The earth is the nurse, what kind of soils are there? Presentation on the topic "the earth is the breadwinner." Homework assignment
Why is the earth called the nurse? The concepts of “nurse-earth” and “mother-earth” have been imprinted in the archetype of consciousness of Russian people from time immemorial. Proverbs and sayings about the “raw mother earth” reflect the centuries-old love of our ancestors for their Motherland, their respectful and respectful attitude towards the land, as well as the gifts that it gives to people.
Origins of reverence
Why is the earth a nurse? The answer to this question lies on the surface itself.
Since ancient times, people ate the fruits that the soil gave them. At first, ancient people were engaged in gathering: they looked for edible herbs, roots, and collected berries and fruits from wild trees and shrubs.
Some time later (finding sprouted grains that had survived the meal), the man realized that it was possible to grow useful plants in the immediate vicinity of his home. Humanity has learned to cultivate the land and harvest crops. This is how agriculture was born.
Simultaneously with the development of agriculture, people tamed wild animals and began to raise livestock, which also fed on the fruits of the generous land: hay, grain and vegetables. Every year the number of animal species domesticated by humans increased. This is how animal husbandry arose.
The more a person settled down on his planet, the more helpers he had: and among insects he found useful and faithful friends. Having discovered that the honey of wild bees is not only tasty, but also extremely useful, man learned to breed bees. He began to set up apiaries. This is how beekeeping appeared.
One of the most ancient occupations of man, which helped him to survive, was hunting: man hunted large animals, whose meat he ate, and whose skins were used to make clothes. Game hunting was a great help. Often, hunters did not pick up a dead bird, but only a wounded one. If the hunt was successful, the wounded animals were allowed to live and even fed. At some point, people realized that birds could also be raised at home. This marked the beginning of the development of poultry farming.
Fishing was another way to replenish food supplies. People successfully learned to catch fish: they beat them with a spear, drove them into traps, and threw seines and nets. After some time in subsidiary plot Since humans, fish cages also appeared in which people grew fish for their table.
What about fruits? These amazingly delicious fruits, which have absorbed the juices of the earth and life-giving sunlight? Man learned to care for fruit bushes and trees, began to plant orchards, and developed many varieties of delicious garden crops.
What about berries? Aromatic, healthy wild plants: strawberries, blueberries, honeysuckle, raspberries and currants, which people first collected in the forest and then learned to grow in their garden? There is nothing healthier and tastier than a bowl of fresh berries seasoned with milk or cream.
What about mushrooms? We still enjoy collecting them in the forest, and for those who do not have the opportunity to get out into the bosom of nature, special farms have been created that successfully grow oyster mushrooms and champignons.
Vegetables and fruits, cereals and herbs, meat of domestic animals and birds, milk, fish, honey - all these wonderful and nutritious gifts are given to us by the earth. How can one not call her a nurse? After all, it feeds not only humans, but also wild animals: herbivores happily feed on the lush grass growing on the ground.
Insects that pollinate flowers growing in meadows feed on their sweet nectar. Birds also enjoy feasting on the fruits of the earth: herbs, nuts, pine cones, berries, pine needles. Waterfowl eat duckweed, which covers the surface of water bodies in abundance. Fish that live in reservoirs feed on algae and insects.
Truly there is no limit to the bounty of the earth, which feeds and nourishes everyone who lives on it. No less rich and useful for people are its depths, which are compared to a magical pantry.
Magic Pantry
In the depths of the Earth, over millions and billions of years of its existence, great amount minerals that benefit people.
Coal is the very first fuel that man learned to extract from the bosom of the earth. At first, people heated their homes with it, and then with its help they made a real industrial revolution, using industrial boilers in the furnaces.
Peat, originally used for heating individual housing, later became an energy resource that ensured the operation of thermal power plants, boiler houses, and peat briquette factories. Small towns and villages are heated with heat from these enterprises. In agriculture, it is used as a mulching material, as a fertilizer to enrich depleted soils, and for growing greenhouse vegetables and flowers.
