Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1899-03-31
Exhausted Soils.

N. s. Scovell, in an address to the
Jasper County, Illinois, farmers, said:
There are but few If any farmers
satisfied with their crop yields upon
the uplands in the county In early
days these produced abundantly but
by continued cropping without any re-
turn to the land Of the plant elements
consumed they have loss much OF their
vitality and we are now feeling the Ell
fects of such course of husbandry.
The soil elements are wanting to pro-
.duce paying crops These must be
known and applied. This new con-
.dition must be recognized and EFFORTS
put forth to restore their original fer
tility, II farming is to be paying in
vestment. To secure this the farmers
must pay a great deal Of attention to
plant food The sources from whlcn
plants derive their food are first, the
atmosphere and second from the SOIL.
The atmospheric supply is always in
abundance The soil supply is the one
that requires the careful attention OF
the farmer. The elements In the soil
the plant feeds upon are potash, phos-
phoric acid and nitrogen. The SOIL is
rich when the plant can get these ele-
ments in sufficient quantity, therefore
every crop raised draws largely from
these elements, and must be replaced
by natural or artificial fertilizers for
profitable producing purposes. But
various crops draw upon these ele-
ments in different proportions, and one
element may be exhausted while the
others remain, but in less quantity. TO
determine how much resort to ex-
periments is necessary the FARMER
must get a chemical analysis of the
various food plants raised upon the
farm in which case he can determine
how much of each element has been
taken from the soil and thus replace
them with but little difficulty. Expert
ments are necessary, however, to de-
termine whether the soil does not con-
tain these elements in the right pro-
portion; yet in an insoluble condition
SO that the plant roots can not FEED
upon them. 1t is often the case that
different parts Of farm are IN tnls
condition and are condemned as poor
and worthless, when, in fact, they are
rich In plant food, only the plant ele-
ments are so combined with other ele-
ments that the plant cannot appro-
pirate them as food. When such con-
,ditions exist the soil can be made pro-
.ductive in various ways. By good
drainage which will allow the air to
penetrate the soil and assist to decom-
pose it. Land plaster will liberate the
potash. Lime and common salt will
improve the condition of the soil. Ro-
tation of crops has great influence In
making the plant food available. Good
tillage is another method. Still an
other is the raising of clover and plow-
ing it under.
In conclusion, let me say that my
experience in farming SO far, is good
drainage, good preparation Of the soil,
good tillage and judicious rotation
of crops, the raising and blowing I'M
der of clover and other leguminous
crops, and an intelligent saving and
using barn yard manure. This is far
more economical than depending en-
tirely upon commercial fertilizers,
which are costly and not entirely sat
isfactory because of insufficient knowl-
edge and experience in their applica-
tion. If we neglect the above we must
resort to the fertilizers or fail in pro-
ducing paying crops.