Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1917-12-04
tiumus and soIl Rertlitx


| Often We zee field well fitted, give,
liberal application of commsroiai fer
tiliser, and supplied with abundant rain
tall, yet poor crop results. The caus,
OF this can no doubt be traced back TO I
lack Of humus In the soil.
why" you ask, "is humus 90 esssn
tial?" Some writer has fittingly said
"Humus is the stomach Of the soil,r
Hnmus 10 nearly ~ necessary In the
soil as is the stomach to man. Humus
10 natures storehouse where plant food
10 stored, made soluble, and held iu
readiness for growing vegetation. I,
has been shown that plant food, especial
ly nitrogen, Is present In the more OF
less decomposed organic matter Of the
soil. Other plant food 10 also there In
larger quantities. The presence of de-
caying vegetable matter In the soil
makes mineral plant food available by
breaking down mineral compounds and
liberating them In form useful to grow
ing plants. The acids given off By de-
caying humus also have q beneficial
effect on the soil.
Humus acts like q sponge, increasing
the water holding capacity Of the soil.
One ton of muck, which is nearly pure
humus, will hold twice its weight of
water and when We stop to thiuk that IL
requires 500 tons of water to grow an
acre of hay and that, not taking into
account the moisture lost by evaporation
during the growing season, an acre of
corn requires 300 tons of moisture to
mature it (enough to cover the land
eight inches deep) we can sec what a
few tons of humus per acre will mean
Only q small part of the annual rainfall
comes during the growing season, %
considerable must be stored In the soil.
Humus also prevents extremes OF soil
temperature. A soil rich in humus
warns up slower but retains heat longer
and so maintains . more uniform soil
temperature. Humus improves the
ply ysical condition of the soil. Clay
soils are made light and mellow by the
addition of humus, and sandy soils are
made more compact. A clay loam 10
merely clay made light and mellow with
humus and sandy loan 10 sand rich in
humus. 1t Is hard for Us TO realize that
crops require 80 much moisture but the
figures here given are substantiated by
Professor Kings experiments at the
Wisconsin Station.
Soil 10 rapidly depleted in hum1s by
cultivation and II continued cropping is
to remain profitable, some method must
be used for keeping up the supply of
humus. There are two methods In use
at the present time, namely green msnur
ing and barnyard manure. Green
manuring Is natures way OF renewing
soil fertility. In waste places we see
vegetation grow only to die and return
to the soil again. Rye or rape sown In
at the last cultivation use the latter
part of the growing season and furnish
material to be plowed under. Buck
wheat and some of the legumes (clover,
SOW beans, peas, and vetcb) are some OF
the crops used for green manuring.
The legumes are Of such value for live
stock feeding that it 10 often better to
feed them to the soil In the form OF
manure.
Nearly eighty per cent Of the fertiiiz-
ing value of crop can be returned to
the soil in the manure. This percentage
varies according to the age and kind OF
fed, but eighty per cent 10 fair
estimate when the manure 10 properly
handled to prevent loss. The following
table taken from Farmers Bulletin NO.
1872 gives the amount and value OF the
manure produced by farm animals fed
literally and given sufficient bedding,
on uniform basis OF l,Oo0
lbs. live weight and with nitrogen at
l6c per pound, pbosphoric acid at DC,
and potash at l-2c: