The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-10-31
FERTILITY OF THE SOIL
impoverished Lands of the United States.
Causes and Results


Causes and Results.
venture the statement that neither
the agricultural class nor the world at
large estimates at its value the discovery
OF the preparation and use of artificial
manures. What we are accustomed to
call the natural fertility of the soil is soon
exhausted For long period after the
settlement of the American colonies the
inhabitants relied chiefly upon the ma
eural fertility of the soil The begin
nlngs OF fiocks and herds were bv import
atlon, and the means of the settlers were
united, and the opportunities for obtain
iig a supply OF animals from England
were lnfrequent. AS each new state
10 the west was open for settle
ment the pioneers relied upon the
natural fertility of the soil, and
very generally they were deluded with
the notion that its fertility was mex
haustibie. Except in few favored spots.
as In the valleys of the Scioto and Miami
rivers, the delusion has been expelled by
experience. Those valleys are kept fer
tile by an annual deposit of finely COM
mlnuted 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 another.
Inc autumn crops that are gathered in
the river valleys have exhausted the
natural resources of the earth as much
as they would have been exhausted if the
same crops had been gathered on the
hlllsldes of the country above.
Although the forces of nature are at
work constantly in refertilizing the earth.
the process is so slow that its present pop-
ulatlon would diminish rather than in
crease. Beginning with New York and
going west there has been common ex-
perience. The lands that have been
chopped for successive years without the
the application of manures have Welded
annually less and less returns Der 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 GUS
tom OF the planters to secure a quantity
OF land SO large that not more than one
third or one-quarter would be under cul-
hvation at the same time. The larger
part was given over to a process of
udIuIdI renovation.
Yet even under this process the plan
tiers OF the older cotton states were i'm
poverisbed, and there was consequently.
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 a 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 manures.
But the abil = to command even
moderate supply Of animal manures i'm
plies conditions which do not everywhere
exist. First, the country must produce
grass-it must yield pasturage on which
cattle can live during part of the year.
In the most practical sense ''all 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 accumulations 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 other plan of culture than that under
which they were acting.
In the north and west the country is
grazing country generally, the winters
are harsh and long, and consequently the
accumulations of animal manures. sare
considerable, but manifestly the supply
would be inadequate for the support of a
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.