St. Landry democrat., 1886-11-27
EFFECT OF MANURE.
now It Develops the Natural Store Of Fer
tility Contained i'll the Soil.

the growth of crops is subject Of much
interest to farmers. The soil itself is
wholly inexhaustible. From the sur
face to the bed rock, and the rocks
themselves, from which, we should not
forget, the soil itself is derived, it con-
tains every mineral element of plant
food and some of the gaseous SUBJ
stances, as carbonic acid, oxygen and
hydrogen, leaving only nitrogen to be
supplied from atmospheric sources,
directly or indirectly. AS long, there
fore, as the earth remains the soil will
support vegetable life to the extent to
which these mineral elements are solu-
BILE and available. This fact is very inl-
portant to remember.
When vegetation is produced and in
course of time perishes and DECAYS, it
returns to the soil all that it has taken
from it and the most of what it derived
from the atmosphere. At first the
original growth of plants was probably
of low order-indeed we have proof in
the remains of the earliest vegetation
found in the oldest fossil bearing rocks,
that the first plants which appeared on
the land which was then recently lifted
above the level of the universal ocean
consisted of MOSES and other humble
vegetation. This was all that the soil
then could produce. But the decay of
this early vegetation in course of long
ages which elapsed before man ap-
peared, gradually filled the soil with
organic matter, which in decay not only
furnished food for the highest orders of
plants, but acted upon the soil itself to
liberate additional mineral nutriment.
AL this is evident to the mind of
thoughtful, intelligent man who has
some acquaintance with the nat
ural history of the world he Ives in.
And all that has been going on during
countless ages of the earth's history
gees on in a proportionate degree when
farmer manures his soil. He adds a
certain quantity of plant food to the
land, but he does more; this de-
caying matter is itself an active agent
OF change in the soil and produces
most useful effects in adding to
or rather developing, its natural store
of fertility, which we have said is Who'll
ly ineXhaustible. And as this action is
notable in light soils, we turn our atten-
ton to this class of soils as illustrat-
ing this Important action in the clearest |
manner, relnarking that all other soils
behave in precisely the same manner
in this respect when they are perfectly
pulverizea and made fine, mellow and |
porous. .-ss.s s..
When manure Or any other organic
matter is mixed with light porous soil,
1t is at once attacked by the oxygen OF
the atmosphere and rapid decomposi.
ton goes on. The decomposition is
much more rapid than it would be in
property possessed by all finely divided
substances of accelerating the oxidation
OF organic matter. An instance and
proof OF this is the rapid decay of of
fensive matter, as carcass of an animal
or night soil, when covered with few
Inches of earth. This action is so COM
plete that the dry earth used in common
earth closets may be utilized over and
over again after short period Of ex-
posure to the air for ten or twelve
times and still remain perfectly inoffen-
sive, and to all appearance as fresh as
when first used.
But during this rapid decay the vari-
GUS gases and compounds produced by
the decomposition act upon the soil it.
self and dissolve it to considerable ex-
tent, thus increasing the available fer
tility of it and enabling the crops to find
a larg supply of plant food of mineral
character. This effect has been exenl-
plitled in growing crops in MANFRED and
soils for the purpose OF in
7estigating this matter. Thus an aver !
lge of nineteen analyses of potatoes ,
grown in this way. showed that the ma
lured plots gave twenty-five per cent
more OF mineral matter, nearly fifty per
,ent. more of heterogeneous matter, and
about five per cent. more of water,
With twenty per cent. less starch than 9
he unmanured ones. The very large
addition to the mineral matter
" ash the crop shows clearly that e
he soluble mineral matter of the "
oil had been increased and it can Il
lot be doubted that this increase was q
Iue to the action of the manure upon u
he soil. Moreover. another fact is ex-
by the large increase in the Sc
itrogen contained in the crop, and that
J that strong nitrifying action occurs m
n the soil when organic matter is mix ~
d with it, this action being due to GER
ain germ or vegetable organism which
rows rapidly in organic matter under
hese circumstances. 1t is supposed BY OF
ONE chemists that the free nitrogen Of
ne atmosphere which is liberated from
IS mixture with the oxygen consumed
| the decay of the organic matter is
self oxidized, in part at least, and sh
itric acid is formed. But, however, ar
lis may be, it is known that nitrates
re very freely formed in the soil in the
resence of decaying organic matter.