The Florida agriculturist., 1885-02-25

Your correspondent w. E. c., inquiries
about sawdust. He need not be surpris-
ed to find it in a sound condition below.
Sawdust is conductorof of heat to change
it's condition, heat air and moisture are
necessary.
To secure the vegetable mould so inn
portant in rendering soil (sand and
clay) fertile, sawdust presents de-
sirable compound for the purpose,
when properly treated, The difference
between humus, ulmine, vegetable
mould, ETC., consists IN their containing
more carbon than wood. To obtain
these compounds, slow burning or de-
cay (cremac0usis) must take place. To
produce this chemical action, heat is nec-
essary-at least 500 to 800 r., with
small supply OF air-a kind of smolder-
ing process. The first element of the
wood to unite with oxygen is the hydro
gen, and quickly the excess OF carbon
shows itself by the dark or charcoal col
or, as is the case when the decay takes
place in the soil; as the oXydation of the
hydrogen continues, the humus, ulmine,
vegetable mould, comes in view. Too
much heat must be avoided, or the car
bon will also take oxygen, and all will
pass to the air as carbonic acid and wa
ter, and nothing but the mineral matter
be left. M
In all manure piles this heat must be
controlled, or you will have the so-called
fire fanged mass, free OF humus and it's
allied combinations, so important to
render sand and clay fertile when they
contain the other mineral elements las
they usually do) that are important for
animal food.
Vegetable matters ina green state pos
sess a aself-destructivep power within them
selves, having the gluten and chloro-
phyle in a moist state. These com
pounds are much more sensitive than
ternary ones. / will compare them to
flesh and fat IN the animal kingdom.
The carbon, hydrogen and oxygen of the
fat will hold together for a while, but
with flesh the case is different. Foul
are not company and they hate eaci
! other, .. g. have tld sHielnieaIE affinity
/ The restless negative nitrogen will sill
away the moment the cohesive power o
| life is lost; hence the rapid resolution o.
flesh in the presence of that all-important
heat.
| With this, hope not tedious expla-
nation, | propose suggesting plan for
w. +. G.. to utilize his thousands of loads
of sawdust, or any one else who has car
bonaceous matter to reduce to humus.
First have q bed of the dust, and on this
thin bed of green matter-weeds of any
kind will answer the purpose-then a
thin sprinkle of fine roaddust or clay,
followed by bed of sawdust, and alter
nate, until your pile reaches some feet.
Soon the unfxed nitrogen will unite with
the hydrogen, and seek its old home in
the air in the form Of ammonia, which
when freed, will be trapped by the clay.
The resolution of this vegetable matter
sets free the locked-up sun-heat it con-
tanned, and the heat induces the hydro
gen of the wood to seize oxygen and pass
to it's old condition (water), and the de-
sired combination of humus and veget-
able mould comes in full view; and this
is the great restorer of life to a worn-out
body of sand and clay. When applied
from a pile of sawdust, or the turning
under of growth of vegetable matter,
the result is the same. Life and motion
commence, ammonia, carbonic acid, and
moisture from the air are all drawn to it
and held, and the roots soon find and
transform water, carbonic acid and am
monia into living organic matter, and life
again comes out of the inorganic king
dom without the use OF flesh and blood,
as Ihave so often stated in your valuable
paper.-A. r. s., IN Country Gentleman.