Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1916-10-17
Humus and Soil Fertility.

| In this day and age of the world will
high prices for land, tools and labor, ant
the correspondingly high prices for farm
products, it is imperative for the farmer
to get good yields in order to secure tn.
maximum returns for the labor and
money invested. Often We see q fielc
properly fitted, given q liberal applica
tion of fertilizer, and yet with fall
amount of rainfall the result is an un
satisfactory crop. This is no doubt due
to lack of humus.
The question is sometimes asked, why
is bumus 80 valuable and necessary
Someone has rightly said, "Humus IL
the stomach of the soil," for its benefits
are many. and highly necessary. In the
1rst place 1t improves the physical con
dition of the soil. Heavy clays are made
loose and more easily worked, and less
liable to bake and become hard. Sand
is made more compact and holds soil
moisture better. Humus acts like
sponge, holding the moisture so that II
is available for growing plants. A clay
loan is merely clay made light and mel
low with humus, and sandy loan is
sandy soil we'll supplied with organic
matter.
Humus also prevents extremes of soil
temperature. A soil rich in organic mat
ter, or humus, heats up more slowly but
retains the heat longer.
Humus is also "Nature's cupboard" "
where plant food is held in readiness for
the use of growing vegetation. 1t has
been shown that plant food, especially
nitrogen, Is present in the more or less
decomposed organic matter. Phosphor-
ic acid and potash are also stored in
available forms in the humus.
The presence of decaying organic mat
ter makes mineral plant food available,
the acids produced by decomposition
liberating the mineral matter. No less
important is the carbonic acid given of
by the decaying vegetation aiding in the
liberation of plant food, also having q
valuable physical effect upon the heavier
soils.
Another word rs to the water-bolding
powers of humus. One ton of humus
will hold twice it's weight of water and
when one considers that 1t requires 500
tons of moisture to grow a ton OF hay
and an acre Of corn requires 900 tons OF
water to mature it, or enough to cover
the land eight inches deep, not taking
into account that lost by evaporation
and percolation from the soil, bumus be-
comes an important factor in moisture
control. These figures seem immense,
but are borne out by experiments by
King at the Wisconsin station.
Since humus is rapidly destroyed by
cultivation it is very essential that it be
constantly renewed, of which there are
two methods-green manuring and barn
yard manure.
Green manuring is natures way OF re-
newing soil fertility. In woods and
waste places nature grows a crop and
then returns it to be again incorporated
in the soil. Rye, rape and buckwheat
are some of the crops which may be used
for green manuring. Rye or rape sown
in corn the last cultivation makes good
cover crop and one which may be plow-
ed under the following spring. The leg
umes, such as clover, alfalfa, vetch, soy
beans and cowpeas, are very valuable
green manure crops but are so valuable
to feed that it is often better to feed
them first and then return them In the
form of bsrnyard manure.
Nearly so percent of the fertilizing
value of food eaten by farm animals is
returned in the manure so it's value can
easily be obtained. When considering
the other beneficial effects Of bumus 1t
will be seen that manure is one OF the
chief means of conserving soil fertility.