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

to the Atoms.
eff it wasn't for dust" said Profess.
or Wiley. the chief chemist Of the
agricultural department at Washing
ton. "man would have to devise a new
plan of existence. He would be COM
PEELED to provide himself with food by
some other means than agriculture
You could not have IA garden or a farm
without dust. 1t would not be possible
for crop to grow unless the soil con-
tanned an organism capable Of convert
ing nitrogenous matter into nitric acid
Nitrogen is indispensable az plant food,
and plants can assimilnte it only when
presented in the form of nitric acid,
commonly known as aqua fortis That
is incapable Of autolocomot;nn, 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 mir 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.
II have been spending some years,
continued Professor Wiley, ''in the in.
vestigation of the agricultural value Of
dust. and it is a very important sub.
ject. The soil is continually being re-
vived and enriched from the particles
that are floating about III the atmos-
phere They como from two sources
first. atoms of the earth y surface caught
up by the wind and distributed else
where, and. second, what we call cos
mic dust-thut is. mineral matter of
meteoric origin.
1--WE 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 ami 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 tho earth without
being entirely consumed. We call them
meteors. but the little particles thnt
perneate tho air. because Of this per
petual and violent bombardment 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
ksol1
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's surface was originally vol
canic dust, which has been distributed
by that good friend Of man we call the
wind. Pompeii and Herculaneum illus
trato the great depth to which volcanic
dust may reach. These are called Eo-
lian soils.
''The dust from the streets Of cities
is Of composite nature, and carries
all sorts Of fragments and atoms in va
rious stages Of decay. 1t has 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 uron
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 a consump-
tive, if elected on the sidewalk. is re-
duced to dust when it dries, and is
then distributed through the air in the
form Of germs. II they find lodgment
in the lungs Of a 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.