Imperial Valley press., 1924-04-17
CHINESE METHODS
ARE USEFUL HERE
SAYS !. v. FARMER
By CLARK w. ADAIR.

Formerly chairman, soil fertility
committee Of the Associated Cham
bees Of Commerce Of Imperial Coun-
~, California.
] take the liberty of agsin call
ing your attention to the question
~ soil fertility. Our production per
acre is too often small and unprofit-
able.
The hes, farmers in the world
from what ] have learned, are the
Chinese. They have farmcd their
soil for Thousands Of years, and it
is now producing two or three times
more per acre than American farms
produce.
The secret Of their success seems
70 be Ia the way they make fertiliz-
ers for their crops.
In China, everything organic not
used for fuel OF feed. is taken from
the fields and fermented in com
post pits OF stacks. They seem to
have learned to exclude the oxygen
in the air while the compost is
fermenting. The organic matter is
thoroughly mixed with mud and
water in the pits and stacks.
When fermentation takes place in
a compost pit filled with organic
matter, mud and water acids are
formed, these as per ensilage and
sour krsut act upon the minerals
in the mud and are destroyed and
decay continues until the vegetable
matter is a fiberless, soft muck. The
compost material is then dried and
pulverized before applied as ferti-
lizer by the Chinese farmers.
At the soil fertility convention
last year at Ell Centre, California,
one of the lecturers stated that
plants as they grew, produced a
toxic substance which was Injurious
to themselves, hence rotation of
crops was necessary. When asked
if deeaying vegetable matter prod
uced toxic substances in the soil, he
said, "No. This statement was
challenged by 4 farmer who said he
grew better cotton when he burned
the cotton stock instead of plowing
them under.
Rice Fields Excepted
Tests have been made and it has
been demonstrated many times that
organic matter deeaying in the soil
while az crop is growing upon the
same land, often does harm and
reduces production.
The Chinese raise from two to
four crops per year, often plant
ing new crop before the preceding
one has fully matured.
Very little vegetable matter is
allowed to decay upon the land,
nearly everything being put into
compost pits or stacks.
One of the exceptions TO this
practice is when they tramp organic
matter into the mud and water in
the rice fields. This practice pre-
vents the oxygen in the air from
coming in contact with the decay
ing organic matter.
1t is generally explained that
fresh organic matter, when mixed
with the soil, ferments and produces
Identification, destroys the nitro
gen fixed in the soil, and that the
plants starve for nitrogen. But ii
appears that is not the ease where
the fresh organic matter is cover
ed with earth or water deep enough
to exclude the air.
Chinese methods applied 20 I'm
peri.l Valley would read something
like this. Plow the organic mat
ter under, irrigate so that i win
ferment and decay, then allow the
soil TO completely dry out so as to
evaporate the aldehyds that may
have been formed, cultivate, pull
verize for seed bed and plan. This
practice has resulted in very heavy
yields on unproduetive soil in I'M
perial Valley. Legume organic mat
ter will give best results.
Fruit growers, can dry out the
soil and evaporate the aldehyds