Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1914-07-09
Fertilizers for Soils
Becoming Necessary
Their Need Discussed by Professor
G. {. Youngberg of the Agri-
cultural College.

The annual loss in manur which is
not saved as fertilizer, amounts to
500, 600, 600 according to a statement
just issued by Guy e. Youngberg, a
member of the chemistry force at
the South Dakota state college and
experiment station. This is one-third
of the plant food value of manure pro
duced by farm animals, a waste that
is almost entirely ~preventable. ''This
carelessness," says Mr.. Youngberg,
tends toward the blind use of artific-
ial fertilizers, often when ~unneces-
sary.
In this comparatively young farm
ing country one has been prone not to
regard the gradual depicting effects
going on or they have been unob-
served until crops can no longer be
profitably grown, Then the terrible
waste can be seen. A little foresight,
as is now being advocated, is surely
necessary; in other words conserva-
ton of plant food in the soil by com
mo sense methods must be taken
advantage of. The use of farm-pro-
duced manure is one Of them.
Considerably less than one-half of
the food material that passes through
the animal body is dlgested. 1t there
fore appears in the solid eXcrement.
The liquid excrement is rich in ma,
terial that has passed through the
usual process of digestion. This
means that all digested food not used
to make tissue is simply transformed
into another product, the animal tax
ing away some of the energy required
for daily life AS an example a pro
tein substance is changed by diges-
ton into urea product containing
less energy than the protein--but still
very valuable for plant growth. Both
the faces and the urine are there
fore valuable. 1t requires little cal
culation to say that it is very profit,
able to save all manure and return il
for further crops.
"The use of fertilizers in the north
4 western states is becoming a factor
in production although not to be com.
pared to the large use Of artificial fer
tilizers on the lands of the eastern
United States, this of course for the
reason that our farms are compare
fively young and inexhausted. But
as a whole we already see slight de
pletion of our farm lands as eyidenc
ed by the smaller returns upon LAND
which has been under cultivation fol
twenty to thirty years. The deple
ton is undoubtedly due to the re
moval and non7replacement of the
plant food. Continual cropping onl,
finally exhausts certain plant nutri
ents. There are ways of overcoming
This Remove no plant food, or re
move but replace it. The first mus
be discarded as land must be put K
some use and moi allowed to lie idle
Using the second method then 1t re
Il solves itself into how to replace thu
plant food which is Withdrawn. Thi
lean be done by farm-produeed or b.
artificial fertilizers. BY the latter ar,
meant such products as nitrates o
! potassium and sodium, phosphat,
rock, superphosphats, etc. You ma.
be told by statesmen for these pre-
ducts that they are comparatively in
expensive and bring great returns TO
. the outlay. This is sometimes true
hut is there not some other metho,
! which is better and even much les
expensive for keeping the farm Of
the level IN nutritiye matter? TIL
farni-produced fertilizer is the mean,
. which completes successfully SO far q
can be obtained. II includes nike
farm manure. containing solid as vel
as liquid ~excreu1ents from all darn
animals. material used for bedding
!, etc. also green crop manures.
Green crop fertilizers are thos
grown for the purpose OF being pillow
ed under. thus furnishing additions
available plant food. such as nitrogen
and other organic material Hi genera
I for producing more favorable cond1
tion ror growth, . effect upSs bae
terial lifein the Soil increase III anal,