The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-05-10
DUST A.ND ITS VALUE.
The Fertility of the Soil Largely Due
to the Atoms.


The Fertility of the Soil Largely Due
to the Atoms.
eff it WASH t for Dust" said Profess
or Wiley, the chief chemist of the
agricultural department at Washing
ton, .man would have to devise new
plan of existence. IIe would be COM
PEELED to provide himself with food by
some other means than agriculture.
You could not have a garden or farm
without dust. It would not be possible
for crop to grow unless the soil con-
tained an organism capable of convert
ing nitrogenous matter into nitric acid.
Nitrogen is indispensab BILE as plant food,
and plants can assimilate it only when
presented in the form Of nitric acid,
commonly known as aqua fortis. That
is incapabl of autolocomots.on, and can
be distributed only through the dust
which falls upon the soil and upon the
leaves of trees and plants; hence dust
is essential to the pursuit of agricul-
ture, and if it wasn't being carried
about constantly on the breeze through
the air we would simply have to quit
farming. Animals would have nothing
TO feed upon, and we would have nei-@
ther meat nor bread nor vegetables.
4'I have been spending some years,
continued Professor Wiley, sin the in
vestigation of the agricultural value Of
dust, and it is very important sub
ject. The soil is continually being re-
vived and enriched from the particles
that are floating about in the atmos-
phere. They come from two sources
first. atoms of the earth 8 surface caught
NJ by the wind and distributed else
where, and, second, what we call cos
mic dust-that is, mineral matter of
meleoric origin.
eve are getting gradually to under
stand its quantity, its value and the
important part it plays in agriculture
The heavenly bodies are constantly
shedding fragments of iron and other
mineral substances, which fall with
great velocity and when they reach the
atmosphere that surrounds the earth are
heated by friction and catch FIRE by
contact with the oxygen. They are
then burned to ashes and scattered in
minute and invisible atoms. Some of
the larger pieces that become detached
from the stars reach the earth without
being entirely consumed. We call them
meteors, but the little particles that
permeate the air, because of this per-
petual and violent bonn bardment from
the stars, are composed of phosphoric
acid, potash and other chemicals, which
are absolutely essential in renewing 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
composed of particles that have been
left there by the winds. This is partic-
ularly true of soils that are made up of
volcanic ashes, which are carried i'm
mense distances from the craters A
considerable percentage OF the soil on
the earth surface was originally vol
canic dust, which has been distributed
by that good friend Of man we call the
wind. Pompeii and Herculaneum illus
trate the great depth to which volcanic
dust may reach. These are called Ao-
lian soils.
..The dust from ths streets Of cities
is of composite nature, and carries
all sorts Of fragments and atoms in va
rious stages Of decay. It has a high de-
gree Of agricultural significance. be-
cause it is loaded with germs Of all
kinds. Some of them are very useful
and some are injurious. The effect upon
the public health is not injurious except
where the dust carries pathogenic germs
that is, the germs Of disease AS an
illustration, the sputum of consump-
tive, IL elected on the sidewalk, is re-
duced to dust when it dries, and is
then distributed through the air in the
form Of germs. If they find lodgment
in the lungs of human being whose
physical condition allows them to re-
vive and grow, the disease gets foot
hold and can be conveyed from one to
another. Chicago Record.