•()U.£6E OF AQXiCi COPY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. BERKELEY, CAL. E. IV. HILGARD, Director. BULLETIN NO. 94. -4-COMPOSITION OF THE RAMIE PLANT. ^^-FERTILIZING VALUE OF GREASEWOOD. eojviPosiTiojvj Of ■ In Bulletin No. 90 (*' Fiber Plants for Cali- fornia," June 23, 1891) special mention is made of the exhaustion of the soil by the production of ramie. The object of the present investiga- tion is to show the actual amounts of mineral ingredients withdrawn from the soil by the different parts of the plant, and to point out the great necessity of returning to the soil the leaves and stalks after decortication. Experiments on a small plot upon the Uni- versity grounds, and on a much larger scale by M. Goncet de Mas at Padua, I'aly, have proved that on good soils where from three to four cuts c^n be made annually, the yield will be about ten tons of dried stalks per acre. M. Goncet de Mas, in the third year after planting, obtained from two cuts nearly nine tons of dried stalks. We are told by Mr. McAfee of Bakersfield that the best fiber is produced when three instead of four cuts are made annually. The total yield of the three will not differ materially from that of the four cuts; the weight of each cut in the former case being proportionately hfavier. The tables given be- low, showing the total amounts withdrawn from the soil, are based upon these figures, separate analyses were made of the ashes of ■HE RAJVIIE fbANT. the leaves, stalks without bark, and bark, i. e,, cuticle and fiber, including gum. The cuticle and fiber were analyzed together because, while the leaves and stalks can be readily returned to the soil, it will hardly be feasible to do so with the cuticle and gum; and, as stated above, our present object is to ascertain what can and what cannot be given back to the soil. PROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF THE PLANT. It is found that five tons of wet or fresh stalks are equivalent to one of dry. We find that the leaves constitute about 30 per cent of the dried plant; tjie decorticated stalk 51 per cent and the bark 19 per cent. Of the latter nearly 15 is raw fiber, containing 30 per cent of gum, thus making the percentage of pure fiber in the plant as grown here, about 11. Referred to stalk, without leaves as 100, the results are as follows: Decorticated- stalk 73 per cent, whole bark 27, of which 6 is cuticle, and 21 decorticated fiber with gum. Thus the proportion of pure fiber referred to stalk alone is about 15 per cent. CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE PLANT AND ITS ASH. Table I. shows the proximate composition of the different parts of the plant, and also the re- sults of the analyses of the ash of the several parts. TABLE I. Proximate Analysis of the Ramie Plant. Whole plant. Stalk.* Bark.f Leaves. Water 81 26 17.25 1.49 81.75 17.68 .57 80.91 18.78 31 80.65 15.54 3.81 Oruaoic matter Total 100.(0 100.00 100.00 100.00 Ash in dry subs ance Mirogeu in fresh plant Album inoids in Iresh 7.950 .258 1612 3.120 .146 .912 1.620 .210 1.312 19.693 3 0C6 Analysis of the Ash, Whole plant. Stalk Bark. 32.58 8 77 22.28 11.64 .84 .18 12.64 3 68 5 24 2.75 Leaves 4 18 .54 34 74 7.02 2.% .12 4.72 1.88 42.42 2 55 Potash (Ka 0) 11 82 2 35 30.87 7.89 2 41 .17 7.29 2.26 33.01 2.43 37 79 8 15 17.32 10.68 2.95 .35 16.38 3.46 1 56 1.87 Magnesia Ferric oxide and Br. oxide mangauesf Phohphoric acid Os) Sulphuricacid (sUai Silica Less excess of ox- ygen du3 to chlo- Total 100.50 .50 100.00 100.41 .41 100 OJ 100 60 .60 100.00 100.52 .60 99.92 * - talk witbout bark. t Including fiber and gum. An inspection of the figures represent- ing the percentage in the ash of the whole plant shows that lime is the most abundant in- gredient, being 30.87 per cent; next comes pot- ash wilh 11.82 per cent, while that phos2jhoric acid is only about one fourth that of lime, viz., 7.3 per cent. In the ash of the leaves, also, by far the most prominent ingredient of plant-food is lime forming a little more than one-third of of the whole ash; potash and phosphoric acid amounting to less than 5 per cent each. The predominating element in the ashes of the stalk And bark on the contrary is potash, being in the former ca«e more than 37 per cent., and in the latter almost one-third of the weight of the ash; thus indicating the heavy draught made on the soil in this respect. The per- centages of phosphoric acid in the stalk and baik are nearly 3.5 and 2.5 times, respectivelj^, that contained in the leaves. Lime, while not present in such large quantities as in the leaves, still occupies a very prominent