Abstract
THE importance of organic fertilizer in maintain-A ing the humus content of soils, which is essential for growing crops in a healthy condition, is now widely recognized. Many definitions of the nature and functions of humus have been given, but the most practical is that given by Mr. G. V. Jacks in a paper read before the Royal Society of Arts on February 12, 1941 ; he said, “Humus does many things all of which can be summed up inthe statement that it makes a mass of otherwise dead rock particles a suitable habitat for living plants. It is the substance which distinguishes soil from a mere geological deposit.”The luxuriant growths produced by artificial fertilizers deplete humus of its essential elements unless an adequate supply of suitable organic manure is used to restore them.
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WILLIAMS, G. MANUFACTURE OF FERTILIZER FROM URBAN WASTES. Nature 150, 299 (1942). https://doi.org/10.1038/150299a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/150299a0