Soils, Fertilizers and Irrigation 175 



It would be perfectly safe to use 100 pounds of nitrate of soda 

 to the acre well distributed now; in fact, you could safely use twice 

 as much, but we doubt if you would get any benefit from it unless 

 you should irrigate, for there is no reason to expect showers that 

 would have penetrating powers enough to carry the nitrate any ap- 

 preciable distance into the soil. Of course, the nitrate could be plowed 

 or cultivated in to a considerable depth, but that would probably result 

 in losing moisture by deep opening or turning, which would do 

 more harm than any gain which the nitrate produces, if it were to 

 become available. Our judgment would be, then, that it is too late 

 for any benefit to accrue unless the land can be irrigated. 



Charcoal is a Medicine, Not a Food. 



Recently a lumberyard burned, leaving quite a quantity of charcoal. 

 I hare a lot 50x130 feet in rhubarb. Would the charcoal be of any 

 service on that lot as a fertilizer? I nozv have it zocll fertilized ivith 

 horse manure, but ivould like to use the charcoal if it would be of any 

 material assistance to the plants. 



Charcoal is of no value as a fertilizer. It is practically inde- 

 structible in the soil. In fact, they are digging up now charcoal in 

 the graves of ancient Egyptians, who departed this life five thousand 

 years ago. Charcoal has corrective influence in absorbing some 

 substances which might make the soil sour or otherwise inhospitable 

 to plants. It has been found desirable sometimes to mix a certain 

 amount of charcoal with soil used in potting plants for the purpose 

 of preventing such trouble. The only way to make your charcoal 

 of any value as a fertilizer would be to set it on fire again and 

 maintain the burning until it was reduced to ashes, which are a 

 source of potash and, therefore, desirable, but it will probably cost 

 more than the product of potash will be worth. 



Humus Burning Out. 



I would like to knozu whether or not dry-plowing land, in preparation 

 for sowing oats for hay, injures the soil? I have heard that dry plowing 

 tends to wear out the soil, as the soil is exposed to the sun a long time 

 before harrowing. I have been dry-plowing my land to kill the weeds, 

 but had a light crop of hay this year. 



There is believed to be what is called "a burning out of humus," 

 by long exposure of the soil to the intense heat of our interior dis- 

 tricts. It is probable that the reduction of humus is due more to 

 the lack of effort to maintain the supply than to the actual destruction 

 of it by culture methods. Such a little time as might intervene 

 between dry plowing and sowing could not be charged with any 

 appreciable destruction of soil fertility. It is altogether more prob- 

 able that your hay crop was less from loss of moisture than from 

 loss of other plant food; and it is desirable to harrow a dry plowing, 

 not so much to save the soil from the action of the atmosphere, as 

 to conserve the moisture, which, as you know, will rise from below 



