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

How soil control contributes to big
ger yields of better crops was graph
| cally portrayed in motion pictures, pro-
! duced by the Great Western Sugar
company and shown to thousands o.
farmers in Montana this spring by the
fertilizer department of n Anaconda
Copper Mining company.
The soil control" meetings raised
the question: as your soil working fol
YOU or against you?" 1t was pointed
out how every farmer must meet this
problem, regardless of what crop he
grows. It was shown how, within the
range Of humanity comfortable factors
the soil must be controlled for success
full farming.
To control the soil. we are told, it Is
first necessary to answer the queS-
ton: What is the soil?" The soil Is
a dynamic mass of organic n 1nor-
ganic particles. 1t is very complex
But to simplify it the picture shows
us the chemical elements in 100 pounds
of soil. There are many variations in
our intermountain soils. Even farms
close together often have wide differ
ences in soil structure.
Our motion picture takes this soil
to pieces. In 100 pounds of soil we
find:
$50 pounds silica common sand)
80 pounds lime; is pounds potash; OIL
pounds phosphate; OIL pounds nitrogen;
22.0 pounds iron, aluminium, and other
substances.
The above table is cited only to IL
lustrate the relative proportions of the
principal soil elements. 1t is not in
tended to give the impression that pro-
ductive soil could be put together this
way. Plant growth depends also on
bacterial action and other factors the
table does not attempt to cover.
Before leaving this table it is inter-
esting to note how relatively small are
the big three" elements, potash, nitro
gen and phosphate. We find only one
and one-half pounds of potash, and
only one-tenth of a pound each of
phosphate and nitrogen.
Functions of the Big Three"
Briefly consider the functions of
potash, nitrogen, and phosphate:
l.. Potash is essential in the forma-
ton of starch, sugar and cellulose in
plants. If soil lacks potash, plants do
not mature well. Potash seems to have
a balancing effect on phosphate and
nitrogen.
2. Phosphate hastens the building
up and maturity of fruits, grains, tubers,
o. beets. It hastens the transfer of
substances from stem and leaves to the
seed. In the a of grains, it makes
for plump and full granules. Phos-
phate also stimulates root development
in very young plants.
3. Nitrogen increases growth of leaves
and stem, and defers OF postpones ma
turity. When the soil is short of nito-
gen the plant makes short growth and
usually has poor color.
When the soil has too much nitrogen
the nitrogen produces too much stem
and leaf growth of luxuriant green
color, at the expense of the production
OF fruits, grains, tubers, or beets.
With some of the functions of potash,
phosphate and nitrogen in mind, as
given above, let us return to our table,
and note the proportion again in 100
pounds Of soil.
Regarding the n and one-half
pounds Of potash, little need to be said
for the present. Intermountain soils
seem, on the whole, to be well supplied
in potash.
Only .0O3 Pounds Available Phosphate
In noting that 100 pound sample
contains only one-tenth of a pound of
phosphate and nitrogen, We must add
that even these small amounts are not
entirely available for immediate plant
use. In fact, only three ~thousandths
of n pound of phosphate is available,
and the rate at which more may be-
come available is so very slow that
future availability is not of immediate
concern.
So availability becomes a vitality i'm
portant factor. What is availability? A
scientific definition of availability is
very complex, but we can get some
idea of the process when we consider
a cat and a rat in a granary. The cat
does not eat wheat. With nothing but
wheat in sight the cat would starve
But the rat eats the wheat, and when
the wheat is converted into rat-meat,
the cat eats it. In other words, the rat
makes the wheat available to the cat.
In some such way very small organ
isms, called bacteria, make food avail
able to plants, which food the plants
could not eat if it were not for the
work of the bacteria. These bacteria
are necessary for making all three
potash, phosphate, and nitrogen avail
able to plants for food.