The herald., 1896-09-26
100 MUCH LEARNING HAS MADE
HIM MAD

3oe Aerelos Les Angeles, Cal.)
100 MUCH LEARNING HAS MADE
HIM MAD
A colored individual, befor' de war,
N1s presented with baby by his wife.
Tho next day he said to his massa;
Frances dun give me a baby yester-
day; you can't guess what II ISL" Its
agin." seIt's GIRL" was the reply. "Oh.
some one dun tole you." said the negro.
Prof p. w. Hilgard is in Just the
same position. He dun guessed in 1893
and previously that nitrogen was the
''firgt thing needful when crops began
to fall short" When the answer came
back from the trees and the deluded
ranthers mo-" he dun guessed again
that phosphoric acid was the first thing
needful. See his last report. page 1873,
where he says: THE presence of phos-
phoric acid in greater or less amounts
depends entirely upon the kind Of rocks
from which the soil is derived. 1t hap
pens that In California most of the rocks
and therefore the soils derived from
them-are poor in phosphates, contrary
% what happens in Eastern Washington
and Montana. Hence, phosphates are
among the first ingredients to become
deficient in California soils, as has been
amply proved by actual experience OF
farmers, in whose hands superphos-
pilates and phosphate glanos have be-
come the favorite fertilizers from the
frst."
Here is an assertion in regard to phos-
pilates, and just such an one as he had
made for years in regard to nitrates,
and this assertion, like the former, is
not substantiated by one particle of evi !.
dence. The public would like to know
who the farmers are, where they reside.
what kind Of crops were grown, how
much the quality and quantity were i'm
proved by comparison where no fertil-
: tzers were applied and where the other
ferttlizng elements were applied, and
for how many years these tests were
carried on?
Prof. Hilgard spends in his depart
ment over $4,000 per annum Of the pub
lie funds, and the public are entitled to
know the facts he claims to have COL
lected. and who have bettered their
crops, to what extent they have been
deferred and how they were bettered.
The public has been fooled long enoug +
by Prof. Hilgard's ''glittering generali-
ties" 1t wants the facts.
On page 132 the following appears:
General Conclusions-Some of the gen
eral conclusions thus gained may be
thus formulated:
!. Apart from the regions of abundant
rainfall in the higher Sierra foothills
and in Northern California, and a few
local exceptions, all the soils of the stat .
contain as much lime as is useful III
soils.
:. The same is almost as generally true
AS REGARDS potash: the amounts present
are, in the great majority of cases, so
far in excess of the average found in
the soils OF Europe and the east that the
experience of those countries cannot
serve as guide in considering the re-
quirements of our soils. Throughout the
valley lands proper OF the great valley,
q q ua1 in hof -
and in the valleys of the coast ranges as
Tar north as Mendocino, the saltwater
carries Sucn large amounts of potash
salts Tin the alkali lands often as much
as one thouand pounds per acre. that
to add more In fertilization would be
sheer folly. While in the uplands adj
5acent the drainage toward the valley
prevents such accumulation, the fact
that such drainage water carries the
came salts is easily verified, and is ap-
parent from examination of the stream
waters as well. 1t is therefore reasona-
bic TO conclude that in the great ma
5or1ty Of California Soils potash will be
the last one of the three ingredients
casually supplied in fertilizers that need
sbe purchased by the farmer
a Here are some more glittering general
Sies, unsupported by one particle of evil
2nce- But If the reader will turn to
ges '172 and 176 Of the professors now
AouS lePolt nc Will see tndt mis- the
Dying Is completely upset by the act
ua4e!d test there reported, which shows
thu potash did improve the crops on
soihR READY loaded with it. according to
his emical analysis.
ThETeld tests there reported were pu1
out q inst and contrary to the advice
Of Pro- Hilgard.
Afte{sasserting that phosphoric acid
Is the s6rst thing needful," the learned
profess&goes on to say: Some highly
amporta4k researches, somewhat sur
prislrg. M most conclusive in their re-
suits, ha3N within the last three years
been made4n Germany. 1t has been es-
tablished 61yond question that the IA
vorable effects of even the most finely
ground bonsheal. as heretofore observ.
ed, are almosf wholly due to the animal
matter or nitrogen contained in bones.
ana that its use to supply known de-
hciencies Of pf1osphoric acid is wholly
Improbable and unwarranted by the
returns considered as interest on the in
"Bonemeai of various grades of fine
ness. raw or steamed, has heretofore
been sold at prices based on the COM
mercial valuation Of both nitrogen and
phosphoric acid, with only slight re-
duction upon the fun value of soluble
supplied IN super-phosphates. 1t now
seems that farmer cannot afford to
pay for ANYTHING more than the nitrogen
value OF bonemeal. say about $12 per ton,
instead of $28 or $50. which has heretofore
Been the current price. Under such q
reduction the manufacturer cannot af-
ford to make bonemeal at all, and thus
q becomes necessary. fromabo points
= View, that bonemeal should prior to
sale as q fertilizer be first converted into
the fully available form bystreatment
with enough sulphuric acid to form,
not necessarily superphosphates as orr
d1nerily understood, but that ipterme-
0late compound which requires only
about half as much acid and yet, accord
Ing to the same investigators, possesses
the full value OF soluble phosphoric acid.
While this will increase somewhat the
cost to both the manufacturer andsthe
consumer. 1t is evidently the only reAl
oQnabie'w way in which this valuable by
product can be made fully available in..
agricultural USE"
Could idiotic asininity go furthet4
After asserting that phosphoric acid was
the first thing needful, to say that n
grower cannot afford to pay for the
phosphates In bone-thc very substance
he does need, but that he can AFFORD 70