Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1916-06-06
The Soil, Natures Store House

The Soil, Natures Store House.
STANLEY b. Sink. Instructor In Agronomy, Soil
Division, University Of Maine.)
We believe that every farm is entitlet
to own good farmer, that Il II th'
business of good farmers to consume u
much fertility as possible, which IL Il
say, that he should raise big crops, tn,
bigger the crops the more fertility used
and at the same time, keep up or In
crease the fertility to further increase
the crop yield.
The elements OF fertility are not inex
haustible and when used or wasted
must be replaced or new ones made
available from the more insoluble roch
fragments of the soil. The soil is com
posed of more or less weathered roch
fragments mixed with the organic re-
mains OF plants and animals. 1t tool
nature thousands and thousands OF years
to do this mixing and westheripg and
man has no moral right In his briet stay
here TO destroy it or leave 1t in any
worse condition than he found it. His
methods must be constructive and build
up rather than tear down. The material
out of which be must build, is the ele.
ments out of which the plant Is made,
namely, nitrogen, phosphorus, POTASH
um, iron and others. These can only be
used, never destroyed, they are always
going the round through natures mill,
illustrated below.
The crop may be shipped to market
and lost, or may be fed to stock and
part returned in manure which
with the roots and stubble will de-
cay by bacterial action, some of II
lost BY teaching and evaporation
and some added from the air by bac-
terra and some added by commercial
fertilizer and from the reserve store
of the soil and new crop grown.
Profitable farming depends upon the
number of times the elements of fertility
can be made to 60 the rounds without
loss, and drawing on the reserve store of
the soil In each round to make up for
what is necessarily lest. The key to
this reserve store Is humus. Humus
comes from the decay Of plant and ami
NAL tissue that we call organic matter.
The presence of large amounts of humus
insures loose, friable, crumb structure,
aids ventilation and rapid drainage OF
the soil. Humus Is also the food of bac-
terra and they are the most powerful
factors in gathering nitrogen from the
air and making mineral elements OF the
soil more available.
The organic matter supply may be
kept up by sacrificing an entire crop as
green manure which usually is not the
most profitable or by blowing down the
second growth of clover or any other
crop grown after one crop has been
taken off. The latter method should be
with the application of
we'll preserved manure. By feeding all
hay produced and using all straw for
bedding. il is said that there is sufficient
in the soil to last over 100
years and potash enough to last 5000
years. BY selling all the hay and straw,
these elements would be exhausted be-
yond the point of profitable farming in
less than half that time.
As a means Of bringing out this re-
serve store, tillage 10 most important
factor. 1t aids drainage, deepens the
soil reservoir for water, promotes bac-
terial action, increases the feeding sur
face for the roots of plants and aerates
the soil. Breaking the soil PARTICLES to
one-tenth their former size would fur
uish ten acres of feeding surface whore
there was but one before. Deep plow-
ing and shallow surface cultivation is al
ways to be preferred. In series of e1-
periments by the Iowa Station corn
ground spring toothed (not plowed)
yielded 29 9 bushels, plowed 4 1-2 inches
deep, 47.8 bushels, plowed inches
deep, 40 9 bushels. Cultivating the crop
5 times 5 inches deep, 66 bushels, times
inches deep, 20 bushels. Results OF
Ohio Corn Growing Contest, cultivation
times 2 inches deep, 90 bushels, I
inches deep, II bushels.
1--WE believe in going to the bottom OF
things and, therefore, in deep plowing
and enough of it."
I'VE believe that the best fertilizer for
any soil is the spirit of industry, enter
prise and intelligence" (Beecher.)