The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-18
Rcstoring Fertility.

Restoring Fertility.
However fertile soil may be when first
o,srsd for cultivation, the time will
come sooner or later when the elements
of fertility contained in it will become so
4 exhausted or reduced as to render it I'M
able TO produce as profitable crops as it
did at the beginning. That is if the soil
. has been devoted uninterruptedly to hoed
r,ps and with no regard for fallow crops
is bound to lose one or more of the es-
.ntial elements, without which large
rops cannot be grown. If a rational sys-
.,m Of culture is observed, as is the case
in some sections Of Europe. and this coun-
,-r. too. it may be very many years be-
lore the soil is so badly Impoverished as
Il 20 prevent it from making profitable
crops A rational system implies a re-
gard for a certain rotation of crops, and
II periodical growth of what is termed
II falow crop"-.a crop grown simply for
n the sake and benefit of the land.
Here i'm the south we have thorough
illustration of the ill effects of keeping
\ soil devoted steadily to hoed crops for d
period Of thirty to forty years without the
proper use Of fallow crops, without re-
earring the necessity for rotation that
brings in certain crops that have been
. long known to retard the wasting process.
. Fortunately for this country the only two
crops that were generally grown were of
such a character as to prove helpful in
the simple rotating of one and the other
H The only rotation that southern farmers
recognized for many years was from corn
10 cotton and vice versa, two plants that
n differ greatly in their nature and habit of
!. growth one a surface rooted and the
A other a top rooted. But for this differ
+. er-e the impoverishment of our soils
would have been completed many years
before it did happen. No one familiar
with the matter need be told that there
are thousands of acres of land in nearly
every county Of the older sections of the
south that were once capable of producing
forty bushels of corn. or 400 pounds of
4 lint cotton, which will not now produce
one-third, or even one-fourth of such
Il product
one year cotton was planted, the next
year corn followed and so it con-
. lued TO alternate without the help of
~ intervening fallow crop. Even the
ahl1s rom a crop of either was rarely
gwen back to the soil as n part restorer
Han Of the humus that it had begun TO
ave. Oftener than not, all matter of
esetabe kind that remained upon the
surface in January was fired and burned
away so that the light one-horse .plows
could better do their work of breaking
the soil The corn and cotton fields were
Il generally used as pastures until every
hing eatable by stock had been consumed
and until the time came for blowing them
w. As is well known, too, there are few
#cean-culture or hoed crop so little ex-
4 haustive to soil as cotton. If it were as
4 exhaustive as sorghum our soils would
. have been worn out and thrown aside
many years ago
Now, humus is the grand base upon
7hch soil rests, and yet plants cannot
\ Ve by humus alone" any more than man
lo1ld live by bread alone" In the plant
as well as in the animal world there are
Il eVeral essential elements but one super
s6undant one cannot make up for an
other lacking one.
6ut when the soil is provided with the
necessary humus, then you may expect
70 get the full benefit of the other es-
. sentials whenever ii may he found neces-
Try to apply either one or all of them
4 ~ IS useless to apply commercial fer
Ulcers to a soil that has no humus in il
Nhereas if supplied fully with the latter
A ne use Of two, three or four dollars worth
oi mineral fertilizer may be a profitable
application as a consequence.
10 Is certain that greed does bring its
4 own punishment The man who is not
n wiling to feed his land according to its
n eeqs should not expect to be fed by it,
H terhaps there are some who would not
H eed Their horse or COW If they did not
equally see the excuse for doing so, and
Sleeaily feel the penalty.
1t Is so easy for a southern farmer to
restore fertility to his worn soil. 1t is
suil easier to keep it from getting in that
Worn condition.
we nave so many leguminous plants,
,yle oil which can be sown any month in
s year, there is no reasonable excuse
| hol supplying the humus. Our several
a'ieues OF peas, the sofa bean, crimson
e9Yer bur clover, Japan clover sapling
over, white clover, melilotus are all at
n I disposal for accomplishing this end
ohomically Vetch and beggar weed are
also available.
Ter fallow crop is raised the temp
ION usually is so great to convert it
nv nay or pasture it away completely
-al d good intention is oftentimes frus-
Ca'ed' OF course the roots from d good
over crop of any kind adds considerable
-Hlus TO soil, but it is not the wholesale
~'chment that would result from allow
5' 9 one clover crop. Bur or crimson, to
Ne on the land. These clovers can be
IN IN the fall or early winter, and will
-eAe their growth at a time when few
GH7r crops win grow. Either are splen-
o asl Ior sowing in cotton fields, or fields
~ 'ale corn. The young clover will protect
cav SOIL from washing in the winter and
my spring, and be ready for light pas
ing IN May. Considerable pasture can
soften from a clover. crop, and yet
olsh be left to furnish a good manur-
e 7 Tor a catch crop in the summer The
,L oean and wonderful pea" viii fur
9A splendid crop of vegetable matter
M. "u1umn turning under. Grain, (chieny
psI1 can follow at once, but it would be
10 roll the land. else the decaying
gooe viii keep it too porous for the
r.-, OF the grain. Accept this as pro-
r-.,., Soil is not enriched that is not
ers 'led with humas or vegetable mat