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2. Nitrate Accumulation in Soil as Influenced by Tillage and Straw Mulch 1
Author(s) -
Albrecht William A.
Publication year - 1926
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1926.00021962001800100002x
Subject(s) - tillage , mulch , straw , citation , soil water , columbia university , agronomy , mathematics , library science , environmental science , sociology , media studies , computer science , soil science , biology
Even though plants may use several forms of .nitrogen in their nutrition, the nitrate form still stands out as the most important. The amount of nitrate prod~tced in the soil during the season is more essential in determining crop production than the total supply of nitrogen. Numerous oil treatments and conditions influence this nitrogen turnover, or this change £rom the insoluble nitrogen to the soluble form. Among these, ~he mechanical treatment, or tillage, has been considered significant. The £~llowing study was conducted in the hope of getting some information regarding the influence of tillage, stmh as plowing and surface cultivation, the influence of the straw mulch, and other factors on the nitrate accumulation in the soil. SOIL AND TREATMENTS USED This study deals with one series of ~ ~ plats of a silt loam, classified as a phase of Shelby loam, and 4 plats from a similar series of ~o, not far removed, on the same type of soil. The former series was under study for six years, ~9~o to ~925, i-nclusive, and the latter for three years, ~9x7 to ~9’9, inclusive. These series included plats with different crops along with different tillage treatments, but only the la{t]gr are being considered in this discussion. The treatments and crops on the different plats used are given in Table ~. The soil of the plats is a shallow silt loam about 7 inches deep Underlain by a fairly heavy, more or less impervious, silty clay. The surface has a slope of about 5° and is subject to some washing, but receives little added material due to the sod crops above. The rainfall of the season was 37.5 inches as a mean for the year, with the distribution giving a significant decrease during the sttmmer months suggesting a droughty condition. This is shown in Fig. 3 giving the nitrates in the undisturbed sod soil and the rainfall distribution by months for the 6 years under study and for 37 years. From these plats it was possible to note the general course of nitrate accumulation under an untilled sod in grass and to study the effects on nitrate accumulation by the general operations of.seedbed preparation, including spring plowing and various dates of fall plowing for wheat, by surface cultivation with the ordinary corn cultivator, and by the straw mulch in heavier and lighter applications.