The Savannah morning news., 1902-09-22
Humus of the Great Renovation of
the Soil.

/ HumuS of the Great RenOvator of
the Soil.
The Southern Planter says: The
greatest need of all the land of the
South is humus. Humus is decayed
vegetable matter. and is the prime
agent in promoting fertility in the soil.
/ In its absence lands rich in all the
/ elements Of plant food fail 10 produce
/ good crops. Analysis may show the
I soil TO have more phosphoric acid and
( potash in il than could be exhausted
/ from IL by a long series OF crops, and
Yet il viii fail to produce. nor can ii
[ be induced to do so by the application
+ of fertilizers of any kind unless and
until filled with humus- The soil with
I out humus is practically a dead soil.
and dead soil is an unproductive soil.
! Leave piece of land which has been
rendered unproductive by constant
cropping without the return OF any
plant food uncared for and unworked,
and nature viii set about its removal
ton by the restoration of humus.
Weeds and the lowest forms OF plant
life viii commence to grow, young for
est trees VIII get a start, and The dead
leaves and vegetable matter will each
year be added TO the soil. These, in
process Of time, will restore the fer
unity OF the land, but the process is a
slow one. But il must be initiated by
man If the soil is ever again to be-
come a profit BILE one. The humus in
all our Southern lands has been ex-
hausted mainly by constant cropping
in clean hoed crops and by the con-
unuous growing of one or two crops.
In experiments conducted in Mime
sofa, it was found that continuous
wheat growing for eight years caused
an annual loss of over 1000 pounds per
acre of humus due to the fermenta ton
and decomposition of organic matter
in the soil. This loss of humus chang
ed the physical properties of the soil,
causing II to be less retentive of mois-
ture, lighter in color, and heavier in
weight per cubic foot During time of
drought, the soil from the continuous
wheat plot contained less water than
the soil from the plot which produced
wheat in rotation with clover Humus
conserves the moisture of the soil,
while the rotation of the crops the use
OF farm manures and the growing of
clover and other leguinous crops con-
serves the humus of the soil One of
the great objects served by humus is
that of forming home for the mil
mons of microbe forms of life upon
which it is now known depends large
~ the conversion of the soil elements
into available plant food In the alb
sence of humus these forms cannot
exist and multiply, and without them
plants cannot get their food Another
object served is the formation of
humic acid, which is an powerful SOL
vent of the mineral plant food, either
naturally existing in the soil or applied
TO 1t in the form of fertilizer A third
OBJECT is the keeping open of the soil
so mat the oxygen of the air can pene-
trate 1t and carry its fe-giving prop
critics TO the plant roots This humus
being, then, of such Importance in re-
storing and maintaining the fertility
OF the land, it is of the highest mo-
heht to the farmer that he shall know
now to secure it. 1t may be done in
several ways. If his land is near a
city, he may buy manure from the CITY
stables. This is the course largely
adopted by truckers who need yerv
large supplies of humus in their soils
to enable them to produce quickly the
vegetable crops which they supply to
the cities. This method of supplying
humuS making matter to the soil is FOO
costly and incapable of adoption nv
the general farmer Where a large
mead OF live stock is kept on the farm
ana all the manure is carefully saved
large supplies of humus making mat
ter may be added to the land each
year; and this is one of the great adj
Fantages secured in keeping a large
OF peer and mutton is low in the mar
kets. There are thousands of farmers
IN England and Scotland, who, in years
OF even average prices for meat make
but little profit on their live stock be-
yond that secured in the manure made
by the stock. But this manure keeps
their lands rich and enables them TO
make heavy crops of wheat, barley and
oats without any purchased fertilizer.
nrOfif he
yield of wheat in England is over thir-
" bushels to the acre, as against about
fourteen in this country Such a WELD
would not be possible unless the land
was filled with humus. The South
needs much to follow in this line, for
now, and we believe for several years
TO come, there is not only profit to be
had in the manure made, but in the
meat produced. A third method of add
ing humus to the soil is by the growth
of leguinous and forage crops. This
method can and should be adopted bv
every farmer. 1t is the quickest way
in which the work can be done. as
mere we can grow two, at least, of
these crops in every year. BY keen
ing the land covered with these crops
both in winter and summer, we pro-
mote the nitrification of the soil pre-
vent teaching of available plant food
and at the same time when the cron
or Stubble is plowed down. add rapidly
to the humus content of the soil. Dur
ing the spring and summer months. we
have been urging the growth of these
leguminous and forage crops as food
for stock. We now urge the growth
of crimson clover, sand vetch, winter
vetch and mixed with these or sepa-
rately. wheat, oats and rye as food for
the soil and as savers of the fertility
in the soil which will otherwise be
leached away by the winter and spring
rains. AT the cost of about 9 dollar
as much crimson clover vetch and
wheat, oat or rye seed can be had as
will seed an acre. and the labor cost
need not amount to as much more
For this two dollars humus making
matter can be had worth to the perma-
nent fertility of the land many time
the cost. Let this work be attended
to during this and the two following
months. 1t will be time and money
we'll spent.
The Tamworth Breed of swine
In recent years so much has been
said about the Tamworth breed of
swine that for a long time l have been
L..