The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1886-11-20
Feet OF MANURE.
avelOps the Natural Store of Fer.
ility Contained in the Soil.

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 sub
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 im-
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.
hat 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 APP
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.
All this is evident to the mind OF
thoughtful, intelligent man who has
some acquaintance with the nat
ural history of the world he YES in.
And all that has been gony on during
countless ages of the carth'S history
goes on in a propOrtionate degree when
Il farmer manurcs 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 inexhaustibc. And Us 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. remarking that all other soils
behave in precisely the same manner
in this respect when they are perfectly
pulverizcd and made fine, mellow and
porous.
When manure or any other organic
matter is mixed with light porous soil,
it is at once attacked by the oxygen OF
the atmosphere and rapid dccomposi-
ton goes on. The decomposition is
much more rapid than it would be in
the atmosphere owing to a peculiar
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 uscdin common
earth closets may be utilized over and
over again after short period Of eN-
posurc to the air for ten or twelve
times and still remain perfectly nofen-
sye, and to all appearance rs fresh as
when first used.
But during this rapid decay the vari-
Gus gases and compounds produced by
the decomposition act upon the soil IL
self and dissolve it to & considerable eX-
tent, thus increasing the available fer
tility of it and enabling the crops to find
larg supply of plant food OF mineral
character. This effect has been eXcm-
pllied in growing crops in manurcd and
unmAnured soils for the purpose OF n
vestigating this matter. Thus an aver
age of nineteen analyses Of potatoes
grown in this way showed that the na-
nured plots gave twenty-five per cent
more OF mineral matter, nearly fifty per
cent. more of heterogeneous matter, and
about FIVE per cent. more OF water,
with twcRty per cent less starch than
the unmanurcd ones. The very large
addition 10 the mineral matter
Or ash OF the crop shows clearly That
the soluble m neral matter OF the
soil had been Increased ANA II can
not be doubted that this increase was
due to the acton of the manure upon
the soil. Moreover, another fact is eX-
empliiied by the large increase in the
nitrogen contained in the crop, and that
is that a strong nitrifyng action occurs
in the soil when organic matter is mix
ed with it, this action being due to cer-
tain germ or vegetable organism which
grows rapidly in organic matter under
these circumstances. 1t is supposed by
some chemists that the free nitrogen of
the atmosphere which is liberated from
its mixture with the oxygen consumed
in the decay of the organic matter is
tself oXidized, in part at least, and
nitric acid is formed. But, however,
this may be, it is known that nitrates
are very freely formed in the soil in the
presence of decaying organic matter.
Thus the indirect effects of the manure
upon light and well pulverized soils
may be almost as considerable as its
direct result in adding plant food to
them.-N Y Times.
A buffalo robe placed over mattress
with light soft quilt over it, and the
sheet placed over that, will be found TO
be very comforting to an invalid. Also