place among the ash ingredients of all parts, the stalk containing 17.32 per cent, and the bark 22.38 per cent. In considering the relative values of the dif- ferent ashes it must not be forgotten that al- though the figures given represent pounds per hundred of the as7i, it will require a very much smaller quantity of the leaves to make 100 pounds of ash than is the case with either stalk or bark. Thus, about 500 pounds of dried leaves will yield 100 pounds of ash; but 3,200 pounds of dried stalks and 6.200 pounds bark will be necessary to produce the same amount of ash. In table 2 are shown more clearly the fer- tilizing values of the ashes of the different parts of the plant; it presents the amounts of mineral ingredients actually withdrawn from the soil per acre. It is calculated for a crop of ten tons of dried stalks per acre and, of course, where the yield is not so large, the draft upon the soil is proportionately less. TABLE 2. * Amount in pounds, of soil ingredients withdrawn from one acre annually ^ by fmr cufs of ramie yielding a total often tons of dried stalks, and four and one-quarter tons of leaves. Per acre. Ions. NV liole plant 14>i Stalk Bark 2% Leaves lbs. lbs: lbs. IbH. Potash (K,0) 251.98 155.99 27.86 68.13 Soda(Na20) 50 14 33.63 7.52 8.99 657.32 71.77 19.14 566.91 Magnesia 168.27 43.68 10 01 114.58 Ferric Oxide and Alumina 51.43 12.16 0 71 38 56 Manganese oxide 3.57 1.45 0.20 • r.92 I'hosp'ic Hcid iPjO.-ij 155.70 67 71 10.86 77.13 Sulph. acid (SO3) 48.56 14.. ^3 3.17 30.86 H (ica 704.25 7.06 4.48 692 71 Chloriae 51.^5 2.. "SO 7.':9^ 41.f.6 Nitrogen 369. 7 J 105.85 57.75 206.10 A consideration of the data given in the table proves to what an alarming extent the soil would be depleted by a continuous culture of ramie when nothing is returned; as no soil, no matter how rich originally, could long with- stand such a great strain upon its resources. The total amount of mineral ingredients with- drawn by a single crop (four cuts) is 2143 pounds, which must be considered as permanently removed when neither the leaves nor the stalks are used as fertilizing materials. The draught made on lime is about 658 pounds, on potash 252 pounds, phosphoric acid 156, and on nitro- gen to the extent of 370 pounds, per acre. Of the potash about three-fifths, or 156 pounds, is contained in the stalks, more than one quarter, or 68 pounds, in the leaves, while the bark and fiber, the only production aimed at, contains a little above one-tenth, or 28 pounds, of th© total amount. 8 The leaves contain nearly 87 per cent of the total lime taken from the soil, that found in the stalk being about 10 and that in the bark 3 per cent. Of the total pho phoric acid withdrawn, the leaves absorb almost 50 per cent or 77 pounds, the stalk 43 per cent or about 68 pounds, while only 7 per cent or 10.8G pounds, is found in the bark. The depletion of the soil in nitrogen is great- est throagh the leaves, which have more than 55 percent of the total, or 206 pounds; about 29 per cent or 106 pounds is found in the stalks, while in the bark there is only 15 per cent, or about 58 pounds. It will thus be seen how very small is the proportion of plant faod withdrawn by the bark and fiber, as compared with that by the leaves and stalks; and since the fiber is be- yond conipa'ison the most valuable product sought, it is obvious that its continuous produc- tion should above all be assured. The ingredients first to bj exhausted by such a continuous culture would, in all probability be phosphoric acid and nitrogen, owing to the fact that so many of the soils of this State, notably those of the valleys, while rich in potash and lime, are very poor in phosphoric acid and sometimes in nitrogen. In sections where irri- gation can be practiced, potash and lime will frequently be supplied to the soil in con- siderable quantities by the irrigation waters; for analyses of the latter show them to contain appreciable amounts of these elements. Lime occurs in them in the form of gypsum (thus also replacing to some extent the sulphuric acid needed by the plant) and carbonate of lime; the potash is generally found as sul- phate. Notwithstanding this, the soils' supply would soon be diminished and the replenish- ment would have to be made by fertilizers con- rtaining high percentages of all the ingredients which go to makeup plant-food. No *' special " fertilizer would answer the purpose. If, on the other hand, the leaves and stalks are returned to the soil, the amount of mineral matter withdrawn is, comparatively speaking, very small, being only about 28 pounds of potash, 19 