The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1901-08-23

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from the fmsrs' Review: Thss IN
mods clpvers sub-soil pump hass bsen
spoken sof ~ much ID farm paper and
institute lectnrss that Il seems TO havs5
gotten beyond the stage OF. u nero dg.
ure Of speech AS q matter Of fact.
clovers have no more power 10 draw
plant food from the sub-soil than
every other crop OF an equal root area i;
furthermore. there ls always q great
{ deal more plant. food in available form
" thest top soil than in the sub-scil. IN
many cases the penetration Of roots
into the sub-soil is Of very doubtful
value to the plant; Plants take up;
moisture through their roots and draw
moisture from depth just as a wick
draws up, oil In q lamp. This, moisture
flowing as It does over and around soil
particles. dissolves very small. guam
fity Of mineral matter, and In this
manner M in the aggregate. great deal
OF plant food is brought to tho plants,
but this supply is too scanty and too
irregular to be depended on for profit
able culture. II such plant. food sup
plies seems all that is needed. there
never would have been any need 81
what Is called modern agriculture.
Clover makes growth where such:
crops as corn. wheat and timothy fail.
because clovers have the power Of sup
plying their own plant food nitrogen,
taxing It from the air. OF course, they
must have potash and phosporic acid
to DO this. Soils after many years un-
der cultivation lose a great deal of
plant food (which they contained as
natural soil. and are apt to be short
OF at least one Of the three elements
OF plant food. AS nitrogen is subject
10 more losses in the soil than potash
and phosphate, soils are most COM
monty short Of nitrogen, hence clovers
which supply their own nitrogen will
make good growth when non-le-
gumes fail. They are the potash and
phosphate and add to their own nitro
gen. This is about all there is to the
famous clover .tsub-soil pump"
We have often read that quick act
Ing chemicals fertilizers are injurious
to the soil because they stimulate the
SOIL to the quick use of all the availa-
Ole plant food 'In sight" Really, the
clovers are much worse than chem
1cals. Chemicals can 60 no further
tnan an equal balance to the plant food
they contain. while clovers supply all
the nitrogen needed to draw out Of the
SOIL every bit Of its soluble potash and
phosphates. AS 100 pounds Of nitro
gen acting through clovers takes out
ABOUT LOB pounds of potash and Is
pounds of phosphoric acid, the speed
OF this exhaustion becomes apparent,
If soil contains say 400 pounds Of
soluble potash per acre, the clover will
furnish nitrogen to take up all Of 1t,
and no more, just as it will do il there
are but 100 pounds Of soluble potash
present. Hence the exhausting nature
OF clovers is very severe and lasting
In Its effects. We are all pretty famil-
lar with clover sickness and know that
1t means nine times out Of ten simply
soil exhaustion.
This exhaustion should be guarded
against by liberal applications of pot
ash and phosphate fertilization, where
clovers are used in rotation, and the
best time to use this is for winter
wheat. The corn has drawn heavily
upon the plant food stocked up in the
clover, roots and stubble, so that
there is little available mineral plant
food left for the wheat, and conse-
quently it is in no shape for spring
stooling. In this way clover exhaus-
ton becomes very serious menace to
profitable farming. It is useless to try
heavier seeding, deeper plowing, roll
ing, ETC., when the whole trouble lies
tn soil exhausted Of its soluble min
eral plant food by a rank growth OF
clover. OF course the clover may be
returned to the soil as manure, but it
never pays to grow a crop simply for
manure, at least not in cereal farming.
Geo. K. Wilson.