The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1910-12-09

Niopo vi "hedt dNtldSluS twenty DuSH-
els to the acre, assuming that grain
straw or stalks are removed from the
field would take 1,120 pounds of nitro
gen, l,l20 pounds of potash and $40
pounds of phosphoric acid, of total
value of S2Sl. Thirty.two crops of
corn at sixty.five bushels to the acre
would take 2,400 pounds of nitrogen,
1920 pounds of potash and $40 pounds
of phosphoric acid, totalling 1894
Two tons of clover hay would take 2, ~
pounds of potash and 800 pounds of
phosphoric acid, of a value of .$l59.
Four tons of alfalfa hay would take
4,096 pounds of potash and 1872
pounds phosphoric acid, the value be-
ing 1884. 1t is questionable whether
these two latter crops remove any
nitrogen from the soil, and this ! will
discuss little later on.
So far have shown what this soil
of ours contains, what proportion of
it is removed by series of groupings,
and perhaps here | ought to say that
only about twelve pounds out of every
1000 pounds which enters into the
composition of plants and cereals
comes out of the soil, the source of
the other 9SS poNnds being air and
water, the carbon and the nitrogen
being taken out of the air, and it is
most interesting to know that that
which is so important to and so large
ly used by plants is held in the air
about and above us in such abundant
supply, for it. is estimated that there
are 10000 tons of nitrogen lowering
over each acre of our lands waiting to
be trapped and transformed into plant
food, and where it is that local condi-
tions are favorable for the utilization
of this great ocean of fertility matter
then we can say we live in rich
farming country.
AS l have before intimated, heat
and moisture are controlling factors
in the production of plant food. We
may possess every element necessary
which goes to the making of this food,
but if the soil in which it is contained
does not have the ability to store up
the rains and SHOWS which fall upon
it, the forces which transform and pre-.
pare these different things which
plants require to nourish them cannot
perform their functions properly. And
now / will give the results of some
very interesting Investigations which
will show the peculiar ability of our
soils to bottle up and take care of the
moisture which falls.
Moisture Nearly All Retained.
First let me say that the soil par.
ticles are neither too large or too
small. If they were too small, there
would not be much room for water to
accumulate between them and they
would pack close together and could
not take up much water. If they were
too large, the water would rapidly
drain away but our soil is of such a
texture and character also depth, that
practically our loss of water is very
small. l think Professor Barbour, our
state geologist estimates the loss by
run-off to the streams to be about ten
percent. whereas in some of our east
ern states more than half of the mois-
ture which falls is not retained by
the soil, but passes off to the water
courses.
About the beginning of last Sep
tember / dug two pits on my land.
One in an eight-year-old alfalfa field,
and the other about thirty steps away
from it, in an adjacent corn field.
The cornfield has never had any le-
guminous crop grown upon it. These
pits were dug to determine several
things / had in mind, viz: the mois-
ture content of the two fields, what
the alfalfa had added to or taken from
the soil, and whether nitrifying bac-
terra operated at lower level in the
alfalfa field than they did in the corn
field and how far the alfalfa and corn
roots penetrated.
There having been very great
shortage of rainfall during the past
growing season, these moisture inves-
legations speak with peculiar force.
The first foot in the cornfield con-
tained 14h percent of water, the Sec
ond foot II percent, and the third
about 19 percent, and averaging about
the same amount down to the twelfth
foot. In all, there was enough water
to equal thirty-two inches of rainfall.
The corn roots had penetrated down
in this field about three and one-half
feet and never once during the sum.
mer was there any indication that the
corn was suffering for lack of mois-
ture. OF course, the water that was
in the surface soil had been conserved
by good tilling, and what had been
used up in June, July and the early
part of August was replenished by the
later rains which came.
Now, what had happened in the
alfalfa field? This crop is a great
user of water and not only does it get
its supply from the store near to the
surface but it digs deep and draws up
its water supplies from far down in
the earth, that Is, where conditions are
favorable for it to dig and the storage
for taking care of water is
good.