The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1897-07-10

e. components OF eY-
cry crop that the
farmer or the horticultural pro-
dUces. II the quantity that the crop
can get OF any one Of them is too small
for the making of good yield, the
yield will not be sufficient no matter
how much there may be Of all the
others. II the quantity Of any one OF
them Is more than enough for good
yield, It Is only foolishness to supply
any more of that substance in fertll-
izers. The supply Of water and its
constituents, and of carbon, are prac-
tlcally beyond the control Of the crop
grower except in so far as water may
here and there be supplied by irriga-
ton, or may everywhere be conserved
by shallow surface tillage properly
managed. The supply of lime is usu-
ally large enough in ordinary arabic
soils. Therefore only nitrogen, phos-
phorlc 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 in
PRODUCTION of leguminous plants, such
as clover, vetch, lupine, peas, 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
proper balance Of the plant foods in his
soils. These crops, as almost every
farmer knows, can get part OF their
nitrogen fTss1s. the air; and they will
In general get more of 1t from the air
and less from the soil the poorer the
soil Is In available nitrogen, and the
richer it is within certain limits in
potash and phosphoTic acid. Every
ordinary arabic soil has far more than
enough of nitrogen, phosphoric acid
and potash for the production OF good
many crops; and yet there are many
such soils which will not yield paying
crops unless fertilized with one or more
Of these very same plant foods. 1t may
be taken for granted that an acre Of
every such soil contains in the upper
most twelve inches at least $500 pounds
OF nitrogen, 5000 Of potash and $500
Of phosphOric acid. These quantities
are from 30 to 500 times greater than
those sold of the farm in any crop.
There Is at least so times as much MI
trOgen in such a soil as is sold in any
part Of any crop, and much oftener 100
or even 200 times as much. There Is
&C least 100 times as much potash as is
carried OF the farm in any part Of a
crop sold, and Oftener 500 times as
much. Similar figures might be given
Tor phosphoric acid. Why, then, must
we fertiliEe our soils in one way or an
Other3
The one most important reason Is
that these plant foods in the soil are for
the most part in an insOluble, or as
very commonly said, unavailable form,
and that they usually become available
only little BY little each year. That
they do thus become gradually avail
able Is clearly shown by some OF the
experiments Of Lawess and Gilbert, Of
England; some Of their plats have,
yielded crops of wheat and other GER
calls now for fifty years and more,
without any manure. & may be. how
ever, that one Of these foods does be-
come available year by year in large
enough quantities to contribute its
share towards a good yield Of some
crop, provided that there is enough Of
the other two, but that there is in fact
not enough Of the other two; or 1t may
be that enough OF two Of the foods will
become available fast enough each sea-
son for a good crop. but that the other
one will not: there win be only a poor
crop In either case,
There are cases in which 1t would be
emily folly, with some thousands OF
pounds Of the one or the two foods In
the soil, and In such condition that
the crop grown on It can get all il
needs for a good yield Cat least for one
year, and probably for the next year,
and even for few years more), to buy
these foods in commercial manure; nor
would it be the height of wisdom to
keep putting them on the soil year after
year In stable manure, since that also
contains the three foods under consid-
Grafton, as we'll as other Useful sub
stances.