The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1897-09-21

1 DSOSOSA W VhO NO4ReAA1AtEk S1SCU Vi GIO
August sun. For this reason it has
been found that the growth of crop
OF corn between two wheat crops ia less
exhaustive to the soil than bare sum-
mer fallow between two wheat crops.
1t also forcibly illustrates the import
Rnce of keeping the soil covered by
some useful crop throughout the sum
mer season.
In 1895 the plot which had been con
tinuously in barley yielded 358 bushels
per acre, and the rotation plot yielded
428 bushels per acre, gain of nearly
four bushels per acre for rotation, and
the rotation plot also showed a gein in
nitrogen. while the all barley plot
showed heavy loss.
A strip of land adj0ining one OF the
above plots was summer fRllOwed (kept
plowed and cultivated, though no crop
was grown for two years in success
sion, and instead of gaining in fertility,
as is supposed by those who practice
summer following, analyses of this sou
before and after the two years fallow
showed a loss OF 500 pounds of nitrogen
psr acre. Nitrogen purchased il I'M
mercial fereiiizers c )sts IL to Is cents
per pound, an average of Is cents, and
at this rate the $50 pounds lost by 5be
| two years fsllow was worth $88 so,
equal to S44 25 per yeer, pretty sub
stan1ial loss on a single acre Of land.
However, the poorer the iand the less
the loss; but the above ought to be
stiff ient to demonstrate the fallacy
and follow of the summer fallow.
The latter half Cf this bulletin is de
voted to consideration of the value of
humus, the ways in which it is lost
from the soil and the most economical
way in which it may be stored to the
soil.
The animal and vegetable substar ces
IN the soil in varying d'grees Of decay
or decomposition are collectively
spoken of as humus, or organic matter.
These substances, when they reach the
proper stage Of decay, unite, chemio
ally, with the potash, phosphoric acid
and lime OF the soil, forming coropsuads.
called humates.
Rumus has been found to be valuable
in the following ways:
1 It absorbs or fixes" nitrogen,
thus preventing the loss of this, the
most valuable Of all fertil zing elements
2. 1t absor6s water, thus enabling
the soil to better withstand drouths.
1t renders potash and phosphoric
acid soluble, so that they can be taken
into the sap Of plants through the roots.
For these reasons farm manures pos.
sess an advantage and value over and
above the market price of the nitrogen,
potash and phosphoric acid they con-
tain. Their bulk is mostly humus, a
valuable material which exists in very
small quantities in commercial fertili-
Z9rs.
| For the same reason clover, peas and
other green crops-even weeds-turned
under, are largely beneficial to land,
aside from the nitrogen they have
! gathered from the air and the phos
phoric acid and potash their long roots
may have brought up from the subsoil.
Investigations at the Minnesota Sta
tion prove the following interesting
and valuable facts relating to humus:
Farm manure, green clover, blood,
f1sh, tankage, cotton seed, etc produce
humus rich in Nitrogen, while oats
straw, saWdus5 and carbohydrates
form humus poor in nitrogen but rich
in carbon, and the heterogeneous humus
more readily unites with the potash
aud phosphoric acid of the soil to form
humates than does carbonaceous hu.
mus. The humus of virgin soils is
much richer In nitrogen and hun1ates
than the hUmus of soils that have been
cropped for series of years.
Forest fires have been found to cause
a loss of as much as three fourths Of
the total nitrogen Of the soil by dessruc
tion of the huclus. The practice of
burning off lands preparatory to plow
ing often permanently Injuries their
crop producing powers.
Clean culEure to hoed crops tends to
exhaust soils of their humus, and this
is why the old cotton fields of the South
have become so poor. It bas been
found that the growth of clover, COW
peas etc soon restores these lan6s to
a high degree Of fertility, il all needed
potash and phosphoric acid be applied
to the clover and pea crops.
Soils most In need Of humus ara
sandy and sandy loan soils that have
long received clean culture without the