The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-13
The Action of Humus.

In an earlier issue of the P. F. I spoke
of the great Importance of humus and its
action in enriching and quickening the
soil. One OF our readers, Mr. w. r. Van
Glider, of Petersburg, N. j., writes me on
the subject as follows
This humus matter is important to far
mers here, as we can get chemical fertiliz-
ers cheap. I read in the American Fertil-
izer that humus was not necessary at all,
and the paper quoted from authorities to
prove it, You stand out for humus. VIII
you please give us in the z. F. the figures
which show your side to be correct? 1t is
very important TO us here in our light soil
We have muck, but il will cost US 80 cents
a ton to prepare and haul it. l think you
ought to stop your case just SIS the Amer
lean Fertilizer does-giving do mans opin-
ions, but taking the figures and letting
them tell their own tale
1t is said that figures do not lie" and
yet as a matter of fact, figures, especially
when garbled and put together for the
purpose of advertising goods, often do lie,
and lie and misead most outrageously.
In many cases we find that general obser-
Vations and conclusions based upon the
former with discretion and judgment,
serve as more reliable and trusty guides
than those boosted, never-lying figures.
The experiment stations often present a
great array of figures about the outcome
of fertilizer applications, etc, and yet
most of them-so far as practical lessons
for the use of people in other sections, and
for different soils are concerned-are not
worth the paper they are printed on. l do
not remember about figures, or expert
ments made solely for the purpose OF Civ
ing exact data about the effects OF humus
and such experiments are not an easy
thing to make, simply because there are
so many things that work together in Civ
| ing results. We cannot easily separate the
| heterogeneous matter from the carbonaceous,
etc, but many of us have the practical eX-
| periences upon which to base our opin-
| ions" Those who have experimental with
fertilizers of all kinds on different soils for
years, as l have, should be able to come
TO some trustworthy conclusions.
Here, for instance, we have clay loans
that are quite productive when we can
| get them in the right mechanical condi-
| ton. If devoid of humus however, we
| find it next to impossible to properly pull
veriZe these soils. They will remain hard
| and lumpy, and even if once fined, the
| next rain will again glue the particles to-
| gether, and make them present a hard
| surface that will bake and crack. These
| soils are stagnant until we improve theiI
| texture, open them up, by additions OF
| humus, in the form of stable manure
| muck, etc. The effect of such applications
! is q mechanical one chiefly. Humus
| makes the soil loose and porous, and aids
| it in holding moisture like a sponge. BY
| giving it a darker color it also increases
| its heat absorbing qualities. We know
| that when our soils here are destitute OF
! humus, and consequently hard and life
less, no amount of concentrated manures
| will help them much This is too general
! an observation to be controVerted by any
| possible array of figures. Humus must
| accompany such applications and the
| question how to apply the humus is one
| of cost and convenience. In many cases
we will find the blowing in of clover or
| clover roots and stubble the best and
| most economical course. In other cases
| especially in our garden operations we
| find it more profitable to use stable ma
nures, muck, etc. Gardeners know that
the more humus they have in their garden
| soils, and consequently the finer, looseri
| warmer, and the more capable of re-
| tanning moisture their soils are, the more
| vigorous will be the growth of their crops
| And yet, ] have to confess that | have
| seldom grown better garden crops than
| | did for some years on a sandy loan ia
| New Jersey, that was only fairly well
| supplied with humus when [ commenced
| operations, and received little stable ma
nure, and no other form of humus, during
| the four years I worked it, almost the only
| applications that were made being those
| of high-grade commercial manures and
| concentrated chemicals, without a filler. -
| But this soil was in almost perfect me-
/ chanical condition, as loose, as porous and
| as warm as any one could wish. The fer
| tilizer applications never failed to tell
| So you see. we have to be governed by
| circumstances, and by the peculiarities of
our soils