Natural gas is another invaluable type of fuel used by humans for industrial and domestic purposes. Food is cooked on it and rooms are heated with it. In the chemical industry, plastics, organic acids, rubber and alcohol are obtained from it. Methane is indispensable in the production of ammonia and silk acetate.
Oil is one of the most valuable minerals, without which the life of modern man is unthinkable. Oil has found its application in almost every area of human activity: in industry, medicine, pharmacology, cosmetology, and the production of consumer goods.
It is used as a raw material for the production of petrochemical products: gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel. The products of its distillation are used to make plastics, synthetic rubber, rubber, polymer films and synthetic fabrics. The production of solvents, paints, varnishes, fertilizers, waxes, and detergents would be impossible without oil.
Sand, clay and stone- resources that a person uses in housing construction and road construction (do you know why cells are the building blocks of the body?). Clay is used to make bricks, tiles, ceramic dishes. Sand is used to make glass. Polished stone (marble, granite) is used for cladding facades, monuments, and metro stations.
We have listed just a few of the most popular natural resources that are concentrated in the depths of our wonderful nurse, Mother Earth. In fact, just listing the names of resources extracted by humans will take dozens of pages.
If all the minerals mined by humans in a year were loaded onto a freight train, the result would be a train that could circle the equator 17 times. Isn't this an argument in favor of the fact that the earth is our breadwinner? But how long will this prosperity of man on earth last? Are Mother Earth's resources truly inexhaustible?
Necessary care
Scientists from all over the world have long been sounding the alarm, saying that humanity, which does not treat the earth and its resources properly, has embarked on the path of self-destruction. First of all, this concerns the depletion of the most fertile layer of the earth - soil.
Why has this become the object of increased attention and concern among scientists? The fact is that the process of soil formation is extremely complex and lengthy. In order for just one centimeter of soil to form, nature needs 250-300 years, and the formation of a 20-centimeter layer must take at least 5-6 thousand years.
People, without understanding this, often destroy what has been created for centuries: they deplete the soil with inept agricultural techniques and excessive use of pesticides, and allow soil erosion without protecting it from the formation of ravines and gullies.
How to help Mother Earth?
In the human mind there is a need to defend one’s native land, to take care of it: if not with arms in hand (as during the hard times of war), then at least in terms of protecting its fertility. So what steps are needed to achieve this?
Competent agricultural technology, taking into account the soil and climatic conditions of the region where it is carried out.
Snow accumulation, which helps saturate the soil with moisture and prevents the process of weathering.
Wise use of fertilizers: regular application of organic matter and liming of the soil contributes to the accumulation of the main organic matter of the soil - humus, which significantly increases its fertility, chemical and physical indicators.
Smart investment
We cannot ignore the issue that land (as a piece of real estate) has always been in price. Every year, land prices are rising and a person who has invested money in purchasing a plot of land can be sure that he has made a good purchase, and here’s why:
- Land, in case of urgent need, can be sold, and with great benefit for oneself.
- A person who owns land can always feed himself and his loved ones if he treats his land-breadwinner wisely and with care.
There have never been such bloody battles for any treasure in the world as for land. This trait is also embedded in the consciousness of every person: to defend their native mother land to the last drop of blood.
But for many years man has polluted the air, water and land. Now we are thinking about caring for nature.
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Eastern District Department of Education SPECIAL (CORRECTIONAL) GENERAL EDUCATION BOARDING SCHOOL OF TYPE II No. 30 named after. K.A. MICHAELIAN EARTH IS OUR NURSING TODAY AND TOMORROW.
We are accustomed to believing that our country is the richest in natural resources. Indeed, Russia has a lot of forests, rivers and land, so you can spend these treasures without worrying about the future. But for many years man has polluted the air, water and land. Now we are thinking about caring for nature.
