The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1881-04-21
Green Manurilg.

THrRE are farmers living to-day who
doubt the advantage of green manur-
inc. They say that they cannot see
what rood it Will do TO turn clover
back to the soil from which it has de-
riveI its nourishment, for 1t cannot re-
turn more than it has taken. Now II
the plant derived all its nourlShment
from the soil this would be true. But
the ease is far otherwise. All that the
plant actually takes from the soil re-
mains as ashes after the plant is burnt. |
1t must be thoroughly burned so that
no charcoal remains. for charcoal IS |
carbon. and carbon is derived. not from |
the soil. but from the air, or more cor |
rectlv speaking, from the sunbeam. |
The proportion varies in different |
plants. but on an average about one
nineteenth of a plant is derived from
the soil. Not more than this OF the
clover plant Hence when the clover
is plowed under and Incorporated with
the soil eighteen-nineteenthS of 1t Is
pure gain.
1t should be remembered that organic
bodies or compounds are made up
almost entirely OF four elements,
| carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen ana
oxygen. How does the plant Obtain
these? Plant food to be available must
| be in liquid or gaseous condition, not
| solid. Hence no food can be obtained
from the soil unless through the agency
| of some other element. Carbon is de-
rived from the carbonic acid of the sun
! beam, principally through the agency
| of the leaves. which decOmpose the
carbonic acid, appropriating the carbon
| to the building up and nOuriShment OF
| the plant, and giving off the oxygen
| for the benefit OF animals. Some car
| bon is carried into the soil and taken
| ND bythe roots of the plant. But car
! bon in the soil is valuable chiefly as an
| absorbent of nitrogen. it is well known
| how important factor i'll the problem
of plant life nitrogen is and how hard it
| is to keep it in the soil or anywhere
| else In the compound of ammonia the
nitrogen is absorbed and held by the
carbon of the soil. Hence by green
manuring we gain not only the plant
food added to the soil. averaging about
nineteen times the amount taken away,
but by Incorporating carbon in the soil
we provide way to retain the volatile
ammonia for the future building OF
the plant.
That the plant does not derive all it's
!; food from the soil is provable by propO-
stions so nearly self evident as almost
which can leave no doubt OF the truth
of the proposition. The soil is mineral
for it is produced by the disintegration
f of rocks. The rain and storm and sun
shine crumbed the rock perhaps a
thousand years ago, perhaps only yes
terday, to form the soil. Hence it is
mineral Now if the plant derived all
its food from the soil it would be min
. eral and nothing else. There would be
= no difference between the vegetable
y and mineral kingdoms. But instead o.
: this, the vegetable kingdom takes car
bon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen
= and with little silicon, aluminium
q phosphorus. magnesium or other min
= erals, and the result is the vegetable
q plant.
Another advantage of green manurins
4 is that it improves the mechanical text
ure of the soils This is accomplished
:, in two ways. First, the roots penetrate
, to a considerable depth, chewing tn
= soil and not onlv breaking it up an'
= pulverizing it in this way, but whel
= they decay furnishing outlets for water
). thus securing drainage. Second, whel
- the tops of the plant become incorpo
rated in the soil in any way they max
a it more loose and friable This is
70 very important consideration and on
), very often overlooked.
Again, in some unexplained way
. vegetation enriches the soil by shadin
= it. board laid on a piece of groun
4 will increase its fertility in the sam
- way. How this is done has never bee
Il explained. alt oagh it is pretty certai
-, that the probeni >vlL be solved befoT
q long. Some OF the best agricultur;
a writers assert that if the straw We
n hauled from the threshing machine an
N N spread on the ground so as to shade i
=; it would enrich the land more by shat
IA -, ing than by the amount of plant foe
~ added to the soil by its decay. We a
n know that the rays of the sun will bun
Vi the fertility out of land and hence W
turn under one year what was on Il
~ ~ top the year before. By practiciI
e green manuripg we succeed in shadir
-, the land and bene filing it in this way.
~ Not the least of the advantages
Ns green manuring is its availability. Tai
W for instance, clover. Any one that h
~ land can raise clover and pasture b
n 2 hogs, horses. sheep or cattle on it al
~, ,H yet add to the fertility of the Ian
~ ~ whereas he may not be able to add
~" the land what it needs of fertility in Il
W. shape of stable or barn-yard manure,
~: may not be so circumstanced that
w 9. could pay for commercial fertilizers.
ny One item in the value of clover as
nv NJ fertilizer is almost invariably owe
looked. The roots penetrate to a gre
- depth, often five or six feet, and bril-
'l.S -: up from these hidden stores the great
u part of its nourishment derived frC
uo , the soil. This is returned to the surfa
.Iu .f of the ground where those plants who
1i : :, roots do not penetrate to a great dep
y. can easily obtain it.--JOh1 N. StGhI,
Aeu IYesEeall RaL1nI