The Van Buren press., 1895-11-16
FARMER AND PLANTER.
SOURCES OF PLANT FOOD.
Subject Upon Which the Farmer shoale
be FnIIy Informed.


A Subject Upon Which the Farmer should
be Fully Informed
1t Is not simply interesting. but Is
also very helpful. for farmer to
know the sources from which his
crops get their plant food l fremem-
Der very well how much I was sur
prised when I first learned that the
soil furnished only an average OF three
pounds IN q 100 OF a growing crop and
that the atmosphere and water furn-
ished the other 81 pounds. l suppose
that had thought, like Jethrio Tun.
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. II we find forest tree that
with its body and limbs weighs a,o0o
pounds and burn 1t we viii have 90
pounds Of ashes, while the 1,e4o pounds
have gone into the atmosphere from
whence they came. In this process
each department Of nature seems TO BE
claiming it's own. The 60 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 as 1t was
All plants, whether taken from the
garden, field or forest, are found upon
analysis to be composed of fourteen
elementary substances, each of q
diverse nature. The chemical names
are carbon fconspicuously represented
IN eharcoai). oxygen and nitrogen tbe-
ing the two constituents of pure air),
and hydrogen lone of the two con-
stituents of pure waterl These -four
are fed to the growing plant through
both the root and the leaf by the at
mosphere, and called organic. because
they furnish the framework of all
vegetation. These four return TO the
atmosphere in volatile form when
| the plant is consumed BY fire or by a
slow combustion we call rotting on the
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.
| dient of all animal bones) silica (same
as sand, lime Gn its several forms1,
soda and chlorine these last two are
the constituents that make common
saltA iron, sulphur, magnesia and man
| ganese The last eight here mentioned
are in sufficient supply in all soils
But potash and phosphorus are more oi
! less deficient in most soils. 1t is these
two. together with nitrogen with some
of its various combinations, that make
the valuable ingredients of all com
mercial fertilizers
But some good, working farmer
while reading this may say to himseli
that 1t is not worth my while to trouble
my mind to learn these hard wordi
and the ideas they carry, because
have been and l expect to raise goot
crops without mixing any book-farm
ing in it. To such a farmer I am very
| glad to say that good working mar
H. very apt to succeed In anything h,
undertakes to do. II he does th,
right work in the right time and II
the right way his crops will grow
whether he did this work By rote ant
In imitation of some other man O.
from knowledge of the principles o
agricultural chemisty. But II h.
| knows under what conditions natur,
will do for him her Der best work, thel
| he will have more successes and fewe
failures If he knows that every gree,
leaf is lung inhaling plant foo
from the atmosphere, then he will
surely try to give that leaf fresh air
| dews and sunshine. II he knows tina
every rootlet has little mouth at IL
end that takes It's food in solution
and gaseous form, then he will surely
cultivate his ground SO as to give 1t al
spaces as we'll as moisture. No
air chambers made by clods, for clod
in the neighborhood OF the roots o
plants are always nuisance. Blu
there is another direction in which tn,
farmer may make. or rather save
money, that is, in the matter of buying
commercial fertilizers A little bool
learning will help him to decide wha
ingredients to buy and what not t
buy. But this subject is sufficiently
large and important for another man
uscript, that is II / ever write.-N. B
Dudley. in Farmers Home Journal.