Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1901-06-11
SOIL AND CULTIVATION.
A BRIEF CONSIDERATION OF THE SOIL.

indirectly, there arises all that goes int
the life of man.
How essential it is, therefore, that il
nature and qualities should be fully III
derstood, that the best methods G
handling it and of maintaining its flu
productive capacity should be in tn
possession of all who are soil cultivatOr:
We have been too apt to look upon tn
soil as dirt, something without life o
form, something to be avoided as muc
as possible. This idea has gone so ia
in some instances as to stamp certain
degradation upon those on whose hand
or garments there rested a taint of TIL
soil But the time has now come whel
it is generally known that TO handle tn
soil successfully one must have grea
skill, as well as knowledge of Nature
laws and foundation principles as great
or greater, than he who engages in an,
other industrial occupation possesses
The soil may be made a thing of life.
has great powers for chemical action ant
responds to The intelligent touch of tn,
husbandman, almost like the horse whC
feels the touch of it's rider on the bridl,
rein and sends back responsive chorC
as he springs to obey the call.
Nature has been wonderfully kind tC
the intelligent husbandman. She ha.
placed at his disposal even from the un
told ages of the past, vast amounts o
plant food in the soil. She has so plan
ned her work that the hand of igno
rance, no matter how persistent or pow
erful it might be, could not wrest thi:
f. ON him even by centuries of careles:
tillage. She foreordained from the ere
alton of the world that brain power
thought, study, intelligence, should
stand pre-eminent in this, as in Other
things, and gave into his hands the key
to the vast storehouse of this plant food
which she had denied to his ignorant
predecessor. She has said TO him, "Here
are vast fields awaiting you, they are
mines in which are to be found means tC
supply the world with food; take them
they will respond to the breath of intel
ligence, they will blossom at the call Of
the mind"
If the pioneer, the husbandman of the
past, who united numbering and clearing
the forest, with the cultivation of just
enough land to supply his wants, could
have found this storehouse, he wodld
have left the earth barren waste, mo. c
resembling the track of an invading army
than the path of the follower of peace.
The vast fields of the West would have
remained unimproved for many years
longer, and the subduing of the earth
and the civilization of the world would
have been delayed. But he took the
l,rct rs ba soil fhar p,nyaA ON tn
other fields, where he could repeat his
superficial operations. In this way
things have become even, the soil of the
East is still productive; the soil of the
West needs the same intelligent handling
and fertilizing, and the age of mental
agriculture has been ushered in.
The soils of to-day are composed of
mineral, vegetable and animal sub
stances. The grinding down the rock
by the great forces of nature gave it its
first power to produce the minor order
of plants. These plants in their turn,
gave up in their decay portion of vege-
table matter which aided plants of a
higher order to grow These secondary
plants gave life to animals, which, after
having lived their course and fulfilled
their mission. in their turn, went back
to the soil to assist in its further devel-
opment.
The value of humus in soils is over
looked by many farmers. 1t comes from
the slowly decaying organic matter that
accumulateS, and is most abundant on
soils so completely saturated with water
that the oxygen of the air is excluded
and SO cannot perform its work of de-
structiOn. As these lands become fur
ther removed from the water level the
air penetrates the soil, and the farmer
who cultivates carefully can take full adj
vantage of the more rapid decay of this
organic matter. The humus of our soils
becomes the great storehouse for nitro
gen, much of it containing as high as
five per cent of this valuable fertilizer
The fineness of the soil has much to
do with its absorptive powers. The finer
the grains, the more surface is exposed
to the action of the water. When the
soil is filled with rain, every grain will
have film of moisture adhering to it's
surface.
A French chemist made a very valu-
able experiment in this connection.
Taking glass flask holding about a
pint, he filled it with water which was
constantly kept boiling during five days.
At the end of this time he emptied.
dried and weighed the flask, when he
found that it had lost just two grains in
weight. He then broke off the neck of
the flask, ground it to fine powder,
poured the powder into the body of the
flask, and repeated the boiling for five
days. At the end of that time he found
that fully one-third of the weight of the
flask had been dissolved by the water.
This affords a valuable lesson in relation
to soil management. 1t is also lesson
that has value in connection with fertil-
izers.
By the experiments of Sir j. b. Laws
and his associates at Rolhamstead, it was
found that plants were able to produce
larger crops, and to extract more nitro
gen from the soil where mineral fertil-
izers were used than they could where
they were not used. For instance, wheat
grown continuously on the same land for
80 years without manures secured 20.7
pounds of nitrogen per annum per acre,
but on similar soil where mineral fertil-
izers without nitrogen had been used it
gathered 22.l pounds, or GIG per cent
more. Barley in "a consecutive years,
drew from the soil 1873 pounds of nitro
gen per annum where no mineral fertil-
izers had been used, and 22.4 pounds or
22 per cent more where they had been
used. Beans gathered Sl.3 pounds of
nitrogen without mineral fertilizers, and
45.5 pounds or As per cent more with
them. A rotation of crops, seven courses
in rs years, no fertilizers, produced 36.S
pounds of nitrogen; with superphosphate
of lime, 45.2 pounds or 22 per cent more.
Land in mixed grasses for 20 years, gave,
without mineral fertilizers, yield of 33
pounds of nitrogen, but with mixed
mineral fertilizers containing potash,
55.6 pounds or IS per cent more.
We find from these results that plants
are able to draw more material from the
soil when very small amounts of the
mineral const tuents which are similar to
those already there are added; that in
some way they are able to control larger
amounts of the natural resources of the
soil. 1t is truly wonderful when We
note the comparatively small amounts
used. In these results the thinking
farmer may find much food for thought.
Nitrogen is the most expensive ingredi-
ent in fertilizers. If it can be drawn
from the soil as these facts would indi-
cate, it will be a great help. Here opens
up new field of economic fertilization
which will supplement the use of the
clover plant very nicely. 1t is important,