Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-03-22
RESTORING FERrlrlTv.

RESTORING FERTILITY.
sens Ssssabss Iasas IN Rs,asioa 20 n.
/ cooperative Agriculture.
It IL not strange that the subject Of
recuperative agriculture receives much
attention at the farmers institutes
held in the West this season. It d
considered because It demands atten-
ton. Rich as was the prairie coil Of
the West. and short as has been the
time since it was first brought under
cultivation. it has lost much of its
original fertility. Much of it no longer
produces wheat or barley. The crops
of potatoes produced on it are not as
large or as good rs they once were.
The corn raised on it is light unless
fertilizers are literally used. 1t does
not produce IS much grass as it once
did Fields from which two tons of
hay were formerly secured now pro-
duce but ono An old farmer living
near Chicago states that it takes twice
as much land to pasture cow rs it
did when he came to the country. The
history of the exhaustion Of soil by
overcrOpping. which was written in
the Eastern States many years ago. is
repeating itself in the West. It is easy
to collect the materials for this history
almost anywhere. The laws of nature
about supplying the soil with plant
food are being openly violated. and the
punishment is sure to come.
For years Western farmers have been
selling the fertility of their land by the
ton or bushel They have sent it off
by the carload, and brought back moth
ing in return. In the vicinity of a
large city farmers have been hauling
the elements of fertility to town and
going home with empty wagons. They
have been constantly drawing out of
bank and putting nothing into it. At
first only exhaustive crops were raised.
and most of these were sold. When
the land would no longer produce pay
ing crops of wheat. potatoes, corn and
vegetables, it was seeded down to
grass, and the hay sold. Loaded wag-
ons went to town; empty wagons re-
turned. But little manure was made,
and much of that was wasted. Mich
cows were almost the only animals
kept on farms near large towns, and
their milk was sold. The manure made
in a young city is generally wasted.
Market gardeners are the first to
use it. as they find it is a necessity in
producing fine vegetables and small
fruits. When farmers find manure
necessary to the production of common
field crops. there is none to be had, I'M
less large price is paid for it.
The restoration of the elements of
fertility to an exhausted soil is no easy
thing to do. 1t is the work of time.
and work that is as expensive as it
is long. Sir John Bennett Lowe. the
great authority on the use of fertili-
zers. says: "Let farm once become
impoverished, and l know of no way
by which it can ever be restored to its
first condition from its own re-
sources" The employment of lime.
plaster. ground bones, blood manure
and other commercial fertilizers will
of course supply the necessary food for
plants, but they are all expensive. and
often quite difficult to obtain. There
will be no economy is using them, ex-
cept on high-priced ground located
near large towns. At present prices.
to employ these fertilizers for raising
common field crops would be losing
operation. A small amount of them
might be used advantageously in pre-
pairing land for producing crops to be
turned under. but the restoration of fer
tility by means of commercial manures
and green crops is very long and
expensive operation. 1t generally |
takes as long to bring a worn-out soil
up as was spent in running it down.
and there is no immediate return for |
the money and time spent.
Most of the manure the best farmers
use is applied to the land entirely for
the purpose of getting immediate re-
turns from it in the form of large
crops 1t is taken up by plants the
same season it is applied. and is there
fore of no lasting benefit to the soil.
Some of the stimulating manpres. as
Peruvian guano and the flesh and
blood fertilizers, may injure the soil
by causing growing plants to appro-
pirate large quantities of mineral
matter. Then commercial fertilizers
should be used in connection with
stable manure. in order to derive the
greatest advantage from them and to
prevent them from wearing out the
soil instead of benefiting it. That the
soil in many parts of the South. where
cotton and tobacco are the leading
crops. has been injured by the use Of
yuano and blood fertilizers is now
generally admitted. Had they been
employed in connection with barn.
yard manure, the effect would have
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