The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1902-02-06
FARMER AND PLANTER.
SOIL AND SOIL TREATMENT.
Farms Run Down as tho Result OF BAD
Management, Not of the De-
mands of the Crops.

The earth was made for the pur-
pose of growing plants, and 1t is we'll
and wisely made. The soil is perfect
ly adapted to growing vegetation. II
neither grows weary nor WORKOUT IN
the work So perfect is their adapta-
ton to this business, that instead OF
exhausting the soil, they leave it bet
ter by growing in it. The larger the
growth upon any given area TINS
year, the larger still is the possible
growth next year upon the same soil.
Such is the mutual relationship be-
tween the powers of the soil and the
work of the plants in growing, dying
and decaying that it is possible to
grow crops continuously upon the
same soil, with ever-increasing ca
pacity for growing more and larger
crops on the part of the soil. How,
then, do farms get poor? 1t is the
result of bad management, and not
of the demands made upon the soil
by the growing crops. Vegetation
upon an average is rs per cent. water,
ptI Ccut. oil stllu JILL SAAAN w ~
cent soil. Good farming returns to
the soil so much of this organized
water and air. that it more than
compensates for the three per cent.
taken from the soil. Hence, it is a
mistake to say that the soil is ex-
hausted or made poorer by the small
part it furnishes the crop. Then you
ask why do we find fields and farms,
after years of cultivation, become
poor and non-productive? The causes
are many. Mainly bad management
in blowing when the soil is wet, and
III blowing so shallow that the solu-
BILE plant food is washed away or
leached out by the rain water. Con
tinuous clean culture and burning
the waste vegetable matter helps to
hasten this condition.
Mechanical condition of the soil:
The power of any soil to produce de
ponds largely upon the mechanical
condition of the soil. Hard, compact
soils will not turn loose their Gle
,nents of plant foodin sufficient guam
ties to make large crops. A good sol
must be finely pulverized soil. Shall
low soils with hardpan under then
will not yield large crops. They dc
not permit sufficient root growth
The tender rootlets can not pierre,
this hardpan in search for food
Again, they do not furnish sufficien
water for rapid and fullgrowth
Plants require very large supplies o
water to furnish their food in solu
ton and keep up healthy circulation
About three hundred pounds of waite
must pass through most plants t.
leave one pound of dry matter. Thi
would require about TWO thousan
pounds to pass through a cornstal
to make one pound of corn, and III
same to pass through cotton stall
to leave one pound of lint. The sol
must be fine and deep and puverizet
not made into mud or mortar. ]
must also contain rotting vegetabl
matter to furnish the humus, withou
which plants can not grow.
Rich soil: Soil in this condition wi
be rich. It will produce large crop:
It matters not if it be red or gra,
sandy or clay. So much of our Ian
has been put in bad mechanical col
dition that but few farms will pr,
duce large crops. Hence the necess
ty of using commercial fertilizer
These contain phosphoric acid an
potash readily soluble and vailabl
; They greatly increase the yields b.
cause of this fact. They feed til
growing plant. The more vigorol
the plant, the more they help-ju:
as it pays to give extra food to
thriving pig or beef. So we see tn;
even the helpfulness of fertilizers
dependent upon the mechanical te
tune of the soil. Tic farmers COZ
slant study should be ''How can
improve the mechanical condition
my soil?" Upon his intelligence
answering this question will depeI
largely his success as i farmer. You
bottom land is richer than your u
land because it's mechanical conc
ton is better. Your garden is rich
than your farm, because it's mocha
ical condition is bettnr. These are n
new discoveries, but so few farme
are acting upon them that they ne,
to be restatcd.
Where the farmers use two, TO
and siN-horse plows, their soil is de-
and fine and proti". I've. Any soil III
me made SO by proper treatme1
Your soil is largely thing of 20
own making. The success or failu
of your crops for the next year W
depend very largely upon the com
ton of your soil when you begin
plant.-Jas. B. 1Iunnicut, in Tex
i