The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1886-03-05
ARRESTING THE LOSS OF FER
Utility.
(Sn J. C Laus in Country Gentlemea.)

(Sf !. LdrS IN country Genttenle1t.)
will now consider what processes are
at my disposal which may enable me to
arrest or reduce the exhaustion which
has been going on, and at the same time
enable me farther to grow larger and
more remunerative crops.
The means at my disposal are various
/ might employ the system of blowing
in, or feeding off, leguminous crops the
employment of mineral manures, with
or without those which contain nitrogen
or the consumption on the land of
various cattle foods by which the fertih-
ty of other lands would be brought in a
concentrated form upon my own. The
selection of which of these various pro-
cesses will be the most profitable to en-
ploy will depend greatly upon the prices
| can obtain FOR my crops upon whether
there is q demand for meat, and if so,
upon the price which / can obtain for
my fat stock. Flowing in a leguminous
crop, such as clover, is the simplest and
most economical process of increasing
the growth of the succeeding grain crop,
while the disadvantage is, that con-
siderable amount of good food is sacri-
feed, and the land earns nothing for o
whole year. | can, however, feed the
crop by sheep folded on the land, or
can make the first crop into hay and
feed the second crop, giving the sheep a
certain amount of linseed, or cotton cake,
to replace the manure ingredients car.
ried off in the bay.
1t appears that so far as agriculture is
concerned, the source of the carbon of
our crops is the atmosphere, and the
source of the nitrogen of our crops is the
soil, and farther that during the process
of notification the soil loses carbon.
As, however, the relation of carbon to
nitrogen in the soil is very much lower
than the relation of carbon to nitrogen
in crops, the blowing in of green crops
may add certain amount of carbon to
the soil. Still practical experience
throughout the world has proved that it
is those crops only which are rich in
nitrogen, such as peas, clover, etc., that
really increase the growth of succeeding
crops in marked degree. Flowing in
of green crops can, however, only be
practiced where there is an absence of
demand for meat. An acre ofred clover
+judiciously.fed may produce 200 pounds
of increase in sheep or oxen, with very
little loss of nitrogen to the soil. A
large portion of the carbon doubtless
goes into the air, but this loss is more
than compensated by the gain in value
of the animals. To sum up:
1. The restoration of the fertility which
soil has lost during long period of
arabic cultivation can not be profitably
carried ont.
g Crops as large as the soil originally
grew can still be grown upon it by corr
Stunning upon it the produce of other
soils, such as corn, linseed, cotton cake,
ETC., or by the employment of artificial
Dlanures containing nitrogen, potash and
phosphates.
Flowing in certain leguminous crops,
such as red clover, peas, ETC., are under
certain circumstances effective and
economical processes for obtaining in
creased crops. BY none Of these pro-.
cesses do we restore fertility to the soil
but we furnish the crops with larger
amount of food than the soil is compe-
tent TO supply.