Show IMITATE NATURE BY PUTTING THE HUMUS MATERIAL BACK INTO THE SOIL thomas ii lu aln agronomist brigham young university 0 over ver thousands ot of years nature has built into the soil material a groat great organic matter complex known as humus this humus acts as a sponge in the midst of the soil particles and Is capable of absorbing water releasing favorable eases cases feeding the soil organisms and yielding acids which dissolve plant food from the soil particles it Is really the great key torce force in the midst ot of an army of working units which gives the soil its complexion and indicates what the soil possibilities are nature knew how important this humus was wag for years it has given our virgin soils lust just the right amount which when cultivated makes these soils yield abundantly yet man can and does with his cultivating practices and a failure allure to provide additional humus take away la in 50 years all that nature has supplied in years one may put much of 0 this humus back into the soil straw leaves corn fodder garbage manure hay refuse sweet clover and alfalfa as green manure will furnish an additional dit ional humus supply S straw t r a w leaves and garbage should never be burned compost could well be made to take care of this material until the farmer can use it have a small area of ground selected and there place layers of straw or other farm refuse followed by a thin cover of soil repeat this process until one has a pile 6 to 10 feet high allow this to decompose tor for a few months then slice the soil down from the side and one will ind find a most wonderful loamy soil tor for vegetable and flower flomer gardens one would not need to go up the canyon in the spring of the year to secure forest mold it would already be there tor for immediate use for field practice spread the manure and refuse on to the field anytime during the year when it Is convenient veni ent it need not be placed in piles to partly decompose first I 1 it f aeu has a limited amount of manure to apply spread it over as much ground as possible rather than place a large amount on a small area this nill mill be conducive to greater yields per ton of manure |