The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1898-01-08


may be prevented. The porous eharac-
ter OF most soils Is doubtless ehiehy
responsible for the fact that within ne
memory Of farmers stllI In active busl'
ness the belief was general that a
very material loss OF soluble plant
food was inevitable from most soils
whenever the supply furnished was
much In excess Of the immediate needs /
OF the crop 10 be grown thereon. II
soils really leach the lost or leaehed !
material OF course escapes In the
water draining through the soil. Care
ful and systematic study Of drainage
waters. both by the use Of the lysl-
meter and the tile drain during the
past few years shows FIRST that the
actual loss OF nutrlment In drainage
waters Is far less frequent than was
supposed and second the character OF
the waters gives definite knowledge
OF the Kind OF uutriment carried away
by them and the conditions under
which the loss takes place. That
the danger Of loss "a greatly exagger'
ated IL well demonstrated by my own
personal experience. For two entire
growing seasons & fertile sandy loln
showed absolutely no lola Of plant food
az a depth OF three feet. that Is. not
a trace Of either phosphoric acid. nj
/ trogen or potash reached three feet
deep In the percolatlng waters As
most plants send their roots TO great
er depths than this Il Is evldent that
there was not only no loss from the
soil. but that an the nutriment ap'
piled. or within three feet Of the sur
face. was accessible. The important
question nov Is: Under what conditions
does teaching occur and how can loss
from this source be prevented L Is
now accepted that nitrogen .s the only
one OF the three food essentials which
IL susceptible 20 teaching TO such an
extent az 20 render its loss OF nate
rial consequence. and this loss j. ex-
oluslvely Of nitric acid. This. however
is the last and final form Of nitrogen
and the only one actually taken up
by the crop. All other forms or sources
Of nitrogen must be decomposed and
nitric acid be formed before assimi-
latlon can begin. These other forms
including all fertillzlng forms or
sources Of nitrogen except the nj
trates. Of which nitrate Of soda 10 the
only one OF commercial importance 70
the farmer. are under no normal coll
condition acceptable 20 the teaching
property. Il therefore follows that
these forms OF manures or fertilizers
may be used In any quantity and At
any time desired without danger Of
loss from teaching In using stable
manure the important practical fact Il
that the manure once incorporated
with the soil becomes fixed beyond th'
possibility % loss. since nitric acid
formation IL so slow as 10 never ex
coed the power Of a crop to utilize.
Nltrates. on the other hand. belnl
susceptible 10 teaching. should be ap
piled only 10 meet the immediate Dc
mands Of the growing crop lest los
from teaching follow. The finer M
soil particles In any given case IN
greater the absorbing power and th
less Il the probability Of loss. Thl
fact explains the absorptlye power o
} much soils. rather than.as II commonl,
E supposed. the presence Of high humu
. content IN such soils. As already init
j. mated phosphorio acid and potash ar
+ not capable Of teaching through agrl
cultural soils under normal conditions
This fact Il due 10 the absorplive pow
er OF coils for these substances am
their compounds The important fac
= IN this connection Il that the soil con
siituent eXerting strongest force 4
this direction is the silica. which com
I poses 80 large part Of an soils. Thes
a soils high IN content Of silica. OF whlcl
sand Is typical. are usually OF ooars
texture and are those usually consld
cred a. especially susceptible 20 leach
Ing Il appears. however. that leach
n Ing Of two Of the three essentials o
plant food Ia actually prevented BY u
presence OF silica or sand. A very I'm
por,ant practical result Of these fact
Is that potash salts can be applied 3
y early as 60 overcome any possible evl
eject from the presence OF chlorine o
certain crops and yet no possible los
n from teaching follow.
a n T. stockhridre