The Savannah morning news., 1902-01-13

ones the poison varies greatly-some
having scarcely any at all
In the case of this plant and the
woolly and stemless loco weeds some
effort has been made to find out where
they get their deadly poisons. That or
the loco weeds is a most subtle thing.
The poison of the woolly loco produces
strange Authorizations in it's victims.
1t affects the eyesight and silently
reaches one after another of the vital
functions, killing the victim in two
years time
Some animals after eating it refuse
every other kind of food and seek only
this.i They endure a lingering period
of ernaciation characterized by sunken
eyeballs, lusterless hair and feeble
movements, and eventually die of
starvation. SO mystic an element
gathered from the earth and the air
naturally causes wonder and the de-
sire to know what such things may be
and Why they are"
Weeds indispensable.
THE manner in which weeds are
known to improve poor soil forms a
remarkable scientific discovery. Their
roots extend into the stffer and more
compact subsoil, where no ordinary
plant can reach, and after loosening
and opening it up so that air and water
can have action upon it, suck up from
below great quantities of potash salts
and phosphoric acid. When these
weeds are plowed under or die, these
salts and acids are left near the sur
face where they can be utilized by the
cereals and root crops which live upon
them. For instance, wheat and pota-
toes flourish we'll where these weeds
have gone before and done the work
of getting the necessary food for them
from the subsoil and the air.
Much land is of no value until these
weeds come in and make it so. This
is particularly true of sandy soils and
reclaimed marsh lands, which are de-
flCiert in potash, a thing necessary in
ali farming land. On these the deeper
rooted legumes, such as gorse. bropm.
alfalfa. upines. sulla and the perennial
beans die OF great value. Their roots
not only reach down very deep and
bring up potash from the subsoil in
the mar ne. described, but their leaves
take great quantities. of nitrogen from
the AR. Row, when soil is ich In
potash and nitrogen it is good soil, and
as these plants die and leave their
gathered potash and nitrogen on the
surface, the sandy and marshy soils
become good lant All ths farmer has
aud lie has ard on which he can raise
cereai5, root olon and tobaG2o hat
hardest, 1icel Gearing Ylont upo1 soil.
'"The government has induced farm
ers to try the Florida beggar weed.
One experimenter reported that by
planting il in his field and blowing un-
der the annual crops for two successive
years, the soil had been completely
changed in texture and color. Another
f9 digNnNaraH that a nj hpcr-
gar weed turned under, will, when de-
composed, retain near the surface in
ready reach of the roots of succeed
ing crops not only all the nitrogen
that il took out of the atmosphere, but
also whatever fertilizers We're subse-
Quentiy applied. third reported that
all his field produced more luxurious
crops after having been given over one
season to a rank growth of this weed.
TO find out how much chemical
value this weed really takes from the
air and the subsoil, the government
planted sandy field (bare of any of
the qualities on which ordinary ce-
reals and vegetables can thriye) with
beggar weed, and when the crop was
at it's hight harvested it, root and all.
The crop was then reduced to ashes
and the result anaylzed. 1t was found
that every ton of beggar weed ashes
contained sos pounds of lime, 2S0 pounds
of phosphoric acid, and 4S2 pounds OF
potash. Twenty to twenty-five tons
of beggar weed hay were required to
make one ton Of ashes, but every acre
yielded four tons of beggar weed. 1t
was figured out that at a four-ton
yield per acre, which is an average,
one acre of begar weed would yield
1870 pounds of nitrogen, worth fifteen
cents a pound, oT $22 80 worth of nitro
gen, and potash and phosphoric acid
worth $5.25, making total of $27.75
worth of fertilizing chemicals taken
from an acre of soil worth nothing at
all -