The Washington times., 1924-03-05
PEAT IS UPHELD
ASFERT|L|zER
SUBSTITUTE
Said to Be Better Soil Food
Than Present Commercial
Varieties.

Pointing out that the number
Of abandoned farms throughout the
United States is increasing rapidly,
due chiefly to the progressive i'm.
povertshment Of the land and the
mounting cost Of fertilization, a
statement issued by the North Caro-
lima Geological and Economic Sur.
vey asserts that the remedy for this
condition is to be found in the peat
boys of North Carolina.
These peat deposits, the survey
declares, are one Of the few do
mestic sources of nitrogen that can
be converted economically into
plant food and that can be applied
to revitalze exhausted farm land.
Reasons for Abandonment
1.-TWO reasons are absorbed gen.
orally for the movements that In
course Of time mark the abandon.
ment Of the farms that have built
up and made prosperous once
great agricultural sections" says
the statement. Zone is taxation,
which limits the net return from
cultivation, and the consequent
price of lands, which makes their
acquisition impractical. The other,
and more important, is the pro-
gressive Impeachment Of the soil,
which ever demands more expensive
fertilization and thus makes farm
operation in the end an economic
impossibility.
"Only a short time ago the State
Of Michigan was considered an al
most inexhaustible territory TOR
agriculture. Today the number or
its abandoned farms is $4,000. and
other thousands are rapidly deterior'
ating and their population seeking
the new pioneer fields.
I'm this situation the nee.l, Of
course, is the preservation and up
building of the soil--and for that
something more than purely
stimulating fertilizer applied for each
crops Is required. Such n method
| is as fatal to land as the dope
habit" IL to man. The dose be.
comes greater in rapid progression
and the reaction becomes less and
less to the point of utter breakdown n.
Land that has been neglected and
treated with dope needs a fertilizer
tonic, something that will Mt once
stimulate and build 1t up and pro-
vide 1t a food out of which 1t may
be reconstructed. The one hope Of
such a fertilizer depends not on get.
ting vast quantities of cheap nitro
gen from Muscle Shoals or else
where, but in the use of fertilizer
that is itself essentially virgin soil
in the adaptation of peat to
the reconstruction OF the abandoned
farm.
Peat Deposits Cited.
1.-THE peat deposits of the United
States are one of the few domestic
sources of nitrogen that can be con-
verted economically into plan: food.
While the average nitrogen content
Of domestic and raw peat Is about 2
per cent. which may be recovered
in the form of ammonium sulphate
or made available without removing
it from the peat, the chemical analy-
sis Is not true test of the value
OF peat as a fertilizer, since the total
quantity of potential soluble nitro.
gen formed by bacterial action after
the peat has been applied is in the
aggregate much greater than that
found in some commercial fertilizers.
1.-THE elements whose loss is chief.
ly responsible for exhausted soils are
humus, producing nitrogen; lime
stone. producing calcium carbonate,
| and Stag or rock, producing phos-
phorous. Therefore, II the soil is
supplied with peat of about 80 per
cent organic matter, which has been
properly mixed with lime and Stag,
there is little to fear about the other
elements, since adequate organic
matter in the soil, in decomposing,
furnishes the food necessary for the
bacteria that renders nitrogen in the
soil available to plants.
Fertilizer prepared by this
method in Michigan has proved its
success in restoring wasted lands
while fertilizing them for growing
crops at much less expense than
that entailed in the usual annual
fertilization. Tests have shown that
1t restores the porous quality to
clay lands and prevents too rapid
drainage Of sandy soils.
Not Yet Exploited.
"In eastern North Carolina there
are thousands on thousands Of peat
boys capable of producing a product
that with proper treatment could be
utilized for the manufacture of peat
fertilizer as well as for peat as a
| fuel. Briquettes have been made
| from the eastern Carolina peat
which contained a large per cent of
carbon and heating power in its
coke, almost equal to that of anthta.
cite coal. In addition. modern treat.
ment Of peat involves the saving Of
many valuable by-products, and the
plants for making briquettes, recov.
ering ammonia and other by-prod-
ucts are run by producing en-
gines, the only fuel for which Is the
raw peat itself.
In spite Of the growing demand
and high prices for both fuels and
fertilizer, effort at utilizing the i'm.
mense peat deposits Of North Caro-.
lima is represented. by one small
nlanfO