Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-04-07
Miseellaneous 3eadina.
FERTILIZATION PROBLEM.
Practical and Illuminating Discussion
of Most Important Subject.


of Most Important Subject.
The Charlotte News of March 81,
publishes a paper that was read by
Mr.. w s. Lee Of the Southern Power
company before the Engineering socie-
ty Of the Carolinas at a recent meeting
in Charlotte on the subject Of fertili-
zerss The paper contains so much in
teresting and valuable information as
to make it worth careful study, and
we take pleasure in reproducing it
herewith for the benefit Of the readers
of The Enquirer.
I'VE stand near some trunk line
railroad and see whirling by us train
load after train load Of some product
OF our local soil, such as watermel-
ons, cantaloupes or various fruits and
vegetables, we are very much i'm
pressed with the magnitude of this
particular line of agriculture. When
we consider that the products of our
soil are being shipped in enormous
quantities to various quarters of the
globe, then reflect but a moment, we
can readily see that we must have
some very fertile or productive soil
which We are depicting, or which
must be replenlshed by suitable fer
tilization.
"If we could tabulate the tonnage
of our farm products which are going
out Of our territory each year, fear
we would be alarmed as to what the
conditions will bring forth. We are
told by our physicist that according
to the law of conservation of matter
not a particle can be annihilated.
Reasoning along this line, we feel that
while we are taking enormous pro-
ducts from the soil, this matter will
eventually find its way back. This
may be theoretically true, but it will
require long time for the fruits and
vegetables which we are shipping to
the large centers, such as New York
city, and are there used or wasted, to
ever find their way back to fertiliZe
IIlc Soll VI lIlc CdIOIllldS.
For many years ship load after
ship load of cotton has been moving
from the south to be spun in Eng
land. Can anyone tell you when the
matter which is so moved will ever be
returned TO replenish the soil on
which we have been drawing? Our
agricultural resources have been so
used and only partially titled. that
from year to year we have been lay
ing aside the land which has been
robbed Of its fertility. only to clear
away our forests and use more fer
tile soil. The rate at which this has
beer going on, is showing very plainly
to the thinking man that this must be
stopped and we must arrange to pre-
pare to fertiliZe this old soil to keep
up our enormous production.
THE failure of the soil to repro
duce as it formerly did, has given rise
to to-a1Aenormous business in the manu-
facture of commercial fertilizers.
Before considering our method Of
fertilizing we wish to discuss one i'm
portant element which seems to per-
wade so many of the compounds
which we find useful in every day life.
This element, nitrogen, which we find
in combination with others, is very ac-
tive.
I'VE find it in our perfumes, also in
some Of our most obnoxious smells
We find it in our beautiful dyes, also
in great many Of our medicines used
in our sick room; in the deadly pOis-
on. such as prussic acid, and in the
ptomaines this element also turks. 1t
drives our bullets in the form Of gun
powder. it forms our powerful explo-
sive. dynamite: it dissolves our met
ais in the form of nitric acid, and it
extracts our gold extracts in the form
of cyanide.
About three-fourths Of our atmos-
phere is composed Of nitrogen. While
it is very active in other compounds,
it is very inert and inactive in our at
mosphere. We find that compounds
of nitrogen furnish our chief source
of fertilizers. There are three sources
from which this fertilizer is derived
First: Peruvian GuanO. This is
excrement and remains of sea birds,
which is shipped us from Peru. In
1856 about $4,000 tons per year We're
derived from this source; today there
is practically none. as this has been
almost exhausted.
"Second-SOurce of nitrogen is de-
rived from ammonium sulphate, this
being a bi-product in the distillation
of coal tar. In 1900 this amounted to
about 5000 tons per year, valued at
about s2O.OOO,O 900.
"Third-SOurce of nitrate Of soda
or oftentimes called Chill salt petre.
This comes from a narrow strip OF
land between the Andes and coast
hills which is rainlesS district, and
there from countless ages the fiXation
count of atmospheric and soil c0ndi-
tons In 1860 about $4,000 tons were
derived from this source. In 1900,
1,453,00O tons were used. 1t is esti-
mated that within from Is to 20
years. that this course will be totally
consumed. About one-fOurth of this
is used in the various industries, and
about three-fourths is used for the
fertilization of the soil in the agricul-
tural districts of Europe and Ameri-
ca.
"The formation of these valuable
deposits required ages and ages, but
man in his hurry today Is not patient
enough to wait for such formations.
In Il mad endeavor to secure more
from the soil that nature Intended;
he is continually looking for some ar
tifcial means to increase its produc-
ton.
Dame Nature has made heroic ef-
forts to provide for man, as well as
take care of the waste of her boun-
ties. She no doubt must look down
on man and feel that he is using his
1.,.N tN