Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-08-22
All Around the Place.

Soil improvement. urgently needed al
most everywhere in this section. is a
process that is almost elementary in its
simplicity. yet few farmers and garden
ers have more than the haziest knpwl-
edge of its principles, and rs few apply
even what they know.
Practically every farm. large or small
| in this section is worn out as far as
| the supply of humEs is concerned. HUI
| mus is the decayed vegetable matter
contained in the soil. upon which crops
! are dependent. If the soil has been
| robbed of it's humus no amount of arti-
| fetal stimulation by means of com
| mercial fertilizers will take the place
| Of the lack. The only thing that can
be done which will restore the lost fer
fifty and make ii permanent is to re-
| store the humus, and this can only be
done, on permanent basis. by the use
| of green manureS or growing crops
| p1owed under and left to decay and to
! be assimiiated or amaiganated with
| the soil itself.
Fertilizers. either natural or CONNER
ciai are valuable aids in jncrca sing
! fertility. Either Of them. however. per-
! forms its functions best when used III
! con junction with green Fnauures. ordi-
| nary fertilizers may be used year after
! *ear, without humus- forming materials
| with the result of stimulating the soil
! TO produce annual crops. but leaving il
, washes the top soil away until at last
| only barren clays or gravel strata re-
| main.
A soil full of humus, on the CON
| trary, becomes better each year, pro-
| vided the humus is renewed annually.
! For example: small farm near Wash
| ington was purchased few years
ago. the new owner finding the land ut
! terly robbed Of humus. badly quilted
and washed, and IN most places inca
pahle even of producing growth of
ia gWeedS. The new posseSsor of tht.
| placed learned that the land, the pre-
| ceding year. had produced twelve
! bushels of corn TO the acre. He p1OWed
! the place the first spring, planted corn
! and when the corn was given its last
| cultivation he Sowed cnNpeas thlck!y be-
tween the rows. When the corn was
cut that fail he ploWe,i the rank growth
! OF coWpeas under and Sowod the land
10 crimson clover. The following sDrinG
the clover was plowed under, corn was
| planted again, coWpeaS were SoWh pc
tween the rows, to be turned under IN
the fall and the ground again SoWn TO
crimson clover. the second year the
ground produced twenty-one bushels of
corn to the acre. The process was re
peated each year for six years, and the
crop of corn produced the seventh year
was u little over seventy-fve bushels
per acre.
This result was brought about wholly
by the use of the two green manure
crops each year, as the owner OF the
farm had no supply of natural fer
tilizer and was not so situated finan-
cially as to be able to buy the COM
| mercial kinds, except for small
amount of lime, which was applied to
the land the first spring. This amount
ed to only 400 pounds per acre.
In this case the fertility of the soil
was restored without the necessity OF
losing the use Of the land even for
one year, and the benefits were seen
each year in the rapidly increasing
yield of corn.
What was done in this case can he
done by any farmer or gardener who
is willing to do the little additional
piowing and seeding necessary. If a
supply OF barnyard manure is avail
able, for spreading on the clover before
the latter is turned under il the
spring, results will be obtained in even
less time. If an analysis of the soil is
obtained and the chemical elements
found missing, if any. are supplied by
the addition of properly balanced COM
mercial fertilizers to the BARNARD ma
nure and the green manure, even
quicker results Will be noted.
1t is the too common custom of farmers
almost everywhere to leave the soil I'M
protected during the winter. the in
evitabie result being that the elements
of fertility are leached and washed out
washes away, and the land soon be-
comes too thin and poor to produce
crops. The common plea in defense of
this wasteiui practice is that ii costs
too much to Dlow in the fall and seed
the land to a cover crop. If it were
possible for the farmer to mea sure in
actual dollars and cents the injury
wrought by this practice, it would be
seen that the loss of fertility caused
by the rains of single winter more
than overbaiance the cost of fall plow-
ing and seeding for three or four
years.
Every owner of agricultural land,
even though it be only few acres, in
jures himself and decreases the value
of his land every time he allows the
land to remain unprotected by cover
! crop, or green manure crop, over the
winter; Seeded to rye and the rye
plowed under in the spring, the soil
Will be protected against much of the
washing that takes millions of tons
of fertile soil off the farms of the
country each year, to be borne away
In the creeks and rivers. If the land
lection is better, while the clover is
much more valuable as "A restorer of
fertility and a medium of adding
humus to the soil. Several of the
vetches make good cover crops, pre-
venting soil washing and serving as
green manure; while, as has been said
if liberal quantities of manure are
available for use in connection with
the green manure, the fertility of the
soil so treated will increase by leaps
and bounds.
1t is always well to have samples
of soil analysed before any plan for
soil restoration is adopted. This work
is done by experts in the Department
of Agriculture. as well as at all of the
state agricultural colleges. and usually
without charge, or at very small cost ;,
The expert soil analyst finds what ele-,
ments are lacking. prepares what may
be called a prescription, which tells
just what should be done to nut the
soil from which the sample was taken
back into first -class condition, and it is
then up to the owner of the land to
have the prescription filled and admin
lister the remedy to the sick soil. BY
directing a letter to the bureau of soils.
Department of Agriculture, the proper
procedure for obtaining ANALYSES of
soil may be learned
The careful, thoughtful farmer or
gardener is devoting great deal of
attention at this season of the year to
preparations for the coming winter and
next spring. Chief among these prepa-
rations, of course, in the case Of intel
ligent farmers. is the fall blowing,
either for grain crops or for the sow
ing of cover crops In many cases
crops of the latter class will be cut
for hay next year. though the cash OBJ
tanned for the hay, in most cases will
not be equal to the actual cash value
of the crop if it were plowed under as
green manure.