of lime, 11 of phosphoric acid and 58 pounds of nitrogen per acre. A strong soil could withstand such a small demand for a considerable length of time without showing an appreciable diminution of crops; and when- ever fertilizers become necessary, it will proba- bly be found that in California, phosphoric acid and nitrogen are the substances to be supplied. When the decorticated stalks only are returned to the soil, as might be the case if the leaves were sold to paper mills, as has been suggested, then about 68 pounds more of potash, 607 of lime, 77 of phosphoric acid, and 206 pounds of nitrogen per acre are taken away from the soil than would be the case were they, with the stalks, given back to the land. Whether or not it would pay to sell the leaves is a financial question depending on the prices obtained for them, and upon that which would have to be paid, sooner or later, for fertilizers used instead. Should the stalk not be used as a fertilizer, then the amount of potash permanently re- moved from thp soil would be increased by 156 pounds, that of lime by 72, phosphoric acid by 68, and that of nitrogen by 106 pounds; quanti- ties forming, with exception of lime, a larae percentage of the total mineral matter with- drawn. As regards the manner of returning the ^'offal" of the ramie plant to the soil, the following paragraph from Bulletin No. 90 will be of interest : *'It is hardly necessary to remind any intelli- gent larmer that on\y strong soils can be ex- pected to produce, in one season, a crop of ten tons of dry stalks of any kind, and that few can continue to produce such crops for many years without substantial returns to the land, no matter how fertile originally; but there is no reason why the oiTal of the ramie crop — the leaves and stalk-trash — should not be regularly returned to the soil. The leaves can be, and are usually dealt with by stripping the stalk on the ground, leaving them where they grew. As to the stalks, it is true that with three or four cuts per season it will be difficult to deal with the large mass of refuse by spreading it on the stubble, although in the more northerly portions of the area of cultivation it may be desirable to use this material for protection against frost. But as the return must either be made, or fertilizers purchased, the proper mode of procedure will be to make compost-heaps of the trash and thus render it less bulky, and convenient for spreading on the stubble after the last cut. This, in the case of strong soils, is all that will be required to keep up produc- tion for a long time, although the raw fiber sold represents a larger proportion of the soil's plant-food than in the case of cotton, in which the return of seed and stalk will maintain pro- duction indefinitely on any soil capable of yielding a profitable crop. When no returns are made, ramie will prove even a more ex- haustive crop than is cotton when the seed is not returned, and those engaging in its culture had better understand from the outset that they can *'rob the soil" with ramie even more eflfectually than with wheat." 4 OOMPARISON WITH OTHER CROPS. A comparirson of the amounts of mineral in- gredients withdrawn by the ramie with those removed by other crops will more forcibly show how a soil can be robbed by its continuous culture without returns being made. This is shown in table 3. as phosphoric acid and potash are concerned, than with either of the other fiber plants; and that the total amount removed by a good crop of ramie is more than the combine J weight withdrawn by flax, hemp and cotton ; illustra- ting again the impoverishing effect;,of this plant on the soil. TABLE 3. Amount^ inpoundSf of soil ingredients toiihdrawn from one acre by various crops. Ramie— Lea es, 4.25 tons Sf4ilk (without bark), 7.26 tons Bark (cuticle and fiber), 2.7o tons Wh le plant, l4.2o cons zitL Leaves, 1975 lbs I 56 Stems, 3. UO lbs ' 44 01 an fiber, 10 0 lbs ' i Whole plant, 5975 lbs 1101 Flax— Straw. 1803 lbs i 93 Seed, 1724 lbs i 2u Fiber, 600 Ibi ' ,, I Whole plant, 4121 lbs " 43 Cotton— ; Leaves, 400 lbs I 7 Strmp, 12 01bs I 9 Seed, 8 u lbs 8 Burrs, 430 lbs 7 Lint, 4u0 lbs 1 _ Whole plant, 32G0 lbs 35 Wheat— Giain. 20 bu Straw, 3 00 lbs Whole plan*-, 4800 lbs Sugar Beets (fresh)— Koots, 4i',i 00 lbs Tops, 32,000 lbs ' "* Whole plant, 72,000 lbs 13 8.9:^ 56H.91|IU.58 99 33.^3' 71.77 43.68 86 7.5ii 14 lu 01 5J. 14 657.81 i 168. 27 46| .47 98.62 11.55 44| 1.40,24.86 5.5> 40| .(8: 7.22 .65 30 1.95 130.71; 17.71 1.95' 38.56! 77.13 Sf'.Se 632.71i 41. 5P 1.4E 12.le 67.71S 14.53' 7.IK 2.50 2f .71 10. EC 3 17 4.48 7 79 3 17 51.4c 155. 