The Northwestern standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1885-1886, 1885-12-19
THE SOIL. OF IRELAND.
Robbed and Impoverished Through Elk
portation, Of All the Produce the
Soil Produces.
Irishnen Deprived of Shelter by the
Wholesale Destruction Of For
est Growth.

In a late issue OF the Dublin Freeman
the following article appeared showing
how the native soil of ireland is I'M
poyeriShed by the taking from it of it,
natural elements of life and strength:
| We have seen, atleastfapproximately
how immense has been the robbery
from the soil of Ireland of that i'm
p0rtant and necessary constituent,
phosphate Of lime. There is another
constituent Of soils equally important,
viz. potash, of which the country has
been deprived for even q longer period
in large quantities. Nearly every kind
| Of rock. and all soils, contain potash.
| 1t is often the most abundant mineral
constituent in large family of plants,
The sClanacee, which includes the po-
/ tato and tobacco, and it's abundant in
trees and other plants. In the wool Of
the sheep it is found IN large quantity,
| while it forms q portion of the flesh Of
all animals. Both granite and trap
rocks contain potash III the mineral,
| felspar, common TO both; but rocks
| take long time to become soils, some
times thousands Of years, SO that the
supply of potash or any other mineral
from granite and other rocks could not
be depended on. So if the soil is robbed
of certain necessary mineral constitu-
ents it may take centuries before its
fertility can be practically restored.
We say practically, because a capitalist
can, by unstinted expense, restore a
piece of land to fertile state But
this is not practical agriculture, which
looks to profit from its operations. Pc
fash forms from 20 to 81 per cent. OF the
ashes OF oil our cultivated crops that
is, Of the ashes Of those parts of them
used as food for man. The potato tuber
contains GIG Of potash; pea pods, 45.4;
beans, 42.5; oat grain, 81 rs, and so on.
NO one can therefore ignore the inn
portance Of this mineral. And yet there
IS scarcely any artificial manure, except
kalnit. that contains any potash; and
until few years ago there was q gen
eral neglect in returning any to the soil
from which it was continually taken.
,et- us see the yarrou1lgr -;a which,
the soil of Ireland has been robbed
this valuable Constituent.
When Ireland was first colonized and
f8I TIC sssf5 ssta, hy the
greater part Of it was covered with a
thick growth of Wood-in fact it was.
till about 200 years ago, among the best
wooded countries in the world. Heating, |
in the first chapter of his history says:
An cheud ainam tugadh ar EirinIl, inis
ma bh-fiodhbhadh eadhan, oilean ma
g-coillteadh. The first name that was
given to Erin was Tnis ma bh-
that is, Island Of the |
Woods" Mention is made frequently I
in our early annals of clearances of I
woods for the purpose of cultivation.
But Notwithstanding these clearances,
it was not till Queen Elizabeth's time |
that the wholesale destruction of forest |
growth began to be made. This was |
continued by the English in the time of
James, Cromwell and William, in order /
to deprive their Irish opponents of |
shelter during the operations of the /
English armies against them. The
Irish poetry Of the sixteenth and seven
teenth centuries contains frequent I
references to the destruction
of the forests. Now, what was the re-
suit of this destruction, which was
mostly consummated by fire2 In the
first place, the accommodations of thou
sands OF years Of valuable organic mat
ter was dissipated into the atmosphere.
But not only did this happen to the vo-
latile OF organic matter of the trees de-
5troyed, but also to the greater portion
Of the potash they contained. Potash
differs In this respect from most other
mineral substances, that many Of its
volatilize at high tenn
such as is obtained by setting
dle to a number Of trees cut down and
wing on the ground. This is why in
the production of pearl ash the heat
must be moderated if the ashes left are
70 contain any large proportion of po-
-ash. Accordingly the destruction
Of her magnificent oak, elm,
ash and pine forests by fire was the first
method by which the soil Of Ireland
was deprived of its potash. The amount
Of this deprivation it IS impossible now
to estimate, but it must have been en-
1rmous. Land was cleared of timber
n quite different way in England and
scotland. so that the potash was not
ilssipated. When it is remembered
haiti is to the eenturied growth OF
leaVy timber that the black earth of
CENTRAL Russia owes It's present great
sertliitJ, that the same may be said of
many parts of America and of other
the loss effected by the rapid
destruction, principally during the last
century, of lreland's tree-growsh can
]e better understood
We next come to the loss of potash
;aused by the continuous expectation
# lire stock. a habitat OK contains In /
lis whole carcass the following per-
.entages OF various matters: Mineral
natter, 4.s6: dry heterogeneous COM
pounds, 1885, fat, 1a.I: contents of Wis
era, SIS: water. 5; waste. ea5. we
mar reckon that carcass weighing 800
pounds viii yield ! pound of potash.