Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1915-04-16
ELS HOW TO
GET NITROGEN
lie. Hopkins Writes in Inter.
listing Style on Farm That
Wont Wear OUT

hat Won't Wear Out" by Cyril G.
|opkins. first published in serial form
THE Country Gentleman, the writer
10 some interesting things to say
bout nitrogen, under the caption,
Where Is Nitrogen?" 1t reads as
blows:
II nitrogen has such enormous pow.
to increase the yield of our great
taple farm crops then we may well
Inquire, Where Is nitrogen, and how
ban 1t be secured economically and
Utilized profitably in practical agri-
culture?
The weight of the atmosphere Is Is
hounds to the square inch. This means
HAT a column of air inch square
kaken to the full height of the terres-
trial atmosphere weighs Is pounds.
More than three-fourths of the air is
NITROGEN. Since there are 1880
square feet in one acre, it follows
that the nitrogen in the air above
each acre of the earth's surface
amounts to 100000 pounds, or near
Nv 100000 times the $50 pounds of nj
togen required for hundred-bushel
hop OF corn. The leaves of the corn
Int are blown abount by the wind
krying 75h per cent of nitrogen. but
lshmnnot utilize an ounce of this sup
Many people know that clover and
her legumes have power, through the
kcteria which inhabit their root tu-
rcles, to feed upon the inexhaustl
supply of atmospheric nitrogen
l hich freely enters the pores of the
|n; but who knows how much nitro
bn is taken from the air by given
|op Of clover? Not one in thousand
J In answer this question; and mean
nile our continued agricultural and
4 |ational prosperity depends in large
|art upon the possibility of wide dis
termination and practical application
BE- a cumulative knowledge of the NJ
Erogen problem.
As rule the so-called practical
Farmer is theorist. He first believes
that the virgin soil is inexhaustible,
oven though cropped continuously. La
~ he clings to the popular theory
HAT the rotation of crops will main
ain the productive capacity of the
and; and it is safe to say that large
majority Of the farmers of the United
States gladly hold to the erroneous
kheory that clover grown once every
three to five years will increase and
permanently maintain the fertility of
tho soil.
The fact that clover was grown for
generations on the lands Of the older
Eastern states until the clover crop
itself finally failed on millions of acres
now agriculturally abandoned is over
looked or forgotten by present-day
farmers, especially by the descendants
Of those who have gone West and
settled on new, rich lands.
The following facts will furnish a
comprehensive basis for the solution
Of the nitrogen problem in practical
general agriculture:
90 To produce 100 pounds OF
grain requires about 3 pounds OF nitro
gen. of which pounds are deposited
in the grain itself and pound in the
straw or stalks.
(2) In livestock farming one
fourth of the nitrogen in the food con-
sumed is retained in the animal prod
ucts-meat, milk, wool, and so on
and three-fourths may be returned to
the land In the excrements If saved
without loss.
(3) When grown on soils of normal
productive capacity legumes secure
about two-thirds of their total nitro
gen from the air and one-third from
the soil.
az Clover and other biennial or
perennial legumes have about two
thirds of their total nitrogen in the
tops and one-third in the roots. while
the roots and cowpeas and other an
nual legumes contain only about one
tenth Of their total nitrogen.
(5) Hay made from our common
legumes contains about 40 pounds Of
nitrogen per ton.
(6) Average farm manure contains
10 pounds Of nitrogen per ton.
Question: How many tons of aver
age farm manure must be applied to
40-acre field in order to provide as
much nitrogen as would be added to
the soil by blowing under 2h tons OF
clover per acre? Answer: 400 tons.
Either method will furnish about as
much nitrogen as would be taken
from the soil by a 50-bushel crop OF
lswheat. a 75-bushel crop of corn or
s1O0-bushel crop of oats per acre. The
decision by the individual livestock
farming and grain farming should be
based upor !. eference and profit rath-
or than upon the erroneous teaching
that farm manure is either essential or
sufficient for the maintenance OF soil
fertility in this country.
Bread is the staff Of life, and many
must sell grain. I do not advise all