Licking Valley courier. [volume] (West Liberty, Ky.) 19??-current, 1913-07-03
Home COURSE +. !. :.
IN SCIENTIFIC
ACR|CULT URE
FOURTEENTH ARTICLE.
COMMERCIAL FER
TILIZERS.
By EDWARD B. VOORHEES,, Late Director
of the New Jersey Agricultural
Experiment Stations.

TAHERB is perhaps no question
of greater Importance to the
practical farmer than that Of
soil fertility. 10 produce prof
table crops and at the same time to
maintain and even to increase the pro-
ductive capacity of the soil may rightly
be termed good farming" Many
farmers are able to do this, and the
knowledge Of how to do 1t has been
largely acquired through years Of ex-
perience, during which the character
Of the soil, Its adaptability for crops
and the methods Of its management
and manuring have been made sub
Jects Of careful study, without, however,
any definite and accurate knowledge
concerning manures and their func-
tiOns in relation to soils and crops.
Experience is an excellent teacher Sim
a definite knowledge of the fundamen-
tai principles may be substituted for
years of experience in the successful
use of mahures. Sy1szD
The fertility of the soil would re-
main practically unchanged If all the
ingredients removed In the various
farm products were restored to the
land, This is to a large extent accom-
plished by feeding the crops grown Oh
the farm to animals, carefully saving
the manure and returning it to the
l soil. and where 1t Is practicable to pur.
Slsne system Of stock feeding in which
! Hose products of the farm which are
comparatively poor in fertilizing con-
stituents are exchanged in the market
for S>adlng stuffs of high fertilizlng
value the>foss of soil fertility may be
reduced to a minimum, or there may
I've an actual gain In fertility.
A careful study of the present condi.
tion of farming In the United States II.
dicates, however, that as q rule the
manure produced .ca.-the farm is not
sufficient To- maintain its fertility and
that the need for artificial supplies is
real, though the amount required may
be considerably reduced by careful
management
In the system of so called "grair
farming" which has obtained ovel
large areas Of this country for a long
lime and is still practiced, the live
Stock Is often limited to a number suf
flcient only to the needs of the farm
for labor and food. The grain is sold
and the manure Is made up chiefly oI
the natural wastes or unstable ma
terial, such as straw, stalks, etc. The
grain contains proportionately greater
amounts Of nitrogen and mineral con
stituents than these wastes, Hence thu
practice continued for long time re
suits not only In q deficiency In the sol
of organic substances containing nitro
gen, but also in an exhaustion Of tht
mineral substances. The original char
acter of the soil and Its treatmen
measure the rate Of exhaustion. Th,
less fertile soils Of the east and soutl
are rapidly depleted, while the rlcl
pralries and river bottoms maintain
their fertility for longer period.
The continuous cotton and tobacco
growing Of the south and the whea
growing of the west are even NOR,
exhaustive, since here the demands
upon the soil are not changed. Yea
after year the same crop is grown
and the same kind and proportion o
constituents are required, While evel
slighter returns are made In the wa!
of manure than In the system of farm
ing just described Under such con
ditions the decomposition of the or
ganlc matter In the soil Is accompa
MED by proportionately greater losse
! OF nitrogen. Moreover, the land Is lef
bare for large part OF the year, an,
its fertility is thereby still further dc
creased. The crops become less abun
'dant each year. not because, the soil 1
entirely exhausted, but because 1t is s.
far exhausted of those constituent
essential to the special crop grown tina
Its production Is no longer profitable.
Changed conditions Of farming
which have an important bearing o.
this point, are. first, increased cost o
labor and lower prices Of many Of til
products of one crop farming, ant
second, an increasing demand for maj
ket garden products and fruit. Fo
example, in growing wheat, the labo
Of preparing the soil, of sowing and Q
hnrvastiuV 70 nrn nfinnllv tha sam
whether tue yield is ten bushels pc
acre or thirty bushels, and the same
true of n number OF other crops; henC
in case Of the larger yield the cost {
labor per bushe is materially reduce,
Meager crops Of n relatively low valu
cannot be produced prohtably wit
high priced labor. Soils of n high d
gree of fertility are required IN ord,
30 produce large Yields of these crop
The return to the soil of only II
wastes Of the farm leads sooner
later to Il decreased fertility, howev,
good the management may be; henC
the need of supplies of plant food frol
sources outside the farm In order thu
maximum crops may be produced,
II has been demonstrated In the ca'
Of Tirket garden crops that even vel
fertile soils contain too little avallnb
food to insure n maximum productlo
This Is especially true where rnpldl
of growth, earliness and high quali