The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1913-06-27

letters from farmers wanting to know
where and how they can get their soil
analysed, so they can have fertilizer
made up to supply the deficient plant
food.
Some people imagine il thay had an
analysis of their soils they could supply
the deficiency in plant food with q
special fertilizer, and that would insure
maximum crops. They would be.
doomed to disappointment. Il would
be next to impossible toget an average
sample Of soil, because the analysis OF
two samples taken 100 feet apart would
vary greatly.
The farmer needs to know how to make
available the plant food he has in his soil
great deal more than he does theexact
amounts his soil contains. His soil
could be we'll supplied with nitrogen,
phosphoric acid and potash, the prin-
cipaI elements needed, and they could
be locked up 50 as 70 be unavailable for
plant food.
4 Any farmer knows what happens TO
his soil if he works It too wet He also
knows that If be takes everything of
Of his ground every year and turns no
vegetable matter under, his land is i'm
Il cIined to run together and bake, break
up cIoddy, and this tendency increases
each year because it is losing its yege-
Etable matter (humus). Such a soil will
mot give the plant growing on il the
plant food it contains.
II the farmer wants to make a success
in farming he must make the plant food
available in bis soil. He must study
nature, as we'll as books, If he does this.
We know 81 many fields that during our
boyhood days produced good crops, but
with constant cropping, taking every
thing off and putting nothing back
they ceased to be profitable. They were
abandoned and allowed to grow up in
weeds, briars and brush. After several
years those fields we're cleared up and
again would, for time, produce prof
table crops until the supply Of vegetable
matter they had accumulated was ex-
hausted.
Nature, ii left alone, and the land
prevented from washing, will restore
land to fertility. What does it add
/ Vegetable matter and small amount
81 nitrogen from the air. The action OF
the air, rain and frost mixes the decayed
vegetable matter with the soil and SUBJ
soil, making it loose and loamy and the
plant food in it available.
Now if you want to build up your soil
and make the plant food in 1t available,
Just use the good, hard, common sense
God has given you and follow Nature
plan. The first thing Nature does Is to
increase the vegetable matter and mix
it with the soil and subsoil SO that the
water, air and frost can penetrate IT.
want to ask you farmers to tell me
the difference between the soil on top
and the subsoil below Except alluvial
soils?) Is there any difference except
the vegetable matter that has accumu.
lated 10 the top soils? We know that
all oursoils were fertile according to the
formation they we're derived from. we
know that the soil above and the sub
soil below are the same, except Che sol
has had vegetable matter added to make
Il porus SO the water, air and frosts could
penetrate it. We know that we have
plowed shallow and allowed the rains e
carry away the vegetable matter
We have no worn out lands. We
have much with the surface soil washed
away, but we can follow Natures lead
d we can get green crop to turn under
we can break up some Of the virgin sub
soil and mix with the surface soil and
vegetable matter during the winter; the
rain, frost and air will work for us in
making the plant food We can grow
leguminous crops such as peas, beans,
clover and yeatches to increase our 81.
trogen. We can use, with care and IN.
selligence, reasonable amounts OF acid
phosphates, potash and crushed lime
We can. by following Natures lead, rel
store our lands 70 their virgin fertility
and get fair compensation for oul
labor.
Brother farmer. we have been looking
lior some hard problem 70 solve. W.
! thought there was some scientific shorl
I cut tobig crops. We have neglected tbs
simple things We could do. We hays
I ignored Nature Is our teacher and "
haye paid the penalty. We have tried