El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-03-18
RENE BACHE'S BUDGET
.PO|S0Ns FOR THE FARMERS
GOVERNMENT EXPERTS DISCOVER SOLUTION
OF A PULLING PROBLEM
Why Some Soils Have ''Worn Out''-Reason Is Simply
That Posons Have Accumulated in Them
Strange Chemic Substances Which the
Scientists Have Put Up in
Bottles.


which have been deser.ed for this reason.
A strange circumstance in. this con-
nection is the fact that chemic sub
stance of the kind which is poisonous
Tor one kind of plant is quite harmless
to another. Thus for example. the DO
tato experiment above described resulted
IN large accumulation of anti-potato
poison IN the ported soil But sthis
poison was evidently not in the least
Injurious to the barley which thereupon
was planted in the pots. Here, told in
a word, is the secret of the reason why
the farmer finds it expedient to adopt
rotation of crops.
Many Soil Poisons..
There are, it should be explained, a
good many Of these soil poisons.
Dihydroxystearis acid is only one of
them. though it seems to be much the
worst OF the lot. Another is called
''uvltonic acid, and yet another ''pico-
Hne-carboxylic acid" They are all what
the experts term toxins of soil fatigue .
and are described as organic compounds,
assuming the form Of minute crystals
when separated out in a pure state
A farmer, having grown potatoes on
a patch of land, plants it in the follow
ing year with, peas or beans. which are
not injured by the poisonous waste
products of the potatoes that have gone
before. Next year, perhaps, he turns
the land into cornfield. The corn is
proof against. the wastes of peas, or
beans, or. potatoes. By the time the
corn crop is gathered, the patch is ready
for potatoes again, because in the mean
time the potato poison. has disappeared
through oxidation process FASTENED
by the aeration of the soil through cul-
tivation.
No Soil Is Really Poor.
One remarkable conclusion drawn by
the experts is that there is really no
such thing as poor soil Even the
least rich sod contains plenty of food
for the support of plants. Furthermore,
the soil moisture, which is kind of
nutritious soup spread through the sur
face soil of the earth, and upon which
the plants feed, is of practically the
same composition everywhere. Nearly
the same quantities of phosphates, of
potash, and of nitrates are found in the
sandy soils of the truck region of Mary
land; in the worn OUT soils of Virginia,
in the fertile limestone soils of Penn
sylvania, and in the black prairie soils
of the west.
As isSwell known, some of the finest
soils for trucking seem to consist of
nothing but sand. One. marvels that
they are capable of producing crops of
any kind. But the secret lies in their
loose structure, which is favorable to the
passage of water-the "soup" on which
the rootlets feed being normally nu.
tritious.
Seedlings of wheat. of other plants.
Will grow right well in water for some
weeks Beyond a certain point they will
not develop, because they need more
substantial food. This may be furnished
Id 10 iaa
Dhate, little nitrate, and a little pot
ash Then the plants will grow to
Soil is not a necessity to
them, so long as they get their SOUP:
it merely affords bed for them to
stand up in.
Cereal and other plants have been
grown in this way on a. rather extensive