The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1915-09-17
RICH SOILS RICHER
FROM cUlT|VAT|ON
Especially II Stable Manures Are
Used Instead of Commer-
cial Fertilizers

Much has been written on the sub.
ject of the improvement of farm lands
by growing Ieguminous crops upon
them, crops of beans, cowpeas and Glow
ers to be turned under to rot in the
aoil, thereby increasing the store of
nitrogen and humus. A COOL deal Of
what has been written has been theOre-
teal and not based on actual scientific
experiments. Some of it is true but
there has been marked tendency TO
ascribe too much of what is gained to
the use of legumes and too little to
the reeuperative capacity of the soil
itself.
Recent scientific Investigations prove
that rich soils tend to become richer
through cultivation. Poor soils on the
other hand tend to become poorer.
Physical factors such as the lay Of the
land, it's slope and exposure to wind
and rain, have quite as much to do with
its fertility as the growth of given
crops on a particular area even though
those crops are Of the much vaunted
leguminOus persuasion.
Sounds Like Heresy
This statement of the case sounds
like heresy aud yet under certain con
ditions soils may gain more nitrogen
from the air without legumes than with
them. Again losses Of fertility may be
greater through the washing of the sur,
face soil by rains than through the
permanent removal of plant foot by
selling crops of the land. The prob
lem is not at all a simple one.
H. IN
duction follow the application of high
grade fertilizers on rich soils. The
same rule applies in the use of green
manures. The richer the land is to start
with the greater will be the gain from
fertilizers applied.
It is not commercial proposition to
try to build up poor land by means of
commercial fertilizers. An acre of soil
to the depth of one foot weighs three
and half million pounds. Hence il
the field is sterile to start with il
would take q good many years and q
geat many tons of fertilizer to MAKE
any appreciable permanent gaip(in tlt'
percentage of available plant food il
an acre Of poor soil.
Animal Manures Are Best
Poor lands can he huilt 'uD by plow
ing under green manure. Nevertheless
it is wise to feed green crops to ami
mails to get humus rather than pillow
under crops. 1t is also wise to fee'
animals to get manure rather than t.
try to increase the permanent store o.
fertility of the soil by using CONNER
cial fertilizers.
The question Of whether or not h
combine cattle feeding with sugar cam
cultivation has been considered mostH
from the standpoint Of getting direc
profit out of waste product. Turning
! the trash and caRe-tops under is un
doubtedly an improvement over the for
mer practise of burning the fields, bu
the planters are not getting the mos
out of their land even then. The heav
lest gain from combining animal hus
baudrv with sugar production wOul'
come from the increased fertility an
cane producing capacity Of the field
if they could receive annual dressing
of manure.
Good and BAD Practise
Flowing under trash and green man
ure crops Of san, Jack beans and lu
pines is good agriculture, but not tn
best. ALWAYS II must be remembers
that the greatest response comes frOr
commercial fertilizers used on the rich
est land There is no reason why
cane field that has grown five tons
sugar should not produce ten tons /
] the land can be systematically built u
tn that nOint in a series of wears. Henc
every effort must be made to make TIA
land permanently richer, AVID vet NOR
fruitful. The quickest and cheapes
wav to do this is to run eVerv nonn
OF feeding wastes through cattle, sheer
horses or hogs and apply every Poun
of manure to the soil.
If the planters can get to the pom
of considering meat and animal proc
nets as the bve-prOduet from wh'r
some indirect and casual profit may b
returned and the permanent enrirl
ment of the soil the chief motive fC
kpeping animals a real advance wi
have been made. There is no primer
reason WHY there should he any lin
set to the amount of cane an acre {
land can produce.
Crons Do Not Rob Soil
The idea that cultivation OF cro'
rohs the land and makes it nOOrer
being given uu. The accepted Opinio
|. of modern cultivatOrs is exactly tn
contrary.
Professor Lipman has recently O."
durted scientific experiments in Ne
Jersey which confirm the findings {
many Euronean investigators. alor
these very lines. Rich soils and esU
r'nllv those made rich by the cumul
, tive application of farm mnnures oV'
n long series of wears absorb much n
trorrn from the air. Pivman found thu
manurp-rirh soil will often take mo
, nitroycn from the air in the course
, one season than crop of legum
. would ada if grown on the land al
turned under.
. Now Disc overies
, This Investigator found thnt the l
. frozen N small plot of soil expos'
. to the weather but k"pt bare % We"
t.t;"u for one year increased on