Vernon Parish Democrat. (Leesville, La.) 1917-193?, 1922-04-13
SULPHUR IN AGRICULTURE
Bv Geo. ID. Coleman

uncombined chemically, is as inert in
the soil as SO much broken glass, but
in its chemical compounds it is very
active and is really necessary for fer
tility. You will say that in soil anal
ysis these is no mention made Of sui
phur. but that is not the fault of sui
phur; it is that the analyzers do not re-
cognize its value, and the usual meth
DDS Of analysis take no account Of it
and handle the analysis in way to
drive off the sulphur. This is due to
the ignorance of the scientific big
wigs of the facts. All protean com
binations either in plants or animals.
contain small but appreciate amount
of sulphur. Sulphur is found in hair
and feathers, in the liver of animals
and man. and in alfalfa, clover and all
of the nitrogen plants, and even in
other plants, and it is not there as an
impurity, for nature makes no mistakes
it is man, in his assumed superior
wisdom, that credits nature with max
ing mistakes and blunders. When men
understand that there is intelligence.
differing from his. in all Of natures
processes, he will cease to assume that
he known it all, and accept the humil-
ity Of the agnostic.
Sulphur is to be found, if searched
for, in all fertile soils. Alfalfa, cIo-
yer, and legumes will not grow where
sulphur is absolutely absent, and a
soil absolutely devoid of all or any Of
the very many combinations of sui
phur is sterile soil, and if nothing is
added that contains sulphur in some
form, it will remain sterile. 1t is also
because of its homeopathic quantity
that it is ignored
1t is now So years since my attention
was first drawn to sulphur as neces-
sary element of fertility. In 1869.
when in Messina. Italy, | visited the
fertile slopes of Mount Etna and was
surprised at the high average of natural
fertility of thes oils, and attributed it
to the volcanic ash which was in the
soil. | spoke to an intelligent Italian
about it and he replied, Eyes the vol
canic ash has much to do with it there
is no doubt, but it is that all this soil
has some form Or combination of sui
phur in it" Later, when | visited the
vineyards on the slopes of Vesuvius and
saw the fine grapes and other things
grown there, remembered what the
old Italian had told me in Sicily and
commenced to study the subject. and
my observations and studies led me to
the present conviction of the great val
Tie of sulphur in agriculture. and that
some sulphur is needed in soils to main
tain fertility. Just as it is found in
all protean forms, just so, in its COM
binations is it protean, Or changing.
If you don't believe that, look it up in
some good encyclopedia, or see what
is told about it in Webster's Unabridg-
ed Dictionary.
While pure sulphur is as inert as
broken bottles, it is a perfect Harlequin
in its many chemical combinations.
Monoxide of sulphur is sulphur and OK
ygen ,one atom each; dioxide is sui
phur one, oxygen two; and in sulphur
ic acid we find sulphur combined with
four parts of oxygen and two of hy-
drogen. This is a compound made by
man and is not found in nature. Mod
ern manufacturing processes could not
go on without it; but it is its combina-
ton as a gas that it figures most in
agriculture When sulphur is burned
in the open air, or in chamber or ov-
en-, the resulting combination is sui
phurous acid gas. This is a pungent
gas, penetrating and diffusive, and is
the best fungicide, germicide, bleach
er, and parasite killer there is. This
gas is absorbed by water in large guam
titles, exactly what the point of com
plete and possible saturation is has moi
been Ultimately settled, but water that
has absorbed large quantities of it, il
forms an aqueous solution that is a
powerful fungacide, germacide. bleach
er. parasite killer, and will preserve
lruts, eggs, and kill blight in the soil
j BIT uihila II Is ii Of Ills e moi 1,sed