St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-12-14
FARMER
SOURCES OF PLANT Foon

FARMER ANDPTANTFR
SOURCES or PLANT FOOD.
= ssA3sss upss wAleA ~ rsr~se sAs.,a
- 1ally Isfse0ea.
4 y not simply interesting. but i
also very helpful. for : farmer to
know the sources from which his
crops get their plant food. Iremem-
oer very well how much Was sur
prised when / first learned that the
soil furnished only IN average Of three
pounds in . 100 Of . growing crop and
that the atmosphere and water furn.
ashed the other % pounds. suppose
that had thought. like Jethrio Tull.
that the vital force of the plant
took small particles of the soil
and carried them to the part
OF the plant needing growth. not know
ing that the atmosphere furnished any
thing. IT we 6nd . forest tree that
with ito body and limbs weighs 1000
pounds and burn it We will have 80
pounds Of ashes, while the I. 30 pounds
have gone into the atmosphere from
whence they came. In this process
each department Of nature seems to Be
claiming its own. The 90 pounds Of
ashes represent the very ingredient
that the soil gave to the growth Of
that tree. 'Then shall the dust (ashes)
return to the earth rs it was"
All plants, whether taken from the
garden. field or forest, are found upon
analysis to be composed Of fourteen
elementary substances, each Of .
diverse nature. The chemical names
are carbon (conspicuously represented
in charcoap. oxygen and nitrogen De-
ing the two constituents Of pure air),
and hydrogen lone Of tho two con-
stituents Of pure waterl These four
are fed to tho growing plant through
both the root and the leaf BY the It
mosphere, and called organic. because
they furnish the framework Of all
vegetation. These four return to the
atmosphere In . volstile form when
the plant is consumed BY Are or by .
slow combustion we call rotting on tho
surface or under the soil.
The other ten constituents of all
plants are fed through the roots from
the Ingredients Of the soil and fur
nished from one to ten per cent. of all
vegetation. They are: potash (the
most valuable ingredient Of wood
ashes). phosphorus (the chief ingre-
dent Of all animal bonesl silica (same
rs sand), lime lin its several formsl
soda and chlorine these last two are
the constituents that make common
salt). iron, sulphur. magnesia and man.
ganese. The last eight here mentioned
are in sufficient supply in all soils
But potash and phosphorus are moro or |
less deficient in most soils It 10 these
two. together with nitrogen with some
of its various combinations, that make
the valuable ingredients Of all COM
mcrcial fertilizers
But some good, working farmer
while reading this may say to himself |
that it is not worth my while to trouble |
my mind to learn these hard words |
and the ideas they carry. because l
have been and expect to raise good |
crops without mixing any book-farm-
ing in it To such = farmer am very |
glad to say that good working man |
Il very apt to succeed in anything he |
undertakes to do. II he does the |
right work in the right time and in |
the right way his crops will grow |
whether he did this work BY rote and |
in imitation OF some other man or |
from . knowledge Of tho principles Of |
agricultural chemisty. But If he
knows under what conditions nature |
will do for him her Der best work, then |
he will have more successes and fewer |
failures. II he knows that every green /
leaf Is . lung inhaling plant food
from the atmosphere, then he will |
surely try to give that leaf fresh mir,
dews and sunshine. If he knows that
every rootlet has little mouth 1t its
end that takes it, food in Z solution
and gaseous form, then he will surely
cultivate his ground 50 . to give It air
spaces Is well ~ moisture. Not
Iir chambers made BY clods, for elods
In the neighborhood Of the roots Of
plants are always . nuisance. But
there is another direction in which the
farmer may mako. or rather save,
money. that Il, in the matter Of buying
fertilizers A little book
will help him to decide what
ingredients to buy and what not to
buy. But this subject IL sufficiently
large and important for another man
nscript, that 10 il ever write.-N. B.
Dudley, In Farmers' Home Journal.