The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1934-04-20

# TREASURE STATE FARM AND LIVESTOCK &
Soil Control for Better Crops; Food
Elements Needed for Plant Growth
Where Nitrogen Comes From

Where Nitrogen Comes From
Nitrogen, a. stated above, is a growth
promoting plant food. Since there is too
little nitrogen in some soils, and too
much in others, soil control is neces-
sary.
Nitrogen ONE from the air, also
through the agency of organic mat
ter. Both animal manure and green
manure play important parts in nitro
gen production.
Nitrogen, as it occurs in the air, is
not available as plant food. Bacteria
makes it available.
Bacteria make nitrogen free of cost
for the farmer. There are two principal
kinds of bacteria doing this work. One
is the kind that causes nodules on the
roots of alfalfa and other leguminous
crops. The other kind are known as
free living bacteria" The kind that
important nitrogen producers than the
free" bacteria.
Activity Must Be Controlled
Free living bacteria have produced
such excessive nitrogen in parts of
Colorado that crops were reduced, and,
in extreme cases., farms and orchards
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could have been avoided by soil control.
Where there are high excess nitrates
wheat lodges more seriously, ripens ir-
/ regularly and rusts badly. Potatoes
have vines that are too heavy, less
tubers, lower starch, lower quality. They
! are soggy and the yield is reduced.
Onions develop serious rot with the
yield reduced. Cantaloupes ripen late,
! yield less, and lack sweetness. Dam
aged crops have resulted. These danger
signs are to be needed in practicing
soil control.
Before trying to work out a plan
for controlling bacteria it is necessary to
consider animal and green manure
Although nitrogen comes from the air,
it is held fixed in these manures when
they are plowed under, thus adding to
the soils supply. Furthermore, animal
and green manures feed and stimulate
bacteria that gather nitrogen from the
air. Thus it is seen that these man.
ures add nitrogen to the soil both d.
rectly and indirectly.
On soils that have excessive nitrogen
it is advisable to use no green man
ure. Animal manure should be used
only moderately, and it is good to skip
q year between ~appncaClOnS.
Cultivation Increases Notification
Methods for controlling bacteria are
based on knowledge of soil conditions.
Bacteria are most active when the soil
is we'll aerated and of high Temporal
ture.
Cultivation increases the activity of
the bacteria because it aerates the soil
and may raise the soil temperature.
When growing a cultivated crop,
onions, for example, nitrate-nitrogen
is gathered at a very high rate during
the summer seasons Onions give very
little shade to the soil, which permits
higher soil temperatures.
Barley, on the other hand, is an
uncultivated crop. The soil is not
stirred or aerated. The soil is shaded
during. the. summer. months. con-
Sequently the soil temperature is low
er. With barley the accumulation of
nitrate-nitrogen is very slow.
Obviously the solution to the prob
lem is found in crop rotation, which
provides for a reasonable amount of
cultivated or row crops, alternated with
grain and grass crops which are not
cultivated.
Thus nitrogen-control becomes a very
important reason for rotation. Rota-
ton is imperative.
Rotation Controls Diseases
Rotation is imperative for other rea-
sons, important among which are con-
troll of pests and diseases. Proper o
tation controls nematodes while faulty
rotation encourages them. Good ro-
tation prevents OF delays the increase
of nematodes to dangerous proportions.
Leaf spot control also demands ro-
tation. Leaf spot is a fungus disease
which grows from spores. When beets
are grown after beets or, in other words
when beets are grown on fields not
rotated, a full supply of leaf spores is
present. The spores are ready to de-
velop and multiply the evils of leaf
spot when conditions of heat and
moisture are favorable.
In review, it is apparent then, that
rotation controls nitrogen, controls
nematodes, and controls leaf spot. Ro-
tation is desirable, of course, for many
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