The ranch., November 15, 1906, Image 1

About The ranch. (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914

Image provided by: Washington State Library; Olympia, WA

                
THE RANCH
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Vol. XXIII. No. 22.
HUMUS==ITS RELATION TO SOILS AND CROPS
FOR the progressive farmer or orchardist the matter of fertilizers for
his soil bids fair to hold his close attention for years to come. In
time past the farmer of the northwest has been content to let the
soil take care of itself in this respect, but with the repeated croppiugs the
fertilizer content is being depleted, and the fact forces itself upon the
owner that neglect of the soil in this respect cannot be longer allowed.
There are many points to be considered in treating of such a broad subject,
but we will only take up that of humus in the soil in this issue, for, be it
known, humus is an imperative constituent of all soils that are to produce
good crops. Humus, as every one should know, is the organic matter in
the soil, and its most important value is that it is the principal source of
nitrogen in the soil. As has been repeatedly stated in The Ranch, nitrogen
is a very important element in the production of crops, and if the farmer
had it to buy on the mar
kets of the world, he would
find it the most expensive
of all elements needed by
the soil to produce his
crops. To produce fifty
bushels of corn and the nec
essary fodder it requires
about sixty to eighty pounds
of nitrogen, and at present
this element is quoted from
ten to eighteen cents per
pound. Nitrogen is im
portant in soils because it
promotes the growth of the
stems and leaves and gives
the plant its rich green
color. Wallace Sherlock
says that humus being a principal nitrogenous ingredient of soils, it is
safe to say that black soils, soils containing humus, are sure to be rich in
nitrogen and that such soils will make an abundant growth of any crop
attempted thereon. In soils in which the humus has been allowed to run
down, or become exhausted, the supply of nitrogen will be lacking, and on
such soils the crops will make an inferior growth. The farmer knows that
if he does not manure a hilltop, but crops it continuously, before long the
clay will show and the growth of the crop will be puny, yellow, very in
ferior and unprofitable. This is caused by the supply of humus being de
pleted till the soil loses its nitrogen.
By the decay of organic matter materials are yielded up that nourish
the plants growing upon the soil in which this matter is decaying. Though
humus contains the greater part of the nitrogen found in soil, yet if the
humus did not undergo decay the nitrogen contained in the humus would
be of little, if any, value to growing crops, because it is not soluble or so
nrenarfid that the nlant can use it. In decay. however, nart of the nitroeen
Fruit at Recent San Juan County Fair.
Humus is valuable in another way. Its decay furnishes a large supply
of carbonic acid which assists greatly in decomposing the other elements,
such as potash, phosphorus, etc., rendering a great many of these that are
unsoluble ready for the plant's use. It has been shown by a number of ex
periments that 10,000 parts of ordinary atmosphere contain about six parts
of carbonic acid; while air taken from sandy forest soil has about 38 to
40 parts; air taken from clay surface soil haß about 125 to 130 parts; air
taken from dry soil, rich in humus, had 550 parts; and the same soil after
a rain had nearly 1,200 parts. This shows that soils rich in humus not
only contain a great deal of nitrogen or ammonia, but, it also produces
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, NOVEMBER 15, 1906.
FRIDAY HARBOR, CAPITAL, OF SAN JUAN COUNTY, WASHINGTON.
carbonic acid which greatly assists in increasing tne supply or soiuoie
mineral plant food in the soil. The application of animal and vegetable
remains to the soil not only increases the nitrogen supply and benefits the
physical condition of the soil, but it hastens the solution of mineral matters.
Soils rich in humus become the home of the earthworms, whose value
to soils is generally underestimated, if not overlooked, by the farmer.
Earthworms are rarely found in soils destitute of humus, while the richer
the soils and the more it is manured with animal dung and animal remains
the more numerous they are. These worms benefit soils by swallowing
unsoluble elements, digesting them and then casting them off as worm
manure in a soluble state. It has been estimated that on soils reasonably
rich in humus these worm casts will reach as high as twenty tons per acre
per year, of which one-third of one per cent, is nitrogen. Then in addition
to the worm casts, the
worms themselves die and
their bodies by decay go to
increase the richness of the
soil. When we stop to con
sider that millions of these
insects are on every acre
we can see how they benefit
soils.
Besides being the means
of increasing the fertility of
the soil, humus is of great
benefit itself. We know
that dark soils are good ab
sorbers of heat, and this
alone is of great value in
the germination of seeds
and plants. Farmers know
that well manured soils, which are therefore rich in humus, are lighter and
more easily cultivated than tenacous clay soils. Rich, peaty soils have been
weighed and a cubic foot found to weigh from thirty to fifty pounds; rich
garden soils weigh about seventy pounds per cubic foot; while tenacious
soils destitute of humus weigh from eighty to ninety pounds, and sandy
soils with no humus are as heavy as 110 pounds per cubic foot. Soils light
in weight are more easily cultivated than heavy soils; they do not pack
so rapidly; and, therefore, the plant roots can penetrate them with less
resistance, and, if the soil contains a sufficient amount of plant food a
better growth is the result. The looser the soil is the more particles of it
can be reached by the roots of the plant. If each particle of soil was no
smaller than a cubic foot, then the roots of the plant could only reach a
surface of six square feet to every cubic foot of soil. If the cubic foot
of soil is pulverized till the particles are all a cubic inch in size, then a
cubic foot of soil will have 10.3G8 spuare inches of surface, or 72 square
feet that can be reached by the roots. To render the soil more porous than
in the humus unites with the hydro
gen in the water at the rate of one
atom of nitrogen to three of hydrogen,
and we have what is called ammonia.
This element can be taken up by the
plant through its root system and be
used to assist in the growth and de
velopment of the plant. It can be
seen that ammonia cannot be created
to any considerable extent without the
presence of humus and sufficient
moisture in the soil. An experiment,
conducted not long ago in England
showed that yellow clay contained
only .005 per cent, (five one-thou
sandths of one per cent.) ammonia;
white sandy loam about X) 2 per cent,
(two one-hundredths of one per cent.';
while black garden soil, rich in humus,
had nearly one per cent. In other
words, rich black garden loam had
nearly two hundred times as much
ammonia as yellow clay. If for no
other reason, this alone shows the
value of humus in the soil.
this means an increasing of the surface that can be reached by the roots.
Anything, then, that assists in mellowing or pulverizing the soil makes it
possible for a larger portion of that soil to be reached by the roots. Aa
stated before, humus does this very thing, and in this one thing is its great
value of soils.
The presence of humus in soils greatly assists in the absorption of
moisture from the air. All soil has a power of withdrawing the vapor of
water from the air to a greater or lesser degree, and conserving the same
In its pores. This property is of great value, since it increases the supply
of moisture in the soil when the same is running low, and then in absorbing
Choice Collection of San Juan Products.
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