Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1882-01-12
COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS.
Essay Read before the Farmers
Institute at 81. CIairsville, Dec.
20, 1881, by Hon. W. N. COWden.

Essay Read before the Farmers
J Institute at 81. Clairsville, Dec
20, 1881, by Hon. W. N. COWden
docs the use of Commercial Fertil-
ICES pay hereT Us the question you hav,
asked me To answer | answer No =
Yes. This you say is rather an indefi
mite answer. Well so it is, and wheth
Ell the use of commercial fertilizer,
pays here or not, depends on variet,
of circumstances, such as the kind O.
soil, the kind of crop to be raised, the
price of land, locality Of land as to mar
ket, and more than all on the skill
caution and brains of the man using
Them. 1t may be that in answering
this question l will "tread on the toes
of some agents for fertilizers Ifso my
apology must be that took at this
Question from different standpoint
which, perhaps, may account for oul
Opposite conclusions. Besides, these
Institutes were originated for the pur-
pose of threading on farmers toes" and
learning them, or rather have them
learn each other, where are the safe
and where the unsafe places for toes.
| My subject is one not suited to en-
tertain popular assembly and will
try to make it less irksome, by avoid
ing as much as possible all chemical
terms and reasons DC. and also prom
Use you that it shall be short; for, as
Josh Billings said about sermons, ''if
a man cannot strike lie in 20 minutes,
he either has bad augur, or he is bor-
ing in the wrong place"
twill, perhaps, help to answer this
question to inquire what is fertility p
How is it lost and how restored? Fer
tility is the. presence in the soil, Sn on
available form, Of all the elements of
plan. food Chemists tell us that
there are essential elements. viz
Potash, Nitrogen, Magnesia, Phosphor-
ic acid and Sulphuric acid. The pres
ence of each one of these elements in
some form or other and in some degree
or other, is necessary to the production
Of every plant, and in the absence of
any one of these elements no plant can
grow or even live. There are other e;-
ements that the plant feeds upon and
will grow better with them, but can
grow without them. Lald has lost its
fertility or is exhausted when. by bad
farming, or by constant taking off and
not paying back, We reduce or destroy
these essential elements.
The farmer must recollect that when
he sells 1000 bushels of wheat, accord
ing to the tables prepared by Professor
Wolff, of the Agricultural Academy of
Hohenheim, be sells % lbs. of nitro
gen, 81 lbs. of potash, 2 lbs. of magne
sia, s lbs. OF phosphoric acid and ID.
of sulphuric acid. Ifhe sells 1000 lbs.
of wheat straw, he sells 8 lbs. nitrogen,
5 lbs. Potash, l lb. magnesia, lbs.
phosphoric acid and ID. sulphuric
acid. If we take corn as another ex-
ample, when we sell 1000 lbs., we sell
l6 lbs. OF nitrogen, 8 lbs. Of potash,
l ID. of magnesia, 81 lbs. of ofphosphoric
acid and one tenth of q lb. of sulphuric
acid. Or take tobacco. In every 1000
lbs. sold we sell 46 lbs. of nitrogen, "a
lbs. of potash, 20 lbs. of magnesia, 4
lbs. of phosphoric acid and lbs. of
sulphuric acid. By way of palenthe-
sis, let me here say that this last analy-
sis shows that no farmer should raise
tobacco, as it is more exhaustive than
3 successive crops of corn or 4 of wheat
l believe you in Belmont have driven
its production south Of the National
Road and into corner of the county,
but don't drive it any farther, as we |
don't want any more across the line.
Having defined what fertility is ana |
what exhaustion is, let US enquire how |
best to retain fertility or restore lost
fertility. 1t is evident that if land |
produces paving crops, there is no need |
for commercial fertilizers, and the use
o. them will not pay. How to keep
our land fertile is more important
QUESTION, than how to make them fer
tile. Good farming is a cheaper way
to retain and increase fertility, than
the purchase of fertilizers. BY good |
l mean the intelligent use of
the best tools, ploughing the right
depth and at the right time, thorough
ly draining and finely pulverizing the
soil with judiciOus rotation of crops
and the pasturing or the plowing un-
der of clover and other grasses. Such
tillage sets 10000 chemists at work,
fertilizers in the soil, ex-
tracting them from the air and drawing
them from the rainfall
But how will regain lost fertility
the most cheaply? By the use of fer
tilizers. But what kindf In some in
stances the cheapest and best, because
quickest way, is the use Of commercial
fertilizers. In the following instances
| would unqualifiedly say that such
fertilizers will pay:
Where land is worth $40, $75 or
5000 per acre and near large and good
N arket, as Bellaire or Wheeling, an in
.ensive Isystem Of agriculture must be
in order to pay q satisfactory
per cent on the investment-the larg-
est crops must be produced and more
than one crop per year taken of In
This case the farmer keeps but little
stock, makes but little manure and has
10 depend on commercial fertilizers,
and when wisely and scientifically ap-
piled, they pay large per cent on the
But the farmer. says,
what do 1 know about science2 How
will know what elements of fertility
are deficient in my soil, and when /
learn the elements deficient, how am /
going to learn how to restore them?-
Will take the word Of the vender of
fertilizers, who always hos
q panacea for all the ills that soils are