The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-04
Maintenance of FertiIity.

Never before at the Farmers Institute
have 1 heard the matter of maintaining the
fertility of the soil discussed from such an
economic standpoint as this winter, says
the Rural Tribune. There is a growing be-
lief that nitrogen, the most costly ingre-
dent of our fertilizers is also the most
capricious. For instance, while potash and
phosphoric acid are easily held in the soil,
and If not used by crop in entirety are
available for future use, especially potash,
which has shown for years the effect of a
single liberal application, nitrogen, on the
contrary, is very soluble and easily es-
capes, and can be banked on only for a
brief time. Then the sources of nitrogen
are so varied and the makeup" of it so
different, that in its value for crops it runs
through scale of worth from perfection
in nitrate of soda, to that of wool waste
and leather scrap, which are next to moth
ing in worth From the drift of experience
given CLEAN that while a man must have
certain per cent of nitrogen for
paying crops, it is poor policy to attempt
to purchase it in a liberal way and store
the soil with it, as its escape is so liable
that so far as its assistance is needed ii is
better to obtain it in stable manure and
green crops ploughed under like clover,
COW peas, peas and oats and the like
plants that have the power of taking nitro
gen from the air, and in the form of hui
mus-gIeen manure give off this ammonia
to the soil. While in a general way crops
ploughed under cannot give back to the
soil more potash and phosphorc acid than
they have taken from the soil the crops
mentioned have a greatly increased store
of nitrogen. 1t may be true that, while the
plants do not increase the available pot
ash and phosphoric acid, there is a break
ing up and melowing of the soil by the
action of the plant itself that does liberate
and make available stores Of inert plant
food.
In another way this store of costly nit
rogen can be increased and that is by
the feeding of large stores of the protein
foods to our stock. There are none of
these foods upon the market that do not
contain the elements of plant food in COM
mercial price in excess of their feeding
value so that the man who is a liberal
feeder of bran, oil and cotton seed meal,
gluten, etc, will have a manurial value
left after the animal has taken it's food
toll out of them in excess of cost. 1t is
of no use to say that the nitrogen of cot
ton seed, or oil meal, is not good plant
food, for the fertilizer men use the great
er part of the cotton seed cake made in
this country as the nitrogen supply of the
fertilizers in the $26 to $40 grades. Cotton
seed meal costing $40 per ton has a con-
| tent of available nitrogen, phoSphoric acid
and potash worth ST at present fertilizer
figures. Now, why should not the farmer
use clover and peas as green crops to
pillow under; feed largely of bran, oil and
cotton seed meal, as well as giuten save
| all of the liquids of the stable by the use
| of plenty of absorbents, road dust, plas-
| ter, ETC.; draw this fresh manure to the
fields every day from the stables, so that
the soil can take up this soluble fertility
| and so get this increased supply of rich
frOr1 he CT in
stead of buying it as gathered material
from outside sources?
Such manure as at last indicated WILL
as a rule, be too rich in soluble nitrogen,
| and should be used in much more eco
| nomical way-one-half as much per acre
| and then be balanced by using a few
pounds each of available potash and phos-
| phoric acid, things which cost three to
| 4 cents a pound actual units, and escape
| the more costly complete commercial fer
| tilizer, a thing that often completes the
| farm indebtedness. When the nitrogen of
the soil is derived from original sources
when 1t is transferred from air to earth
by plant and bacterial action-we have it
in it's cheapest and most complete form
and most perfectly distributed; and at
the same time, when this nitrogen is in
the humus, it can only be liberated by fer
ments making it into nitric acid; and so in
the cold, frosty months there can be no
loss of nitrogen, and when the warm soil
and rains start the ferments, the spring
crop stands ready to absorb the plant
food as fast as liberated from the humus.
If the nitrogen was in the soil in the form
of nitrate of soda or the other soluble
sources, it is escaping with every move
ment of water in the soil, and more nj
trates must be applied. The abovee les
son is plain Stop buying so much 15-cent
nitrogen; raise it in part, and get the bal
ance from the richer feeding of stock.