The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1906-04-26
NITROGEN.

nitrogen.
Just what amount of nitrate Of soda
is used in this country for fertilizing
purposes we do Tot know, but the
amount is certainly very large. The
whole output has been in the hands of
a combination, which is composed of
English capitalists, who, on a capital
iZatiOn of $4,000 have cleared 81
100000. Now we are informed that
the combination is about to break up,
and it may result in a lower price for
the nitrate. The Chilean Government
gets $50, 5000 annually from the ex-
port duty on nitrate Of soda. Now we
are sure that a very large part Of the
enormous amount of money that has
been spent on nitrate OF soda has
been wasted, by reason of bad
farming. 1t. is doubtless that it is
early. truck. crops, but its economical
use in general farming is not so GER
tain. Farmers annually buy nitrate
and other forms Of nitrogen merely to
get a little more to sell at once from
the land, when by the use of the
iegumes. and q proper rotation of
crops, they could improve their soils
without the purchase of nitrogen i'll
any form. And of late many have
been deluded with the notion that they
can. by a few bacteria on dried cotton.
indEce the greater accumulation of nj
trogen by the legumes, and they have
paid 50 per acre for what cost less than
ten cents to make, and at that gener-
ally worthless. There is 10 doubt that
SF Ain coil &c will o-1D.,I;cI Nth {I1 Hon Il
terra suited to the legume being grown,
there will De a greater nitrogen fixa-
ton by the legume. But where the
bacteria already exist in the soil. the
further incubation could do no good.
And then, no matter how we'll the soil
may be inOculated with the bacteria
that live on the roots of the legumes,
if it IS deficient in phosphoric acid and
potash. NJ amount of incubation will
avail much. Now, if instead OF buying
SO much of the eyanescent nitrate of
soda. and paying 50 for a vest pocket
package Of raw cotton, farmers would
devise a rotation Of crops that Will
bring the legume crop generally grown
in their section, and would literally
supply that legume crop with phOs-
phoric acid and potash, they could get
all the nitrogen which farm crops in
general need, without cost. In the
large section Of the country where
clover has been the legume crop, there
is seldom any need for incubation with
the clover bacteria, and in sections
where the eoWpea has been grown for
generations, no incubation is needed
for it. and if there was, no amount of
incubation will be of much use unless
the soil is supplied with the mineral
elements of plant food. The fact is
that there are few Of the legumes that
will not finally i~noculate the soil with
the germs carried on the seeds. and
there are millions OF acres more in
need Of the plant foods that the
legUmes need than of incubation.
Some years ago a German bacteriolo-
gist sent out under the name Of Mira
gin a laboratory culture of soil bacteria.
and a little vial of this as large as ones
little finger was to put all the nitrogen
needed on an acre of land. In field
practice it was found entirely useless,
just as the last vest-pocket packages
Of cotton have proven. The fact re-
mains that we can get all the nitrogen
we need through the agency of the
legumes, if we supply them literally
with the plant food they require, phos-
phOric acid and potash. When this is
done, there may be some good done
in many cases by soil taken from d
field where the particular Iegume has
been long grown. and the soil better
jnoculated than the one sown last. A
busheI or two of this, scattered over an
acre, will beat the cotton wads every
time. but will not atone for any lack
OF phosphoric acid ana potash in the
soil.-W. f. Massey.