Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-08-23
How to Get II ou. Of the Soil.

Discussing the subject of fertility which
is under lock and key, as it were, in the
soil, and the means of getting it out, bull
letin q of the Cornell experiment station
has this to say:
Water and it's constituents. hydrogen
and oxygen, and carbon. nitrogen, phos-
phoric acid. potash and lime. are the
of every crop that the farmer
or the horticulturist produces. IL the
quantity that the crop can get of any one
of them is too small for the making of a
good yield, the yield will not be sufii-
Gent. no matter how much there may be
of all the others. If the quantity Of any
one of them Is more than enough for a
good yield, 1t is only foolishness to sup
ply any more of that substance in fertll-
izers. The supply of water and its con-
stituents and of carbon are practically
beyond the control of the crop grower
except In so far as water may here and
there be supplied by irrigation. or may
everywhere be conserved by shallow sur
face tillage properly managed. The sup
ply of lime is usually large enough in
trogen, phosphoric acid and potash are
left to be looked after; these, as every
consumer of commercial fertilizers
knows, are the things that he pays for
in whatever Of these fertilizers he buys.
BY the Introduction of leguminous plants,
such as clover. vetch, lupine, pea, bean
and the like, into his rotations, he may
save himself from the necessity of buying
SO much nitrogen as he might otherwise
have to get In order to preserve the prop
er balance of the plant foods In his soils.
These crops, as almost every farmer
| knows, can get part of their nitrogen
from the air; and they will. in general,
get more OF it from the air and less from
nitrogen. and the richer 1t is within GER
tain limits in potash and phosphoric
acid. Every ordinary arabic soil has far
| more than enough of nitrogen, phosphor-
IT. ,,-1 nc1& fnr h. ~
a good many crops: and yet there are
many such soils which will not yield pay
| ing crops unless fertilized with one OF
more of these very same plant foods. II
may be taken for granted that an acre
most twelve inches at least $500 pounds
| of nitrogen, 1000 potash and $500 OF phos-
[phoric acid. These quantities are from
lfifty to 500 times greater than those sold
on the farm In any crop. There is al
| least fifty times as much nitrogen In such
SOIL as Is sold In any part of any crop
and much oftener 100 or even 200 times as
much. There Is at least 100 times as
much potash as IL carried OF the farm II
any part OF a crop sold, and Oftener 5O(
| times as much. Similar figures might BIZ
given for phosphoric acid. Why, then
must we fertilize our soils in one way o.
another?
these plant foods In the soil are for The
most part in an insoluble, or, as very
| commonly said, unavailable form, and
| that they usally become available OnIy
little by little each year. That they dc
thus become gradually available II c,aa
| " shown by some OF the experiments OF
Lawes and Gilbert of England: SOME
their plats have yielded crops Of wheat
and other cereals now for fifty years and
more. without any manure It may be-
come available year by year In large
enough quantities to contribute It's share