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MEXICAN GULF COAST ILLUSTRATED.
71
A loose, porous soil presents to the air many times as much surface as a hard and compact one, as it secures a greater absorption of beneficial properties, as ammonia, etc., and provides conditions favorable for nitrification.
Some knowledge of soils and of the food of plants, the special requirements of particular crops, and of the comparative value of different fertilizers for certain crops, should be possessed by every tiller of the soil. No argument is required to convince an intelligent man that oue in possession of such knowledge is better equipped for success in soil cultivation than another less fortunate. One sows and reaps with valuable light focussed upon his labors: the other is largely groping in the dark. How best to make the soil more fruitful is the important problem. We may not be able to follow Nature’s hidden operations, or comprehend all of her wonderful transformations, but we ^gf^ apply valuable knowledge already at hand, in this grandest of all pursuits'.*"
The soils of the Coast, as shown by analyses, as well as by experience in their cultivation, need phosphoric acid—a compound of phosphorus with oxygen and hydrogen. They are also deficient in potash and lime. All of these constituents are not far off; indeed, they are in almost every case along the Coast near at hand. The lime may be had by burning shells with wood, whereby lime and potash are obtained. In some cases swamp muck has been used for incorporating the lime and ashes into a mass with very satisfactory results. Much of the muck of the bayous is worthless as a fertilizer, yet it often serves a useful purpose iu composting with other substances. Vegetable mould found in many places, formed by the decay of vegetable matter is of itself a valuable fertilizer. Marls are also very useful. They differ to some extent, but all are valuable. Marls are of much value and exist in various sections of Mississippi; where accessible to the Coast it will be profitable to use it. Marl is a mixture of clay and sand in variable proportionsand calcium carbonateor corbonate of lime, derived chiefly from shells. Good marl is especially well suited to sandy lands as it supplies the very elements which such lands need. Its value as a fertilizer depends chiefly upon the amount of potash and phosphoric acid it contains. The carbonate of lime acts indirectly by correcting the acidity (A the soil. Acidity results from the decay of vegetable matter in wet localities. where the air does not have free access, or where the water in the soil does not drain off.
An inexhaustible source of phosphate comes to the (’oast in the months of September and October every year. During the greater portion