The Mena weekly star., 1909-01-28

jest way. but by no means the best, IS bv the application of some commercial compound containing the element III concentrated form such as nitrate ol soda or cotton seed meal This method is not 10 be recommended unqualiiledly in fact the reverse is true. It should be strongly recommended against TOT two very good reasons First, It is too expcnsivc a method Of increasing the fertility as the element nitrogen costs at the rate of l7 cents per pound, and the impro ovement is by no means per manent for what plant food the plants fail to absorb during the first season E lost during the following winter through washing. In other words the use ot commercial fertilizers is but a temporary shift and their use is recommended only as 3 temporary substitute until the land can be built up permanently by the use of crops which have the power of gathering this fertility from the air and storing it in their roots The sec ond reason is that the soil is in much worse condition than before the com pound was applied. There are several very good reasons why this is so, Fer tility in soil is not influenced SO much bv the actual amount of plant food Tn the soil as by the condition in which 1t exists there There may be an abun- dance of these three very necessary clements, but if they be in such con dition that the plant is unable to make use of them. that is, if they are in an unavailable form, they are of no use to these plants Another very important
 actor is the moisture content of the
 Efast an all most incredible amount of moisture and if the soil IS not in condition to supply this moisture to the plants as they need 1t, best results will not be obtained. This relation of the soil to heat, moisture. color etc, IS called physical condition and IS polnt which Is worthy of unlimited study, The statement has often been made that commercial fertilizers destroy the phy- sical condition of the soil and the reason that this statement IS true IS that ln their application no provision is made for the very quickly decreasing supply of humus Humus IS the substance which when in the soil gives Il good physical condition, that is 1t makes the sol darker. thus raising the soil tenn perature several degrees, IL causes the soil to crumbie into small particles, thus increasing it's water holding capac- itv. and on account of these smaller particles and finer condition 1t is more easily handled and cultivated. There are several other reasons why provision should be made for maintaining q high humus content in the soil but space forbids us to dwell on this point further
 It IS sufficient to repeat that as conmer- cial fertilizers make no provision Tor supplying this very important sub stance their use k to be recommended only in cases where the farmer Is assured he can use them without injurious effect being felt during succeeding years
 The second method oi increasing the nitrogen content in the soil and the one that we advocate and recommend is by the addition of barnyard manure and
 the growing of leguminous crops, such as COW peas. clover and soy beans, and the use of green manures. The pre- dominating plant food element in barn yard manure IS nitrogen and in addition
 to supplying the soil with this very val uable element 1t has the effect of inn
 proving the physical condition of the soil by the addition of organic matter or humus. The effect of barn yard
 manure on soil is doubtless familiar to
 the majority of farmers who will agree with ;ise writers when they say that t
 renders the land triable and easily cul-
 tivated, that is 1t causes 1t to crumble
 into very fine particles; it increases the water holding capacity of the soil due
 to the fact that the soil is in finer tilth and more porous, and 1t raises the soil temperature by making the soil a darker color, thus starting plant growth earlier in the spring.
 One of the main benefits derived from an application of manure IS that it carries with 1t to the soil innumerable small living organisms, which attack the insoluble plant food, which is all ready in the soil and convert it into a soluble condition so that the plants are able to make use of it Not only this, but 1t supplies the food upon which these organisms subsist until they be- come thoroughly established in the soil, This is one of the most important func- tions of manure and one which should always be kept in mind when an appli- cation of manure IS made