The Osceola times., 1886-11-20
EFFECT OF MANURE.
uow IL Develops the Natural store Of Fer
tiiity Contained In the Soil.


The indirect effects of manure upon
the growth of crops is a subject of much
interest to farmers. The soil itself ia
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 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 aud available This fact is very i'm.
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 a low order-indccd we have proof in
the remains Of the earliest vegetation
found in the oldest foss bearing rocks,
that the first plants which APP cared on
the land which was then recently lifted
above the level of the universal ocean
consisted of MOSES and other humbla
vegetation This was all that the soil
then could produce. But the d, cay Of
this early vegetation in course OF long
aces which elapsed before man APP
peared. gradually filed the soil with
organic matter. which in decay not only
furnished food for the highest orders II
plants, but acted upon the soil itself to
iiberate additional mineral nutriment.
All this is evident to the mind of q
thoughtful. intelligent man who ha4
some acquaintance with the nat
ural history OF the world he YES in.
And all that has been gong on during
countless ages of the earth's history
goes on in "A proportonate degree when
a farmer manures his soil. tie adds a
certain quantity of plant food TO the
land but he does more; this Dc
raying matter is itself an active agent
of change in the soil aud produces
most useful effects in adding to
or rather developing. its natural store
of fertility, which we have said is Who'll
| ly inexhaustib,e. Aud as this action is
| notable in light soils, we turn our atten-
! ton to this class Ct soils Us illustrat-
| ing this important action in the clearest
manner, remark,ng that all other soils
behave i'm precisely the same manner
in this respect when they are perfectly
! pulycrized and made fine, mellow and
| porous.
When manure or any other organic
matter il mixed with light porous soil,
! it is at once attacked by the oxygen of
the atmosphere aud rapid decompos-
! ton goes on. The decomposition il
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
fcnSivc matter. as a carcass of an an mai
or night soil, when covered with few
inches of earth This action is so COM
pletc that The dry earth used in common
earth closets may be utilized over and
over again after a short period OF eX-
posure TO the air for ten or twelve
times and ,till remain perfectly inoiicn-
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 decomposit on act upon the soil II
self and dissolve il to a considerable cN-
tent, thus increasing the available fer
tility of ii and enabling the crops to find
a larg supply of plant food OF mineral
character. This effect has been eNcm-
plilied in growing crops in manurcd and
unmanurcd soils tor the purpose OF IN
vestigating this matter. Thus an aver
age of nineteen analyscs of potatoes
grown in this way showed that the ma
nured plots gave twenty-five per cent
more of mineral matter, nearly fifty per
CEN. more of nitrogcnous matter, and
about five per cent more OF water
with twenty per cent. less starch than
the unmanured ones. The very largo
addition to the mineral matter
or ash of the crop shows clearly that
the soluble mineral matter of the
sol had been increased and IL can
not be doubted that this increase was
due to the act on of the manure upon
the soil. Moreover. another fact is cN.
emplilied by the large increase in the
nitrogen contained in the crop, and thai
is that a strong trifying act.o. occurs
in the soil when organic matter is mix
ed with it. this action being due to GER
tain germ or vegetable organism which
grows rapidly in organ matter under
these circumstances. 1t j. 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 ~
itself oNidized, in part at least, ana
nitric acid is formed. But, however
this may be. it is known that nitrato'
are very freely formed in the soil in the
presence of decay,ng organic matter
Thus the indirect effects Of the manure
upon light and well pulverized soils
may be almost rs considerable as MS
d rect result in adding plant food to
them. \. Times.