Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1882-09-13
Slate as q Fertilizer.
rApaoar read ar the meatiuvs Of the Board % Agri
e IltGrc by q. n. STeuser Of Cls,ietOn.


GRATED ani-aescends upon the earth to
refresh il. cause it to be productive. We
have night and day. Were it all day our
crops would burn up. Were 1t all night
they would never mature. To one class
OF animals he gives the power, or knowl
edge, that they must in the fall prep1re
themselves for the vigor of winter. The
squirrel gathers his nuts for food during
the long winter. To the soil he gives food
that will sustain it. Man comes, takes
from the soil this food, the soil soon he
comes impoverished. 1t then becomes a
question for US to answer, how can we
give back to the soil the fool man has
taken from it and the creator designed il
to haveo We all admit Wa cannot con-
tinuallv Ske from the soil and return
nothing. Still may the soil produce. I'll
is IN almost universally conceded fact
that soil teaches upward, not downward,
Tor we find productive soil only As far
down as we till it. Did the soil leach
down the deeper we went the better the
soil would be. 1t makes little difference
whether the soil food is taken from the
soil in crops or it escapes because of i'm
perfect knowledge. Forty years since the
fever patient was treated wi h quinine AMI
brandy, most Of thom diol Now they ar
treated with ice, most Of them recover.
We are continually gaining in knowledge
few years ago the farmer knew he must
not plant potatoes On certain piece OF
land. Experience had told him he would
get no crop. Agricultural chemistry now
tells the farmer that potatoes require
potash, ana there is no potash in the soil.
Science gives to the farmer that knowl'
edge for s. per year in a good agricul
ural paper. 1t would cost him many
days hard work and an outlay of many
dollars to have found out by experience,
Are there gases in the soil? If so, they
are there for use, not ornament. Is il
not our duty to retain these gases for the
benefit of the crop? The creator wisely
provided means 70 save these gases.
There is a continual change going on in
all things The streams that were quite
large when | was a boy are now nearly
dried up. These water ways bring clay
in sediment and deposit it upon sand, and
make alluvial soil. Now does the de-
posting of clay upon sand increase the
productiveness of the soil? Is there a
chemical change, and are gasses given
Oh llat are nourlsulhent W Tue cloP' VI
does the depositing Of the clay upoa the
sand fill the pores Of the sand and proven,
tue escaping Of the gas and thus keep it
for the benefit of the crop Oae fact We
do know, that soil thus treated is very
productive. Inc valley Of the Hudson,
Llmolle, Onion and other rivers prove
this. If, then, the point is demonstrated,
that depositing clay upon sand, or coarse
so !, does increase It's productlVehesS' we
naturally ask why? Nhat Is mere III cray
| that Will act as food Tor the SOIL AS you
wish to raise potatoes upon SAND soil you
have no potash IN the SOIL Inc crop needs
potash. 1t IS plain you must put potash
upon ihe soil III order to nave crop.
Clay, or ground slate, which is clay IS five
per cent potash, as analyled by the ooFrl
ol agriculture at Washington the agrlcuI-
tural colleges ut burlington anu Amherst
his potash IN the slate does oy actual eN.
perience not on y increase the qltntlty OF
the crop, but also Its quality. fiaster IS
put upon soil, with benehcent results. We
once used pure Nova Scotia plaster, then
Maulius plaster and stone brought from
Mtnius, NV York, was used with the
same benelitent results we no" nave a
Nova Sco.m plaster tEat Is aiu'tert,eA
with marDle' ana o'her VINE stones
ground with the plaster sun oehehoeh-
results are tound. Even grolAd IIm''-.n H.
l. sad to be eill'acioua TO SOIL o-aIi'H-
upon the theory tnat ground rock ms UP
| the pores OF the sand, anu thuS ke'Pln2 IN
the soil the gases Tor the bench OF Inc
or p. linen Will any Sro1ni rock be-
beneIlcent.' 1t then ground rock pa. uPo'
he son Will act rs lertlIII7r by tela'0.
lnT the gases Tor tue crop thop II we
can IN" u rock tllaI has WIlhIn IL an
element OF rh'micll hoorlShmeht lot tn
on an IL IS rIutnS N'Iuaoo US me
'hanlc9l lertIllH'r, then It Is evident Ioa
hl, substance Is oenthceh'' chem'caIlV
and mechanically. Many pracllcaI men
Will learn from th'7 lh'ory' Iha 9'o"nd
STATE Is i @oud ferllIlAer Is no. 10 ,r'y
mere theory II Is an absolute 't'.. L n'S
been demons rated ina. eanl soil INA! mas
mad a coating OF ground ''a u 'P'i'd To-
i. has m're than douoIcl ''i '. ''
ne q1aIlY muoh nhn' III a.
IN theory does me %itnho'dlh9 . ~ .
gases IN the SON oehGl, the crop? II no.
only the beneh. derived from ground 'lme
stone or plaster
II the grounl i'm stone pro 'uceH win
the gases OF the sou Il cneln'ciI chahge'
and gases are gwen OIL That dement, me
soil. what Is this food thus pr I>ed' II
the placing upon the SOIL any ground rock
does cause the soil to retain Its gases as
food for the plant, ami we nave IN grouni
SLATE an article that mas as sad both
chemical and mechanlcai heIps' is II NOT
/ bt4t f,.T r., n NJ