Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-06-08
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
National Geographic Society
LESSON IN

lLESSON IN FARMING
A volcano in Alaska far from most
] Of Americas farms, turned agricul-
tural Instructor" a few years ago
and staged an important demonstra-
ton of modern farming methods on
a gigantic scale.
The story of this impersonal giant
of the north which wrought it's agri-
cultural will on hundreds of sQuare
miles of teritory, in a way to make
the most influential county farm
agent envious, is told by Robert F.
Griggs in his recently published
book, "The Valley of Ten Thousand
Smokes"
For years the Federal and State
Departments of Agriculture and
other advocates OF better farming
methods have been preaching the
advantages of the dust mulch"
Keep down the weeds, keep in the
moisture, and give your plants a
chance" has been the slogan. When
Katmai Volcano on the Alaska PEN
insula blew its top off, it subjected
the surrounding country to a "dust
mulch" such as had seldom been
seen before. Included in the
"mulched" territory was the island
of Kodiak whose green grasses sup
ported herds of cattle and on which
we're a number of farms.
The mulch treatment was pretty
heroic at Kodiak. Over much of the
island the volcanic ash deposits were
a foot or more deep. All vegetation
except trees and bushes was blank
eted, and when DR.. Griggs saw the
country soon after the eruption it
looked like a gray desert. His lead
ership of expeditions sent out by the
National Geographic Society to study
the volcanic region took him back to
Kodiak in the following years, and
he found a surprising transforma-
ton. Grasses were more luxuriant
than ever before, put out earlier,
and grew much higher. The large,
luscious berries for which Kodiak
was famous were bigger and more
numerous than ever Even the trees
grew faster.
Most of the local observers jumped
to the conclusion that the ash was
a wonderful fertilizer. But when DIR.
Griggs had the ash analysed he
found that it had about the fertiliz-
ing power of sharp quartz sand: as
a fertilizer it was absolutely worth
less. Then he gathered the evidence
HAASA 6hONVd NAdL tlAS ACilldl AUX
growth of plants at Kodiak begin
ming a year or so after the ashfall
was solely due to the action of the
ash as a mulch. The heavy blanket
of ash, it was found, smothered
many little weeds and grasses that
were fighting for a place in the sun
and were absorbing much plant food
from the soil. The strong grasses
and the larger plants with virile root
systems continued to live, and when
they began to grow again found
themselves for the first time with
out competition. Living was easier;
each survivor had a bigger share of
the plant food and grew abnormally.
DR.. Grigg's book contains many IL
Illustrations showing the effect of the
ash mulch on plant growth, includ-
ing the cross-section of a tree show !
ing that its growth in a single year
after the fall of ash was as great as
in three or four years before.
Other portions of the book relate
to the exploration of the amazing
features of the devastated region
around Katmai Volcano, with its
largest Of active volcanic craters; |
and the discovery of the wonderful
valley of Ten Thousand Smokes"
a rival for the Yellowstone, which
the United States Government has |
set aside as a National Monument.