Half of the world's population does not have access to clean water. Our country ranks second in the world in terms of water reserves. Although there is a lot of water, we must learn to conserve it. Modern enterprises They purify the water and reuse it without polluting nearby water bodies. Residents of cities and villages should have new pipes, modern taps, and meters, which will save water consumption. In agriculture, water must also be used rationally. Humans are 80% water. If there is good, clean water in the city, there will be healthy and strong people.
The forest and its inhabitants also need human protection. History has shown us that in Europe for last years Large areas of forests have disappeared. For example, in modern Germany there are no historical forests; all forests were planted by human hands. We don't want this. The forest is the “green” lungs of our cities, a storehouse of healthy products, it protects rivers, roads, and provides shelter and food for animals and birds. There are 300 times fewer bacteria in forest air than in city air.
By cutting down trees and plowing the land, people are reducing the habitat of animals. Very often, people, having been in the forest, leave behind mountains of garbage and broken bottles in cozy clearings, the bottoms of which can cause forest fires. That is why it is so important that the forest is always clean and fresh!
Nature reserves help save animals. “Losiny Ostrov” is a national park located in our district. Its territory is 12 thousand hectares. 500 species of plants grow there, 280 animals and 200 species of birds live there. Residents of our area set up feeders in the park in autumn and winter. My family and I go there to feed squirrels with nuts, tits, sparrows and pigeons, and ducks with bread.
But there is also soil - one of the main resources that gives people food. This is a thin fertile layer that covers the entire landmass of our planet. Soil is formed as a result of the interaction of air, water and living organisms. The land resources of our country are enormous, but the amount of fertile land is continuously decreasing: new roads and cities, plants and factories are being built. But the soil has a remarkable property - it can restore itself independently with the help of the cycle of substances in nature. Now our task is not to take anything away from nature, but to return old debts to it and preserve the wealth we have. THE SOIL
Scientists have long thought that the deterioration of living conditions on earth could have catastrophic consequences. They decided to create a working model of the biosphere. This would help prepare for life in space: if you suddenly have to move to other planets. In addition, such systems can be useful in the event of extreme deterioration of life conditions on Earth.
American scientists built a huge room under a glass bell, where all earthly natural conditions: desert, savannah, forest and even man-made reservoirs. Plants were supposed to provide both oxygen and light food, and goats, chickens, and ocean creatures were supposed to provide hearty meals. Conditions were created for artificial precipitation, and moisture fell in heavy rains. The oxygen that trees released was necessary for the respiration of people, animals and microorganisms, and their absorption of carbon dioxide was supposed to increase plant productivity. At first everything was fine, but after a few weeks the microorganisms depleted the air, people suffered from a lack of oxygen and food. The savannah and forest quickly became filled with bacteria that destroyed them. A huge number of insects have multiplied, especially cockroaches and ants. BIOSPHERE - 2
ORGANIZATION OF THE BIOSPHERE - 2
No matter how hard scientists tried to take into account every little detail, they were unable to repeat what Mother Nature created. This experiment showed that creating artificial conditions For the circulation of substances without failure, humans are not yet capable. Now our task is not to take anything from nature, but to repay old debts to it and preserve existing wealth. Skryleva Varvara, 4 “A” class.
