St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1902-03-22
FARMER AND PLANTER.
ENR1cH1NG THE SOIL.
The Value of DecOmpOsed Vegetable
Matter A q RenOvat0r Of
the Soil.

value of vegetable matter as help
to enriching the soil. But we see SO
many proofs Of ignorance and indif-
ference on this subject that we feel
moved to discuss this subject more
at length.
Unorganized earthly matter is dis
solved and carried into growing
plants and there by the help of sun
shine and the acids of the one and
the unseen but ever present power of
life in the plant, it becomes organized
vegetable matter. This is won
drous process. Having once become
organized, it simply rots off and falls
to pieces in the earth, when turned
under, and is then ready to help build
up the life of another growing plant.
Here we can see why rotting vege-
tation is the most readily available
form of manure.
In natures economy nothing is
ever destroyed or annihilated. We can
not destroyed anything, all of work
ends in simply causing changes in the
forms of things. Providence has so
arranged her laws that we can do a
great deal to assist in this matter of
change.
The sweetest rose springs from the
dung hill. All life is supported from
some death just below it. The sweet
est orange or most luscius melon
draws it's life and sweetness from the
rotting earth and decaying vegetable
or animal life which has been sacri-
feed to build its own beauty and
worth. The law of life out of death,
reigns everywhere in this sin-cursed
world of ours.
We make our crops by helping to
carry on and to direct this strange
process. We manure or fertilizc by
feeding some form of rotting matter
to some growing plant.
The higher law of life provides and
selects and directs and transmutes.
So we find that we greatly assist in
7 the growth Of plants by providing
adequate supplies of water and solu-
BILE food just at the right time.
In doing this work we must al
ways have an eye to two things. The
mechanical condition of the soil and
the solubiity of the plant food pro-
vided.
Putting rotting vegetation into the
soil accomplishes both of these. 1t
keeps the soil loose and warm. Makes
it porous 80 that the little feeding
hair roots of the growing plant can
easily find their way in seeking food
and water. It makes the soil easy to
work, keeps it from baking; let's in
the sunshine and air; helps aeration
and manufactures humus in the soil.
Humus is the most necessary element
of good soil.
This rotting vegetable matter
makes the soil porous so that it can
absorb the rainfall and carry down
out of the way, and at the same time
enables capillarity to bring this wa
ter back just when needed for the
life and healthy growth of the crop.
The other important thing is the
chemical condition of the soil. Plant
4OOu may NC SSOA ~ oOuAAoe1AO Al oAAS
soil and do no good if it be insolu-
BILE. This rotting vegetable manner
helps to make the plant food soluble.
It not only furnishes readily soluble
food from itself, but it starts fermen-
tation in the soil and helps to make
humic acid-the most powerful of
solvents in the soil.
Two Important Things.
Two things help to make large
crops, by rendering available the
mineral food of the soil. These are
pulverization and fermentation. This
decaying vegetable matter helps both
of these. How silly then is that
farmer who burns his vegetable mat
ter or suffers it to 60 to waste in
any way.
Land never ceases to produce well
that has plenty of decayed vegetable
matter in it. Any soil may be made
unproductive by constant clean cul-
ture and no vegetable matter left to
rot upon it. But mix deep, thorough
pulverization with abundant rotting
vegetation and you can make any soil
constantly and increasingly produc-
tive.
The alluvial deposits of the Nile