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Above - Typical form scene during planting season. Recent findi ngs show
that mony of our "profítable" practices hove on unprofitable kíckback.
Right - A double handful of well-mode compost. Note the abundance of
healthy pink earthworms.
dirt materials into food forms the
plants can assimilate and use. Even
mineral-rich soil usually lacks enough
nutrients in availab1e form for vigorous
plant growth. Humus, then, is a key to
soil balance and fertility.
T ypes of Fertilizers
True ferti lization is the addition to
the soil of that which is conducive to
increasing soil life. Fertilizers are
generally recognized in two groups -
orgaoic and inorganic. The organic are
made up of organic matter and microbes.
Inorganic fertilizers are basically
comprised of minerals and are available
in two major types. One type is made
up simply of ground-up minerals such
as rock phosphate, rock potasb, lime–
stone and rock salt as they are found in
their natural state. This type of fertilizer
is not generally dissolved by water, but
is gradually changed into plant food by
the action of microbes, earthworms and
organic acids that are formed by the
decomposition of organic matter.
The other type of inorganic fertilizers
consists of chemical fertilizers. These
are easily soluble in water and cause
corrosive action. Chemical fertilizers are
manufactured products and are com–
monly advertised and sold on the market
for quick results. Most farmers and
gardeoers use them, and feel they could
not get along withoot them.
When Nature Is Unspoiled
In nature there is no need for special
fertilizers. Plants and animals live toge–
ther and their litter accumulates on the
surface to compost and decay, thus mak–
ing a health-sustaining, humus-rich soil.
The whoie life cycle in the soil becomes
a self-regulating system as long as it is
undisturbed by outside forces.
When man enters the picture, how–
ever, it becomes a different story. He
plows up virgin land to grow crops.
The increased oxygen made available by
plowing stimulates the bacteria into
breaking clown the organic matter more
rapidly. Then man removes his crops
from the soil, thus further taking from
its reserves. When he has thus "mined"
the soil until it can no longer produce
profitably, he moves on - or at Ieast he
díd untit this century. But now there are
no new lands to exploit.
Since 1880, it is estimated that about
half of the humus in the Midwest has
been lost - the loss greatly intensifying
Top: Bob To y/or Photo
lnset:
Ambouoclor College
Photo
m recent years. The situation is prob–
ably equally bad or worse in many
other heavily farmed regions of the
world.
lt
doesn't have to be this way.
With a little more effort and a lot less
greed, man could return organic matter
to the soil and build humus. But he
seems to be hopelessly greedy and short–
sighted. He would rather borrow from
the soil's capital and ignore repaying
this debt until necessity demands it.
Necessity is now
banging
on the door!
Desperately, man is looking to chem–
ical fertilizers to bail him out and to
repay his debt to the soil. But is this
possible? Can chemical fertilizers truly
restore soi l fertility?
No! Such was never intended.
How Chemical Fertilizers
Became Popular
In the 1840's, von Liebig in Germany
noticed the regular presence of certain
mineral eleme1;1ts - especially nitrogen,
phosphorus and potash - in the ashes
of bucnt p lants. Since these had to
be
drawn from the soil, he concluded that
soil fertility depended primari ly on the