Project “The Earth is our breadwinner” Integration: PR, RR, HER. Project participants: children 5-6 years old, teacher. Number of children: 8 people. Goal: To form the foundations of environmental culture in children. Cognitive tasks: - introduce children to the composition of the earth; - introduce children to how soil is formed, to some properties of soil, stones, clay; - to form in preschoolers an idea of the importance of soil in nature and in human life. Developmental tasks: - exercise the ability to compare and analyze; - to develop children’s interest in inanimate objects; Educational objectives: - teach children to work in pairs, develop communication skills; - cultivate a love for nature; - learn to see the unusual in the ordinary. Material: water, stones, sand, clay, black soil. Equipment: slide presentation, water containers, spoons, pieces of paper, colored pencils, oilcloth aprons, model of soil structure, napkins. Preliminary work: reading T. Shorygina’s fairy tale “How the soil was formed.” Progress of the lesson: Educator: Guys, I’m very glad to see you. Please stand in a circle. All the children gathered in a circle, I am your friend and you are my friend. Let's hold hands tightly and smile at each other. Educator: Now look at our guests, give them a smile too. Educator: Guys, I want to invite you to our laboratory to conduct experiments. Do you agree? To find out what we will conduct experiments with, we need to solve the riddle. She is richer than anyone in the world, Children run and rush along her. And in spring it’s all in color, and so beautiful at dawn. And feeds all the people in the world. What is this? Tell me, children. Answer: Earth-Nurse Educator: I wonder why the earth is called a wet-nurse? (Answers) Educator: Do you, dear guys, know what the topmost fertile layer of the earth, which is penetrated by plant roots, is called? (Answers). This is the soil. It can be different: clayey, sandy, and the most fertile soil is called chernozem. - Guys, let's remember the fairy tale about how the soil was formed on our Earth. - Now look at what our Earth looked like many centuries ago (on slide 1). Educator: That is why, to preserve the soil, it is very important to protect plants where they are and plant where they are not. Educator: Guys, let's see what can grow on sandy, rocky and fertile soil (Slide 2). What do you think is the difference, why do plants grow better in fertile soil? (Answers) Educator: And now I suggest you come to this table and see in what order the layers of the Earth are located. Look and tell me how the layers are arranged, why? (Answers) Educator: Guys, it’s time to take your places in our laboratory. (Children sit at the tables, put on aprons) Educator: Guys, look at what is on your tables and listen carefully to the task. You need to examine the soil, check what it consists of. Educator: Experiment No. 1 “Identify types of soil” - Look at soil samples and name them (Sandy, clayey, rocky, chernozem). Experiment No. 2 “There is air in the soil” - Take a glass of water and throw a lump of soil into it. - What are you observing? (Air bubbles come out of the soil) - What conclusion can be drawn? (There is air in the soil) - So, dear scientists, what did we learn about the soil by conducting this experiment? (There is air in the soil). Educator: Experiment No. 3 “There is water in the soil” - Take some fresh soil, pour it onto a paper napkin and press it lightly with your palm. - Pour the soil back into the plate. - Look carefully at the napkin on which the soil was located. - What do you see? (There was a wet mark on the napkin.) - What conclusion can be drawn? (There is water in the soil). - What did we learn from this experiment? (There is water in the soil). Educator: And now there is an important task ahead. You need to sketch the results of the experiment. Mark two lines on the piece of paper (Soil layer). Between them, draw the components of the soil - sand (dots), clay (brown), pebbles in an oval, air (bubbles), water (blue square). - Tell me, can someone live in the soil? (Worms, bugs) - That's right. The soil is home to many living things. And some inhabitants of the soil, living in the soil, help it become even better. For example, an earthworm, laying its paths in the soil, thereby loosens it, which in turn fills the soil with air even more. And you and I already know that air and water are necessary for plants to live. - Guys, what role do you think soil plays in human life? What benefit does it bring him? (A person grows vegetables, fruits, flowers, bread on it). - Yes. Thanks to the soil, a person gets food. That's why they call the earth a nurse. Conclusion: Soil is located on the surface of the earth. Soil consists of air, sand, clay and pebbles, air and water.
We live on earth. " Man is taken from the earth, and feeds on the earth“This truth has been known for a long time.
We call the earth “nurse” because it returns to us a hundredfold what is sown in good time. " Bow to Mother Earth, she will reward you a hundredfold!“—this wisdom has been proven over the centuries.
« Mother Cheese Earth feeds everyone, gives everyone water, clothes everyone, warms everyone with her warmth!" For all the bounties that the earth bestows upon man, the human race experiences filial feelings towards it.
« There is nothing more sacred for a person in life than maternal feeling. The son of his native land - living and feeding on its bounty, the Russian people-plowman, breathing the same breath with nature, is filled with truly filial love and respect for the Mother-Raw-Earth».
