The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1913-11-11
The Soil.

seven inches of dust, laid like thin sheet
the rough surface of rocks that reach to the
planets core, comes every green thing, every in i
sect, every flower, every bird, every plant, every
beast, very tree, every fish, and every human be-
ing. Literally we are all made from the dust of
the earth 1t is the worlds bank of life; the
stuff composing it is the material of existence
and the duration of life on this earth is limited
to the supply of the ten organic elements in it.
1t is necessary for us to conserve our forests, .
to rescue mines from careless exploiters, to
keep in the peoples water power that be-
longs to the people, and to throw every available
protection about our food resources. But be-
meath all these needful conservations lies anoth-
er, more fundamental, more urgent and more
necessary and that is the conservation of the soil
When the soil is exhausted everything is
hausted, From the beef bones to the
faith in our hearts what and all we have
springs at last from the dust of the ground that
veritable grist of the gods.
One can prove in a half days trip through
any farming county that everything goes when
the soil goes. Where land is depleted farmers
are poor. That means, the average lack of
sanitation and lowered health Standards And
because the farmers poor schools will langu-
ish for lack of funds, second rate teachers will
be engaged, and the sessions will be curtailed as
much possible to permit the children to help
out with the crops. At early age the boys are
taken from school and put to work, ever after to
remain, except in cases of exceptional native
ability, poor farmers
| And because the farmers are poor churches
will be poorly supported and morals will suffer.
Well established statistics could prove this. And
when schools and churches both below grade
=
other communities exhaust the soil similar con-
ditions spread as certainly as the tides move,
and the immoral and stricken conditions attend
ant on poor soil spread to increasing
|
The soil problem boils down at last to the con-
servation in right proportions of at least four es-
sential elements which needed to maintain
| life, and which seem to be growing scarcer.
i One of these is nitrogen. Sir William Crookes
estimated that the present available nitrogen in
the soil would barely support 1874 crops For a
long time it supposed we were dependent on
what small deposits available and much con-
sternation felt this account, but it has
since been discovered that certain bacteria are
in the habit of forming colonies pod bearing
plants like common clover, and that these bac-
terra fix for the plant nitrogen drawn from
the air A judicious use of clover, or similar
crop, in rotation, will go far toward maintaining
enough nitrogen in the soil to feed healthy and
abundant yields.
! Potassium is equally necessary. No vegetable
can live without it. Germany has the greatest
deposits of potassium in the world they aver
age almost 5000 feet in depth. But have
another available as yet undeveloped and
that is the great beds of sea "kelp' growing on
the coasts. 1t is estimated that at least $4,000
900 per year might be realized from this one
source. That would pay almost as we'll as the
| Panama Canal
l Phosphorus is the third of the four elements
of which shy. An animal will collapse
after three months of any diet from which that
ingredient is lacking. So far little has been done
to conserve phosphorus. 1t calculated that
in the single state of Wisconsin, with a COM
paratively small area under cultivation, less
than S75O,0O0 is lost annually through the pres
ent rapid absorption of it.
/
1t was once supposed the rains keep the soil
supplied with sulphur also necessity but sub
! sequent experiments have disproved this. There
is, however, source from which this may be
secured in almost unlimited quantities: gypsum
contains 900 pounds per ton and there are abund-
ant gypsum beds here and abroad.
i 1t is to be hoped the Department of Agricul-
ture will be successful in carrying out its present
plans for conserving the soil We rise or fall
with it, We may exact compound interest from it
if wish, may overdraw bank &C
. count in a few generations and leave chill
dren the alternative of starving these vast
plains, or fighting for foothold among those