Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-12-27
QUESTION AND ANSWER DEPARTMENT
BURNING IS.AUSELESS WASTE

No matter how, man abuses and de-
stroys the tillabIe surface Of the earth
nature reclairnS IL IL given time and OPP
portunity. and after a ceursessof treat
raent such as nature affords, man finds
the land sufficiently restored 70 prove
valuable for cultivation. What is IL that
nature does during the years of rest
TO. restore the land SO that il yields
abundant cfopssto mans The first thing
is 10 cover IT up with some sort of veg
citation II may be old sedge grass,
briars, sassafras sprouts or young pine
trees No matter what the character OF
growth. In time II covers the entire sur
face heals the wounds which man has
made. and by covering the earth with
soft carpet OF vegetable amatter breaks
the fall of the rain and ARRESTS ero7
sion. One crop succeeds another and in
its death and decay increases the soil
covering until finally there is quite an
accumulation OF decayed leaves. grass
and other forms of vegetable life As the
years go BY the surface of the, soil
through this accumulation becomes SOFT
and friable. the fermentation necessary
TO the transformation OF inert forms OF
plant food into condition where plants
can utilize them takes place slowly, bur
Systematically, and thus IL the land be
left alone for a. long enough period of
ltliE ana MS hrRt 0AAs ~ may
l. become as rich or even richer than
when the primeval forest covered. IL 1t
was thus that the earth's surface was
prepared for human habitation. In the
long ages elapsing since. the creation OF
the world ere seldom II ever swept over
tire landscape destroying the litter of the
forest and the field. Had this not been
true man and his descendants would In
deed have had a desperate struggle TO
ha land
To maintain the fertility OF a soil &C
cording to natures practice. and her die
tates are always wise II we can inter
pref them inteIligently. IL is first neces-
sarye TO prevent washing or soil ero-
sion she acc0mpliShes- this by cover
ing the soil with a rich accumulation Of
vegetable matter. azd man finding IL
necessary to cultivate ever Increasing
areas OF land must be governed by her
practice II large crop yields are to be
maintained. Whenever a considerable
amount OF vegetable matter Is incorpo-
rated with the soil the tendency to
wash il materially lessened and the
ability OF that particular piece OF land
70 resist drought greatly increased. Much
NAV be done toward maintaining the. sup
ply OF vegetable matter by blowing un-
der the grass. leaves and other. trash
accommodating on the land Through the
yard manure sufficient amount OF this
material may be accumulated in any
soII TO meet the practical needs Of crop
production. This can, not be done. how
ever, in the face Of the barbarous, GRIM
final and useless waste OF vegetable mat
Ter which enSHes from the abombinahle
practice OF burning on the grass and
weeds and the cover Of the wood land
ever year in nearly all parts of the
TO the
destruction Of his corn and cotton stalks
b. means OF FIRE. His excuse for burn
ing is two-fold. First OF all. IL cleans
TIE land from his point Of view OF what
s. no value and is in his way Second,
n Gets rid of lot OF material which
y, cannot conveniently incorporate IN
his soil with the shallow surface work.
ing implements he has been accustomed
10 use in his farm practice.
IN the first pace. the material burned is
ut useless as he suppOses, but an in
valuable ingredient of every fertile soil,
rrr IL should not be forgotten that in the
abFence of vegetable matter the bacterial
rc-a on the soil Is greatly reduced. and
IN this instance fermentation and the
Transformation OF plant food from inert
into available forms is greatly reduced.
n other words bacteria are closely re-
ted 10 the profitable cultivation OF the
desired and everything must be done 10
facilitate their multiplication in the soil.
70 accomplish this end desirable condi-
tons for their existence must be provided
This means an abundance of vegetable
matter. and the burning of weeds. trash
and stalks is to be deplored on this ac-
upnnt
In the next Instance IL must not be
overlooked that when vegetable matter is
burned there is a tremendous loss OF
stalks contains I2.2 pounds of nitrogen,
80 pounds Of phosphOric acid and us
pounds Of potash. Thousands OF corn
fields i'm the south produce the equivalent
OF two tons of corn stalks per acre. When
these are burned the mineral mater lie
ret necessarily lost TO the sell. but the
r.trogen Is all destroyed. The burning Of
two tons OF corn stalks means the loss
CT as much nitrogen would be supplied
in 500 pounds of a 3-IO-4 fertilizer Yet
most farmers do not use as high grade
material as this and frequently do not
apply over 200 pounds per acre Is 1t
surprising under these conditions that the
find IL more difficult to raise profitable
crops? -
A ton OF Bermuda grass contains about
4.s pounds Of nitrogen. which Is worth
several dollars, yet nearly every Bermuda
sod Is burned on during the year. Just
what the idea may be Is hard 10 say. but
if the farmer realized he was burning up
good dollars and destroying vegetable
matter which could only be replaced by