St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1899-06-10
VALUE OF DUST.
Without 1t Animal and Vegetable
Life ON This Sphere Would
BE ImpOssible.

Dust is generally considered grea
nuisance. ard many eIsons have Otter
wished that there wasn't any sucj
thing. But il they knew what an i'm.
portant part aust plays in the nurture
and maintenance of vegetable and ami.
NAL life they would never again utter
such a wish. Prof. Wiley. the chief
chemist of the department Of agricul.
ture at Washington. d. C., says he has
been spending some years in al investi-
CATION of the agricultural value of dust.
and he finds it most important article.
In speaking of the subject. he said:
IF it wasn't for dust man would have
to devise new plan of existence; he
would be compelled to provide himself
with food by ONE other means than
agriculture. You could not have gar
den or farm without dust. 1t would
not be possible for a crop to grow un-
less the soil contained an organism
capable of converting nitrogenous mat
ter into nitric acid. Nitrogen is indis-
pensable as plant food. and plants can
assimilate it only whep presented in
the form of nitric acid. commonly
known as aqua forts. That is incapa-
bic of auto-locomotion and can be dis
tributed only through the dust which
falls upon the soil and upon the leaves
of trees and plants. Hence dust is es-
sential to the pursuit of agriculture,
and if it wasn't being carried about
constantly on the breeze through the
air We would simply have to quit farm
ing; animals would have nothing to
feed upon, and we would have neither
meat nor bread nor vegetables.
THE soil is continually being re-
vivcd and enriched from the particles
that are floating about in the atmos-
phere. They come from two sources;
first. atoms of the earth's surface caught
up by the wind and distributed exc
where. and. second, what we call cos
mic dust-that is, mineral matter of
meteoric origin.
"The heavenly bodies are constantly
shedding fragments of iron and other
mineral substances, which fall with
great velocity. and when they reach the
that surrounds TIE earth
are heated by friction and catch Ere
by contact with the oxygen. They are
then burned to ashes and scattered
in minute anG invisible atoms. Some
of the larger pieces that become de-
tached from the stars reach the earth
without becoming entirely consumed |
We cali them meteors. but the little |
particles that permeate the air. because |
of this perpetual and violent lombard |
ment from the stars. are composed of |
acid. potash and other chem |
icals. which are absolutely essential in
the fertility of the soil.
What we call terrestrial dust is also |
Of great Importance to agriculture. In
many places the soil is almost entirely
Of particles that have been
left there by the winds. This is particu-
arly true of soils that are made up of
ashes. which are carried im-
nense distances from the craters. A
percentage of the soil en-
he earth's surface was originally vol
.anic dust, which has been distributed
~ that good friend of man we call the
wind.
"The clouds are water dust. Fog is
| mixture OF water. coal. terrestrial and
nettoric dust. The fogs of London
night be constantly reduced if the peo-
lie would burn hard coal.
'The dust from the streets of cities
'arries all sorts of fragments and
toms in various stages of decay. 1t has
high degree of agricultural signif-
ance. because it is loaded with germs
II all kinds. Some of them are very
seful and some are injurious.