“And people all need food,
You won't get it, of course.
Without painstaking work.
We must work on the ground,
She is your nurse!”
(Author of the verse: Iris Review
)
A person cannot live without food. It will just disappear. And the earth feeds man. But a seed thrown into the ground, without good supervision, without invested labor, and kind words will not give a good harvest. Man works on earth. Ordinary people plow, sow, harrow. Skills and experience are passed on from generation to generation. Each guard knows a lot of wisdom about cultivating the land. " The earth is a nurse, and even then it asks for food and drink" People have a lot of proverbs, sayings, rhymes and chants about their native land - the breadwinner of people.
“Fertilize the land more, the harvest will be higher.”
"What goes around comes around".
“If he works well, the bread will be born.”
“They don’t plow the land at a gallop.”
« Goy, the ground is damp,
Dear earth,
Our dear mother!
She gave birth to us all,
Nourished, nourished
And endowed with land;
For the sake of us, your children,
Gave me clean water
And she gave birth to every grain»…
So the conclusion suggests itself: “The earth is a plate: what you put in is what you take out.”
Anatoly ONEGOV.
Science and life // Illustrations
Cucumbers, similar to pears, grow in the garden when there is a lack of potassium in the soil.
After the barley, oats were sown in the fields.
The area of meadows is reduced, followed by a decrease in the amount of livestock and manure.
You've probably come across ugly cucumbers in cucumber beds at the end of summer, when almost the entire crop has been harvested. Some of them look like peppers - the tails of the cucumbers are thin and curled; others - like a pear - the “head” is poorly developed, and the bottom is swollen exactly like a pear. Cucumbers that look like twisted peppers grow in garden beds when the plants lack nitrogen, and fruits that resemble pears grow when there is a lack of potassium.
Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, as well as sulfur, magnesium, calcium, iron are required by plants in large quantities, which is why they are called macroelements. Plants need other substances necessary for nutrition - microelements - in much smaller doses. Microelements are considered: boron, manganese, copper, molybdenum, zinc, silicon, cobalt, sodium, iodine.
It has long been known how plants behave when they lack one or another macro- or microelement in their diet. There will not be enough nitrogen - and the plants will immediately slow down their growth, and the leaves will turn from green to light green.
If there is not enough phosphorus, their growth, flowering and fruit ripening will be delayed, the leaves will begin to turn purple and side shoots will not form.
If there is not enough potassium, the leaves will become limp, brown spots will appear on them, and the edges will turn yellow.
With calcium deficiency, plants will not grow and will remain tiny dwarfs.
And in the absence of copper, they cannot develop at all and die soon after emergence.
Plants obtain all of the listed nutrients from the soil. Potassium, phosphorus, calcium, sulfur, iron... are in the ground, the same clay that lies below the top fertile layer of soil is rich in them. But nitrogen is not contained in the soil - it comes from the air as a result of the activity of special bacteria, which absorb nitrogen in the air and enrich the soil with this element.
For such bacteria to work successfully, two conditions are required: access to oxygen in the soil and its weak acidity. This is why soils in low, damp places are much poorer in nitrogen than soils in high, dry places.
Unfortunately, the natural accumulation of nitrogen in the soil is slow, and extracting it cultivated plants they can do it very quickly - only a few years are enough for this. Other nutrients can also be removed from the soil quite quickly.
Back in the very beginning of the eighties in Finland, I was shown a drawing from a book addressed to schoolchildren. In the picture there were two loaves of bread next to each other. One is small, and the other is a giant bread. Under the picture there were the following captions: just recently, in order for our body to receive all the microelements it needs, it was enough to eat a small loaf of bread; Now that the earth has already worked for people, in order to get the same amount of necessary microelements, we need to eat this giant bread. This is how they explained to Finnish schoolchildren that without adding microelements to the soil, normal life for people would soon be impossible at all. It was no longer said that all macronutrients should be added to the soil - this was the truth.
