Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1890-10-31
FERTILITY or THE son.


paases and Results.
venture the statement that neither
the agricultural class nor the world al
large estimates at its value the discovery
q The preparation and use OF artificial
manures. What we arc accustomed to
call the natural fertility Of fhesoiI Il soou
exhausted. For long period after the
settierSent Of the American colonies the
inhabitants relied chiefly upon the ma
surai fertility Or the soiI. The begin
nings o. fiocks and herds were by import
alton and The means Of the setfIers were
limited and the opportunities for obtain
ing supply Of animals from Engia...::
were infrequent. AZ each new state
70 the west was open for settle
ment the pioneers relied upon the
natural fertility Of the sol. and
very generally they were deIuded With
the notion that it's fertility was inex-
haustIbie. Excepf In few favored spots.
as m the valleys Of the Scioto and Miami
rivers. the deiusioD has been expelled by
experience. Those valleys are kept fer
ale by an annual deposit Of finely com
minused vegetable and mineral matter
brought down by the river freshets Of
the spring Thus one section Is robbed
OF its fertility for the benefit Of anosher.
Inc autumn crops that are gathered IN
fne nver valleys have exhausted the
natural resources Of the earth a. much
as they would have been exhausted If the
same CROPS had been gathered on the
hiilsIdes Of the country above.
Although the forces Of nature are II
work constantly IN refertilizing the earth.
the process j. 90 slow that its present pop-
ulation would diminish rather than IN
crease Beginning with New York and
going west there has been common en-
perience- The lands that have been
chopped for successive years without the
the application of manures have Yielded
annually less and less returns per acre.
The experience Of the south previous to
the war was the same. With the excep-
ton OF the river bottoms the cotton lands
were soon exhausted 1t was the cas-
tom Of the planters to secure quantity
Of land 50 large that not more than one
third or one-quarter would be under cuI-
tivation at the same time. The larger
part was given over to a process of
natural renovation.
Yet even under this process the plan-
tiers OF the older cotton states were i'm
poyer1sbed, and there was consenueutIy.
an annual movement westward to the
valley OF the Mississippi and the plains Of
Texas 1t Is manifest that under this
system of cultivation there must have
been serious diminution Of the cotton
product in less than half century from
the opening of the war. In the north and
west. as the fact OF diminishing product
OF wheat and corn was realized, the far
mers began to apply animal Tnanures.
But the able to command even a
moderate supply 81 animal manures i'm
plies conditions which do not EVERYWHERE
exist First, the country must produce
grassit must yield pasturage on which
cattle can live during part OF the year.
In the most practical sense ssalI flesh is
grass. Next the seasons must be such
that the cattle will require shelter for
period of time, as otherwise there can be
no accommodations OF manure for the use
of special fields and special crops. In the
south neither Of these conditions existed.
Consequently, under the old system, the
people of that section could have adopted
no ether plan Of culture than that under
which they were acting.
In the north and west the country Is a
grazing country generally, the winters
are harsh and long, and consequently the
accommodations of animal manuresIare
considerable, but manifestly the supply
would be inadequate for the support of
great population. Beyond this the dis
tribution OF animal manure over large
fields, and its transportation from the
towns and cities to distant country dis
tricts, is heavy addition to the cost of
crop.-George S. Boutwell, IN Boston
Globe