often a,
powerfully, though indirectly, in furnishin
food to crops. These indirect fertilizers al
supposed to act chemically upon the soil !
way which sets free potash, phosphori
acid or heterogeneous plant food that befol
had been held locked up in insouble form
SO that plant roots could not take them u
Question-How should fertilizers and m
nures usually be applied to the land ?
Answer-As finely divided and as even
spread and mixed with the surface soil
possible