7L 48 56 704.25 51.85 18.7f I 12 91. 4.46' 11.36! .31 1.63; .761 .5 2.43' 13.631 3.60 1 19 5.801 9.75 .3i| 3.27' .3( 3.92| i2.7i\ 13.65 4.401 l->.r3: 3.65 f8i 9:-' 1 U 3X7 42| 4 59: It.lGi 69 .42 1.20' 261 14.21i 44. U4! ,8.' 114! .72 (.7 1.641 10.35 2i 1.68' 11.C4 2.5( 3.56 4.00 3.19 .46 13.71 2.57 3.95 6.5V .05; .49 I 33.21 6.14! 12.6 '8i, 76; 7.87 5' 1.4f 3>.00 . .24. .7'. 3I 2 4i! 40.59 4.22! 4.49| 9 74 3.671 .f2l 4.02: 1 .071 .29 .04 .18' .3»l .05 4.271 2.23 2 35 .7f .52 2.66 .12 5.84 a.i^9 1.11 6.88 .24 16.0 3.F8 1.71 .311 7.40i .08 13.18 .2^1 11.90 ' .34! .24 1J4 7.9i 6.591148.26 1.7b 19 8 I 6.93 146 tO 0' 24 OOi 16 00 24. ff 44 198.48|203.(8 17l.60i 44l222.482224.C8;i95.601 2 7? 2.54 .48 2.14 .3ti 8.27 .02 7.87 7.89 36.fO| 12.00 8.00 12. 0<" 13.68' 8I.I61 68. C4: 3 8 imot (6 •o 2! w 2. O* f» § o c OK) CD cr 9 w . V n.8i 2.6 1.7 1.6 1.2 35.6 18.53 36.4 14.5 22.4 48.6 28.8 39,45 24. n 24 1 3.9 2.7 • .36 13.9 11.9 15.3 9.3 1.19 9.5 7.4 3.3 3.6 7. re 1.1 .6 3.51 3.1 2.6 15.8 10.8 4.93 24.0 13.3 8.5 3.9 15,30 10.1 17 2 2.5 5.0 103. f 4 101 9 1011 99.1 99.7 3.25 99.79 12.03 14.4 18.6 10.8 7.0 It will be noted that of all the plants here shown, among which are three (samphire or "salt grass," and the two seaweeds) presumed to contain unusually large percentages of soda, the greasewood shows the largest amount of sodium salts; nearly 40 per cent of the ash being soda, out of which over 25 per cent of common salt, and nearly 8 per cent of Glauber's salt are formed. There remains out of the total amount shown in the analysis, 23 per cent that will go toward forming carbonate of soda, increasing its weight to about 3D if re- turned to the soil. This means that out of 100 pounds of greasewood ash, 72 pounds would be "alkali" of the usual composition of "black alkali;" which would at the very least be of no use to any soil, while to those already charged with alkali it would be decidedly detrimental, as adding so much to the evil already existing. It is true that there is 18 per cent of potash and 3i of phosphoric acid to be placed to the credit of the ash, as available and valuable plant food. But as potash is usually abundant already in the soils upon which the greasewood grows, this would hardly outweigh the disad- vantage of the alkali in the same soils. Practi- cally the 3i per cent of phosphoric acid alone burnt) greasewood brush would be advantage- ous. On the other hand, it may asked whether in clearing greasewood land, it would not bean ad- vantage to remove the brush, so as to diminish the alkali; as is done when beets are planted in saline soils. The fresh plant, including stems and leaves, may be estimated to contain about 75 per cent of water, A ton of the fresh brush would thus contain 500 pounds of dry matter, of which 60 pounds would be ash; and of this ash, about 45 pounds would be true, useless "alkali," If, then, the ground were so thickly over- grown with the greasewood as to furnish about 10 tons of brush per acre, to remove that brush would be equivalent to taking away something like a quarter of a ton of alkali. This is not an insigniticant amount in soils liable to injury from the excess of salts; and if the process were repeated several times, the greasewood would serve, like the beet, to remove a very notable proportion of the total alkali salts pre- sent in the soils ; just as does the removal of samphire in reclaiming salt-marsh lands. On the other hand, were the greasewood growth only scattering, its removal would serve no 8 practically important object. OompariDg greasewood with the other plant ashes in the table, it will be seen that while it does not agree closely with any of these, it ap- proaches the seaweeds more closely than the samphire, in its contents of potash and phos- phoric acid. Seaweed is freely used for prepar- ing fertilizing composts in countries where summer rains prevail ; and usually on the sandy seashore soils, through which t' e excess of saline matters (sodium salts) is readily washed into the sub-drainage, and consequently does not stay to increase the salts in the soil, aa would be the case in our arid climates. It will be noted that they, also, supply considerable potash, much needed in rainy countries ; but only asmall proportion of phosphoric acid, up- on which the food and forage plants draw so heavily; as is seen in the annexed analyses of the ashes of cabbage and timothy hay. Phos- phatic ferilizers are, therefore, needful in con- nection with the use of seaweed (and grease- wood) composts, in order to supply the demands of the common culture plants. E. W. HiLGABD.