The Nevada County picayune., 1922-04-27
The Value of Crop Rotation F, J. Watson, Agricultural Agent Prescott & North
 western Railroad.
western Railroad.

The crying need or ninety per cent of our cultivated lands is humus or
 onotsbIe matter This is more eS- nocially true with regard to sandy nnlands, where washing, or erosion, is worst.
 What is humus, and what function does it perform in the soil? Humus ;s decayed vegetable matter, derived from plants direct, or from the excre- +;ons of animals which feed on plants. uumus imparts dark, or rich, color to the soil. It retains water like a snonee making the soil cooler during summer and warmer during winter. The water held by, the humus. carries nnjaant food in solution, both gaseous, as nitrogen or ammonia, and mineral, ssT ssTep epbosphorous and potassium, all three of which are highly essential to plant growth. These facts give us an idea of the importance of humus or vegetable matterrin it's relation to the welfare of the farmer, the state and the nation as a whole.
 The average farmer in this country has sadly neglected this matter of bumus. and as "a cbnsequehce, his lands have become less productive with the passing of timeas This de crease in the productive power of the soil has far reaching effect. First, the farmer himself, must see his income diminished, which in turn diminishes the income of the commun- ity. the state, and finally the nation it. self
 Why does new ground, as we say, produce so much larger crops than old or worn land? Principally be- cause it is we'll stocked with humus or vegetable matter the accumulation of centuries, or perhaps ages, and fur thermore the mineral plant food con- tained in such soils is quite abundant and easily available by reason of the presence of an abundant supply of humus.
 The continual cropping of new lands especially in cotton, as is almost uni versally practiced in the South, with out restoring anything of what has been removed, soon exhausts the sup ply of humus through oxidation or the burning of the humus, and cor responding teaching away of the soluble mineral elements. The oxida ti0n or burning of the humus proceeds rapidly in the South under the in- fluence of our long, hot summers and our inadequate system of cultivation and soil conservation. These condi- tions make it of particular importance to our farmers that they keep up the humus content of the soil
 The humus content of the soil, so essential to profitable farming, cannot be maintained successfully by any other means than proper rotation of crops, aided and accelerated by the liberal use of farm, or animal manures and other plant food brought in from outside sources, such as commercial fertilizers. It does not matter how fertile any particular piece of land may be. it can be exhausted of its original fertility in the course of time by the continual growth of any par tlcular crop, even when fertilizers are applied to the crop, as the exhaustion through oxidation, teaching and other agencies, is bound to proceed just a little more rapidly-in other words, It IS very difficult to add more fertility through the agency of fertilizing ma terials, than is removed by the crop and lost through these other agencies operating constantly upon the soil.
 It is well known fact that certain crops are much more exhaustive to the fertility of the land than others, while some crops, instead of removing any thlng from the soil in the way of fertility, actually add to, or improve the land. Of all the crops we grow ih this country, none are more ex- hausting on the soil than the cotton crop, which is by far our most i'm portant revenue crop. This is one of the saddest features about the cotton Dusiness. For many genera tions it mas hppp nI1r ,no;r stay hoe aI-