Charcoal is of no value as a fertilizer. It is practically
indestructible in the soil. In fact, they are digging up now charcoal in
the graves of ancient Egyptians, who departed this life five thousand
years ago. Charcoal has corrective influence in absorbing some
substances which might make the soil sour or otherwise inhospitable to
plants. It has been found desirable sometimes to mix a certain amount of
charcoal with soil used in potting plants for the purpose of preventing
such trouble. The only way to make your charcoal of any value as a
fertilizer would be to set it on fire again and maintain the burning
until it was reduced to ashes, which are a source of potash and,
therefore, desirable, but it will probably cost more than the product of
potash will be worth.
Humus Burning Out.
I would like to know whether or not dry-plowing land, in preparation for
sowing oats for hay, injures the soil? I have heard that dry plowing
tends to wear out the soil, as the soil is exposed to the sun a long
time before harrowing. I have been dry-plowing my land to kill the,
weeds, but had a light crop of hay this year.
There is believed to be what is called "a burning out of humus," by long
exposure of the soil to the intense heat of our interior districts. It
is probable that the reduction of humus is due more to the lack of
effort to maintain the supply than to the actual destruction of it by
culture methods.
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