Rocky Ford enterprise., 1901-07-12
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The question OF soil nitrogen IL one
that has been considered by some OF
the most advanced investigators In tho
domain Of agricultural science. Lit
tie BY littis the puzzles have been made
plain. bun the progress has been sur
prisingiy stow. A generation OF think
ers makes hut little headway. The az
Eresate u. however. laree. Nitrogen has
SO many forms and 50 many changes
that Il has proved q mos. dificuit ele-
ment to bind and analyzo. 10 follow Its
transformations and learn the causes
OF those Transformations ksve proven
still more dificult. The exp-rimenters
start out 10 prV,e one thins relative
to soil nitrate. and md. bsfore they
finish their tests. ri4at they hsse proved
part Of something else. A vast
amount OF experimenting along these
lines remains 10 b done. even v reach
few certain conclusions.
For years tho wisca nsin station has
been carrying on experiments having
In view the dcterminins OF . number
OF things relative 70 nitric nitrogen in
tho soil. Among the things TO DO
found out were ~ the vnria5isness
Of nitric nitrogen In the soil during
the growing season: (:D the difference
In amounts Of nitric nitrogen in fal!ow
soil aud soil In crops: (3l the innu.
ence OF cultivation on the formation
OF this element: ~ tho influence OF
nitratcs on the thrifty versus The ycl-
low and withcred plants: 90 the va
riablcncss OF the nitric supply IN and
between rows Of corn: ts) tho differ
enes In supply Of nitrogen In soil and
we'll water: "a tho discovery Of nm
accurate method Of determining the
nitric nitrogen In soils.
A few OF tho conclusions reached
may be summarized as follows: In
dividing the soil into foot laycrs to q
depth OF four feet. the greatest changes
were found In the foot next the sur
fact. In this top layer the supply Of
nitric nitrogen varied greatly through
out the growing season. The amount
In the spring was small. but increased
rapidly during the drst three months
OF growth. reaching their maximum
amount In June or July. according to
the kind of crop being grown upon
the fields. During July. when crops
are growing most vigorously. the nitric
nitrogen rapidly decreases till the nrst
part of August. after which II remains
quite constant In the surface layer.
In the other layers little change Is
observed.
The value OF frequent cultivation is
apparently In the more rapid accumu-
lation OF nitric nitrogen rather than In
tho mere conservation OF moisture. II
was found that stirring the soil once
per week. as compared with the stir
ring OF II once In two weeks. left the
soil stirred. after 81 days. with 9s.l6
as compared with 53.0l pounds Of nj
trtc nitrogen per million of dry soil.
In the second series of experiments
which covered 2ss days the soil stirred
once per week had acquired mean
OF 225.1 parts and that once In two
weeks 1879 parts per million Of dry
soil showing the largest gains with the
more frequent cultivation. II was
found that stirring the soil to depths
Of one inch two inches. three inches
and four inches during an interval OF
258 days resulted In IN increasing
amount Of nitric nitrogen until the
three inch depth was passed. but that
cultivation four inches deep gave q
smaller nitrifcation than the three-
inch depth did. Thus In a soil stirred
once a week the action Of the forces
that create nitric nitrogen is stimulated
exceedingly. The increase OF these nj
trates results In decided increase In
growth Of plants. all OF which has
hitherto been credited to better direc-
ton Of the water supply.
The amount Of available nitrntes af-
fects the thrift and color of the leaves.
From the experiments referred to we
draw the conclusion that leaves turn
sere because the supply of nitrates Is
virtually cut OF; and this lessened sup
ply OF nitrates Is q provision of ma
ture to assist in the elaboration of
seed. The amount of nitric nitrogen
left in the surface foot of soil before
crops begin to turn yellow for lack
Of available nitrogen becomes very
small. the amount found being .213
parts per million where oats were yet
green. and OPS parts per million WHERE
they were turning yellow. In corn 1t
was found as low as .95 parts where
corn was green. and 10 parts per mil
lion where 1t was strongly yellow. The
rapid growth Of stalks Just before ma
turity apparently has the result of TAX
ing out of the soil about nine-tenths
of the nitrates available in the sur
face soil.
The amounts Of nitric nitrogen were
found greatest between the rows of
corn, as they were coming into tassel,
and least directly beneath hills, except
in the surface six inches, and in the
fourth foot where the relations were
slightly reversed. The amounts of nj
tric nitrogen are less in the deeper
ground water wells OF this vicinity
than In the soil, moisture of the fourth
foot, the nitric nitrogen being only
about one-third Of the amount. Obser-
vations indicate that when the textural
equilibrium of soils is destroyed m
the presence of SaIta in po1utiou