Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1911-02-10
Fee RIFLE SOIL,


and cities can afford to pay, We must
increase the fertility of our soils. Our
greatest asset is the fertility of our
soil. Just in proportion in which our
soils are worn out, in that proportion
is our prosperity diminished. No
living man has ever acquired the art
Of growing good crops of grains,
grasses, cotton, or vegetables on poor
land. 1t takes good land as we'll as
good preparation, good seed, and in
tensiye cultivation to make good
crops.
A fertile soil is deep, well drained,
full of humus, and contains plenty OF
OF plant food in an available form.
Deep Solve deepen soils for
the following reasons: First, to in
crease the water holding capacity;
second, to let the water escape from
the surface without running over the
ground and washing it off; third, to
permit the air to circulate freely for
a considerable depth in the soil;
fourth, to secure crops against drouth
by enabling the roots to go down to
perpetual moisture; fifth, to increase
the area from which plant may OBJ
tain food.
D~ainage.-Poorly drained soil can
not be roperly prepared in the spring;
the rapio evaporation will keep the
soil cold regardless of the temper
allure Of he air, thereby, retarding
the growth Of the crop; the roots of
the growing plants will spread out
near the surface and when the soil
dries out during the hot SUMNER, the
0rnn 'frnSO 0r hJrnc I'm hnf0rn ma
turity; large quantities of water evap-
Grating from the soil, makes it com.
pact and solid and heavy to work.
Ditches-Broad shallow bitches
made with a pillow ana &ump scrapper
are by far preferable to bitches made
with a spade. The broad shallow
ditch is much better for drainage and
can be easily crossed with plows and
cultivators and thereby kept clean.
Humus.-The soil must be kept full
Of life-giving vegetable matter or
humus. 1t must be in a loose, porous
and open condition so that air, water
and pant roots can easily come into
contact with every grain of it. The
soil must be full of vegetable matter
to prevent it from packing after every
heavy rain and to incraese the storage
capacity for water and thereby en-
able it to hold enough water to carry
the crop through the longest drOuth
in the summer though heavily fer
tilted. The soil must be full Of humus
to furnish food for the microscopic
life that makes the plant food in the
soil available for plants. 1t matters
not how much plant food the soil
may contain, it will not yield maxi
mum crops unless bacteria are pres
ent to make the plant God available
for crops. The number of bacteria
in the soil closely follows the amount
of humus in it.
Rotation OF CrOps.-By a suitable
rotation of cotton, corn and peas, oats
followed by peas, peanuts, soy beans,
or lesredeza every acre Of our soil
that is devoid of vegetable matter may
be filled full in three years. The di-
versification of crops, the turning un-
der of corn and cotton stalks, oat,
pea, soy bean, velvet bean, and other
stubble, grass Il trash, and the ap-
plication Of barn yard manure will
soon fill our cotton land full
Of life-giVing vegetable matter or
humuS.
Plant Food.-The soil must contain
an abundance Of plant food in an
available form in order to yield maxi
mum crops. Fourteen or fifteen Of the
elementary substances enter into the
composition of plants. Cultivated
soils generally contain a sufficient
supply OF all the elements necessary
to plant growth, except potassium,
PHOSPHORUS, and nitrogen. Missis-
sippi soils contain an abundance of
potassium in an available form. Our
soils are deficient in only two ele-
ments-nitrogen and PHOSPHORUS.
Nitrogen.-A rotation of crops in
Guiding leguminous crops the eating
Of such Ieguminous crops as lespe-
deZa, cOWpeas, peanuts, soy beans,
velvet beans, and the most available
concentrate, c~ottenseed meal, by good
stock and the application of all the
manure obtained from the stock tC the
soil will place as much nitrogen in the
soil as is necessary to produce maxi
mum crops.
We are told in a bulletin issued by
the Louisiana station that one acre of
Spanish peanuts grown on compare
lively poor pine land contained 1872
| pounds Of nitrogen, worth at CONNER
cial fertilizers value at least $40. An
acre of velvet beans contained 191
pounds and an acre Of cowpeas los
pounds. These crops made from two
to three and a half tons of feedstuffs
richer in food elements than wheat
bran. Wien such nitrogen gathering
plants cal be grown on comparative
" poor pine land and fed to good
stock without serious loss in fertil-
izing value, is there any excuse for
poor land and let me add for not rails
ing all kinds of good StOck2 No cOun-