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Show PROBLEMS FOR DRY FARMERS Knowledge of Effects of Nitrogen and Humus Content of Soli Is of Vital Importance. (MY Till. ItOHKUT STHWAKT) A knowledge of the effect of drj bind farming upon the nitrogen and humuH content of the soil is noes sary before a permanent system ol dry land farming can be established Almost coincident with the develop merit of scientific dry land farming tho determental effects of such a sys tern on the nitrogen and humus con tent of the cultivated soli suggested Itself to the careful student of thj subject. The history of scientific agrl culture taught that the cropping ol land to tho same crop caused a decrease de-crease In the nitrogen and humus content con-tent of the cultivated soli. It also taught that summor-fallowlng wai even more destructive to those Important Im-portant constituents than was continuous contin-uous cropping Itself. The Importance of nitrogen In crop production and the preponderance of evidence regarding the destruction ol organic matter and the resulting loss of nitrogen by practicing a system of crop production Involving the use of the summer-fallow, have caused thoughtful students of the subject to suggest means of returning the organic or-ganic matter and the nitrogen to the soil. For this purpose, the growing of legumes during the season when the land Is not occupied by the wheat have been suggested, but this prsctlce I defeats the purpose of the summer-fallow. summer-fallow. Inasmuch as the limited supply sup-ply of moisture Is called upon to grow the legume. In view of the known action of continuous con-tinuous cropping and summer-fallow-Ing upon the nitrogen and humus of humid soils, a knowledge of tho effect of dry farming upon the nitrogen and hurnus of dry land soils became of exceedingly ex-ceedingly great Importance. With this Idea In view the author. In the summer of 1907. had a survey made of the dry-farming area In Cache valley, val-ley, the oldest dry-farming district In the stato of Ftah, and the conclusions reached were as follows: 1. The cropping of dry farming land In Cache valley to wheat, either by the summer-fallowing method or by continuous cropping, does not decrease de-crease the nitrogen or humus of the surface foot of soil. 2. The second foot of grain-cropped land contains less nitrogen and humus hu-mus than does the second foot of the adjacent virgin soil. 3. The observed phenomenon In case of the grain-cropped land Is probably due to the addition of nitrogen nitro-gen to the surface foot from lower depth and the addition of the humus from the added straw, 4. The work Indicated that In a study of the nitrogen and humus problem in dry land farming attention must be paid to greater depth of soil than the traditional plowed surface. |
