Progressive farming notes : recent advances in soil science and plant nutrition in the United States

Title

Creator

Marfori, Ricardo T.

Language

English

Source

The Farming and Cooperatives II (1) January 1947

Year

1947

Subject

Fertilizers

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

The United States recently released studies on the innovation of soil fertilization. The fertilizers will help farmers to maximize the agricultural products.

Fulltext

Progressive Farming Notes By RICARDO T. MARFORI Formerly, Government Pensionado in the u. s. 1. Discovery of certain iootopes and their application in biochemistry or soil fertility studies: For ""8Jl1ple, the use of heavy nitrogen (At. wt. 15), heavy carbon (At. wt. 13), etc. in plant nutrition. These have been mad pouible because of the d~velopment and use of the mas• spectrocraPh in the routine analysis of these isotopes. 2. Production of radioactive element1 and their application in biochemistry: For ezample, the use of· radioactive phosphorus and radioactive potassium in the tracer technique in plant nutrition. The activation of elements has become a routine work by means of th cyclotron or the betatron. The tracer technique or that of following the course of radioactive element,. say phosphorus, absorbed by a living plant ha• been possible because of such dt:vices as the Geiger counter, for instance. 3. Mineralogical method• for the otudy of silts and clays: The most modem methods are those with the use of the X-ray diffraction apparatus, the electron microscope, and the apparatus for thermal analyds of clay minerals. Soil fertility studies demand a knowledge of the enct nature--molecular structure as well as chemicai composition-of silt and clay m.inerals---kaolinite, montmorillonite, beidellite, etc. Base exchange studies have confirmed tbe results of such mineralogical studies of silts and clays. 4. Studies on the nutritional requirementa of plants as well as of animals are now possible by the refinement• in chemical analytical methods, such as by che· mical spectroscopy-both by emission and absorption spectroscopy. oolarographic methods and colorimetric methods of microanalysis. S. Soil mircro-nutrient deficiency studies have been much advanced by spectrochemical methods and colorimetric methods. The zinc deficiency of pineapple; the boron deficiency of alfalfa, apple, citrus and other plants; the cobalt deficiency of pasture soils which results in the malnutrition of livestock; and the copper deficiency of soils which affects both plant and animal nutrition had been discovered and _remedied by ineana of refinementa in- chemiCal analytical methods. 6. The influence of manganese deficiency in soils on the synthesis of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) in.the foliaa:e of plantl ia now RECENT ADVANCES IN SOIL SCIENCE AND PLANT NUTRITION IN THE UNITED STATES* definitely estable in the United States. 7. The biological assays of some soil types gave comparative balanced fertility of the soil. These had been well tried in the Univenity of Missouri, using domestic rabbits in the bioassays. The rabbits in lots of 8 to 10 were fed for six weeks, after weaning, with hays (Korean ' lespedez) grown on different soil types. Animals fed with hay grown on fertile soils showed greater gains in weights, brighter eyes, more smooth or sleek coats or fur, heavier and bigger bonesdith greater breaking strength than animals fed with hay grown on the poorer soil types. \Vith cattle, preference had been shown for the hay grown on fertile soil to those grown on poorer soils, when the animals had free access to the stacks of the various hays. Fertilizer treatments gave similar results. Cattle preferred the hays from the fertilized plots to those from the control or unfertilized plots. 8. In fertilizer practice, great progess has been made in devising accurate and reliable soil and plant tests to minimize if not to do away with guess work. In this way, extensive long-range fertilizer experiments in the field or in green houses can also be minimized. In fertilizer placement, there has been much improvement in the method of application-that is, by fertilizer attachment to cultivators as . well as to planters or drills. In -general, there has been much progress in fertilizer placement in the soil. 9. Insoil classification, the use of aerial photographs has greatly facilitated detailed, more accurately delineated survey work. The network of good country roads as well as the findings of previous geological surveys are essential to soil classification work. In tensive studies on the· genesis and morphology of the more important soils of the various regions of the United States have been made. Notable are the studies on the loessial soils, the chernozem and prairie soils, the podsols or the forest soils, the desert soils of the arid south-western regions, and the sandy coastal soils of the humid southeastern regions. 10. In soil technology, there has been much development in the application of aoil stablizers, which 0 affords the means of improving end simplifying the whole technique of road making, and soils properly and effectively stabilized are able to support a relatively heavy load even though the water content is high." ( MCLeod, 1943) The most promising chemicals are combinetion of sodium silicete end sodium aluminate, raw tung oil, linseed oil, and a synthetic resin formed by a mixture of furfuryl alcohol and acid. 11. In soil conservation or more precisely, soil erosion control, intensive studies have been made on the effect of various types of vegetation or their combinations, or of various soil amendments on soil erosion losses on different important soil types with various slopes or grades. Soil erosion control such as terracing, contourplowing, strip-cropping, permanent soil cover-crop· ping, have actually saved millions of acres of agricultural lands from complete destruction and ruin. These had been observed especially in the extensive fertile loessial soils in central United States ( principally Iowa) and in the vast rolling lands of Texas. Qll888K)l888Kll888K:>l888K:>l888K:>l888K)l888f(:>l888K)l888!( Cl! :>l888Kll888Kll888K>l888Kll888K)!llS1lK)l888f()l888f(:>!S8i!<l'.j l OUR COVER I • President Roxas inspecting the Aa:ricultutal Machinery And Equipl illi ment Corporation (AMEC), factory for farm implements after which he illi !Ii! said "Go Aheud". At President Roxas' left, smiling with pride ind sa- !Ii! illi tislaction is energetic Engineer Hilarion Henares, Manager of the AMEC illi ' and movina: spirit of this government owned enterprise. l;:'l illi This tool• that will be mode will complement tracton for farm. Let illi !I!! them roll and keep them rolling for fruduction and not only for de- !I!! monetration. illi As Mr. Henrrea puts it, "to make arriculture pay, do it ·the illi ~ AMEC way." !Ii! I To the Cold of the "AMEC Family" Mr. Henare1 invites all farmers. • illi Join the AM EC 10/Jiera of the farm. illi ' On President Roxas' birthday, expressing satislsction over the !I!! illi p1ogre•s of AM EC he •aid: "The AM EC plow factory is icoing to be illi !I!! the arsenal of Agricultural Machinery In the Philippines." And turning !I!! illi to Mr. Henares, he sairl, "Henaroa, you are a:oing to be the custodian illi !I!! of that arsenal, the AMEC factory." ~ i >!881i!<ll888K>l888K)!888Kll888Kl!S88!0!1188!0!888K:>l888K ::ii :>!888K>l888K>l888K:>l888Kll888Kl!81l!s. >l888K:>l888Kll888K<'.il ll

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11

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