The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-12-30

| Oic Va my "iiIeS'
Il have read somewhere that land that
was originally rich cannot be made poor.
but can only be exhausted, so to speak
can easily be brought up, but land that
was poor In the beginning cannot be
made permanently rich. | have frequent
ly given 1t as my belief that land that
was originally fertile, and is Of u good
mechanical texture can never be really
worn out, though by bad farming it
may be brought into a very unproductive
condition while still having in it an
abundance of plant food when it's condi.
ton renders unavailable. The scientists
Of the Department of Agriculture who
have been studying soils announce as one
OF their discoveries that all cultivablc
soils have in them about the same aver
age amount of soluble plant food, and
that the only difference in their produc-
| tiveness is in their mechanical condition
| and the readiness which they supply
water for the solution of the plant food.
II this IS true then the fact that thc
chemist finds more nitrogen or phosphoric
acid or potash IN one soil than in another
has nothing whatever to do with the
needs OF that soil as to additional plant
food to be supplied in fertilizers. If the
amount OF soluble plant food in all soils
is the same then all soils need the same
treatment as to allitional plant food 70
be supplied in fertilizers. The soil that
was originally fertile soil have been cult
waited and crops taken off from it has
completely oxidized this humus and used
it up, and the mechanical condition of
the soil is very different. Its clayey mat
ter has run together and the air is shut
IL H. 4Ci1
to furnish water to the roots and to
dissolve plant food and though a labora-
tory experiment may show that it still
contains the average amount OF soluble
| plant food, the water is not present for
it's solution by reason of the loss OF hu-
mus and absorbs and retains less heat,
and heat is essential to the growth Of
plants.
| Thus, while chemical analysis may show
| that it has an abundance of plant food,
the food is locked up and plants cannoot
get at it. This is just the condition Of
larger areas in the South. But to say
no soil originally poor or unproductiye
| cannot be made permanently fertile ard
! Productive is hardly true. There are
thousands of acres in the South which.
hen first cleared, were in an unproduc-
mus The red clay uplands of the South
have naturally less humus than similar
lands in the North, for in our open wood
lands the leaves are blown awav to the
hollows and bottoms in winter while
| in the North they are packed down by
snow and held to rot where they fell,
and thus larger amount of humus or
| vegetable decay is found there. But
| when these are stored with humus-making
matter they rapidly increase in produc
| tiveness because of their improved me
| chanical condition. l once remarked TO
a friend, good farmer in an improving
section that l thought a certain field OF
| corn WAS poor for q piece OF new ground
Newly cleared land here" he said, IS
| tho poorest land we have, and we never
| expect it to do we'll till we have handled
| it a few years and got some clover or
peas ON it,
1 have never forgotten the remark
though it was many years ago, and II
| set me TO thinking about the matter
and / became convinced that so far rs
/ the clay uplands of the South are con
cerned he was right, and that the first
step in their development and permanent
prouctiveness must be the getting into
them of the humus that improves their
warmth.
| 1t is true that there are in the South
and in all other sections OF the country
lands that were originally poor which
cannot be made permanently fertile, but
must be continually aided by manure or
| fertilizers These are the sandy, barren
soils where there was originally but a
small store of plant food and where the
plant food added in fertilizers is rapidly
oxidzed and leached down, because of tie
loose mechanical condition of the SAM
and the absence Of food-retaining clay
On such lands fertilizers act quickly on
the crops and their warmth makes them
available for early garden crops, but the
plant food supplied is soon lost and must
be continually renewed. But it does not
| fellow that a sandy soil that was origi-
nally poor cannot be made permanently
fertile if just below the sandy surface
| there is a retentive clay subsoil that can
be reached by the pillow to ameliorate
the surface, or even when out OF reach
of the pillow to serve IS an arresting force
| to retain moisture and plant food. Now
| having land that is called worn out"
OH our red clay and the soil scientists
| tell us that it shows just as much soluble
| plant food in it as land right alongside
that has been we'll worked and well
treated, anG IS productive, while no treat
ment at present seems to avail to make
| it produce good crops, we want to find
the reason. You will see on a very cas-
ual examination that the productive land
OF the same natural character is darker
in color, is more mellow and less inclined
| to bake and dry out.
| In a dry time you can stir up moisture
in it with the toe of your shoe, while
on your worn-out land you can hardly
stir it at all when dry. What makes the
difference in these two fields? Simply
the difference in humus or vegetable de-
| cay This has all been burnt out of the
WORKOUT land, and while a laboratory
solution of the two soils will show the