South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-05-04
SOIL FERTILITY
IS BIG PROBLEM
Must be Replaced Sometime,
Either by Borrowing
or by Theft.

There's a certain amount Of fer
tility in your soil. II you take some
out, you should replace it. just as
YOU would return borrowed money.
II you don't pay back what you
borrow. you are practically stealing.
II you don't repay your friend after
the first time you borrow, you are
not likely 10 get much of a loan the
second time, and when il comes 10
a bank. il you don't pay your OBJ
legations there-well, you will have
TO some way. In the matter Of fer
tility. the trouble is that our soil is
too good a friend. We can borrow,
borrow. borrOw-not getting so
much each time, Of course-until
we finally conclude there is not
much more to get from our friend
and we are at liberty TO move away.
if we want and cultivate another
friendship.
This, at least, used 10 be the case.
but there is practically no more vir-
gin land and what we have will have
70 be taken care OF.
Reaching Limit of Fertility.
Few Of us realize how very little
fertility in proportion to the whole
bulk Of the soil there really is.
In ton OF ordinary black clay loan,
there are only SO pounds Of nitro
gen. 81 pounds Of phosphorus and
90 pounds Of potash When these
are exhausted they are gone. that's
all.
The best and cheapest general
fertilizer and the one that contains
the three elements above mentioned
is barnyard manure A ton OF il
contains > pounds Of nitrogen. 80
pounds of PHOSPHORUS and much
larger quantity of potash. It is
worth at present prices for CONNER
cial fertilizers about $3.50 a ton,
according to Pennsylvania expert
ment station circular No. 81
5000 Worth of Manure on Average
Farm.
Surprising YOU have the average
number Of stock on the average
farms cows three horses and 10
hogs. These will according to L. s. !
farmers bulletin No. 1872, produce
about 10 tons of manure per year.
At $3.50 per ton, those 10 tons will
have a total value Of about $500.
How much will YOU get i'm return
for that amount Of manure That
all depends on how YOU handle it.
Director c. +. Thorn of the Ohio
experiment station says that eight
loads put on with a spreader are
worth as much as II put on by
hand. This means loss OF one
third Of the above amOunt-abOut |
$500 if the manure is spread by
hand. II is hard to realize that the !
unevenness of hand spreading would /
make that much difference i'm COM /
parisOn with even machine spread (
ing. A good spreader doesn't cost |
near as much as that loss of $500.
Advantages of Wide Spread Spread |
erS.
In buying a spreader at the pres
ent time the farmer should see that |
he selects one with a wide spread |
attachment. With such an attach |
ment a strip eight feet wide or bet /!
ter can be covered extending we'll |
outside the wheels on both sides |
This has positive advantages over |
the narrow spread spreader of years !
ago. In the first place. the load is |
thrown off twice as fast and the |
same amount OF ground is covered |
with just half the driving distance.
and on the return it is not necessary
10 drive so that the wheel tracks |
lap in order that ali ground may re- |
ceive an even spread. For practical !
ly the same price today a wide |
spread spreader can be bought that |
will deliver more in service and in |
cludes more in quality of constitute |
ton than an old type machine that |
only spreads the width o. the |
beaten For these reasons the wide !
spread machine should be thor |
oughly investigated before a farmer |
invests his money in a spreader
A spreader is the most necessary
implement on the farm today II is |
a crop producer. whereas most other |
machines are only crop handlers It |
encourages the saving of manure !
and thereby makes the farmer hon |
est with his soil. He borrows his !
fertility and doesn't steal it.