Once in the scientific literature I read about grain harvests that were collected under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in the Russian North (we were talking about monastery lands). These harvests were characterized by the following numbers: “sam-5”, “sam-7”, “sam-11”, or even “sam-13”. What is “sam-5”? They sowed a pound of grain, but received five pounds And “sam-13” - they sowed one pood, but grew 13 poods! high performance and at present times: if at least 200 kilograms of grain are consumed per hectare of arable land, then the harvest can be 26 centners per hectare. Please note that in those days there were no seeders of today, and grain was not sown in rows, but scattered by hand, and the grain grew in a continuous thick wall. With this method of sowing, not 200-250 kilograms of seeds were used per hectare of arable land, but 400, and the “self-13” harvest looked different: not 26 centners per hectare, but 52 centners! And this is on northern arable land, orphan podzols, once reclaimed from the forest with the help of fire! The entire forest was burned down to the ground, and the soil, its top fertile layer, burned out along with it. The ash at the site of the ashes contained all the macro- and microelements, but there was no nitrogen in it. There was no nitrogen left in the soil - it evaporated. There was nothing living in the burnt soil: neither aerobic microorganisms nor bacteria that could bind nitrogen and transfer it to the soil. The bare desert only yielded some kind of harvest for a year or two due to the ash (ash is the first mineral fertilizer, which the person encountered). Then people abandoned the recent fire, and it was gradually overgrown, first with willowherb (fireweed), then with raspberries, and later with birch, aspen, and alder. And on such ashes in the 17th century they harvested a harvest that is now unattainable for many modern farms?! And the magic wand was the most ordinary manure, which in the spring was taken out to the fields and plowed into the soil. Manure turned out to be the second fertilizer that man encountered, and it was organic, providing food for various microorganisms, and complete, containing all the nutrients necessary for the plant, including nitrogen.
At the same time, when rich harvests were collected in the northern lands, manure there was a commodity, had its own price, and cows were often kept on the farm not for milk and butter, but for fertilizer.
In the spring, the manure, still covered in snow, was transported to the fields. After the snow melted, when the ground dried out, it was plowed under. The arable land filled with manure rested until the fall, and in the fall the field was sown with winter rye. On next year the rye was harvested, the stubble left over from the bread was plowed in the fall, and new spring In this field, a spring crop was grown, the same barley. In the third year, oats were sown after barley.
The oats were harvested, and only the next spring the manure was again transported to the field. That is, manure was applied to the ground once every four years: 40 tons per hectare of arable land. This amount of manure was produced in four years by one cow with a calf and a small flock of sheep. It turns out that one cow could provide one hectare of arable land with complete fertilizer. If you want to plow and harvest from two hectares of arable land, get two cows.
By the way, 40 tons of manure per hectare of arable land is the current fertilizer norm for growing bread, potatoes, and cabbage. This proportion must also be maintained in our garden if we make do with organic fertilizers alone. On a bed 1 meter wide and 10 meters long, 40 kilograms of manure must be applied once every four years - at the rate of 4 kilograms of manure per 1 square meter, or a bucket of manure (raw) per 2 square meters of garden. Using fresh manure applied in the fall, you can grow either cabbage or potatoes; then root vegetables, green vegetables. Before the third, and even more so the fourth crop, the soil must be amended, because we do not let our land fallow.
This is how the secret of high yields in our northern land was revealed to me. And what was the situation with grain harvests to the south, in the same central zone of our country?.. Here the harvests were much smaller, and over the years they continued to decline. Let's open the Complete Encyclopedia of Russian Agriculture, volume X. The rye harvest in Russia in the last decade of the 19th century (average for all regions) was 40 poods per tithe, a little more than 6 centners per hectare. While in Germany it is 14 centners per hectare. But rye is the main bread for the Non-Black Earth Region, 6 centners per hectare is not pure profit, from here we must also subtract the grain that was left for seeds. What did the peasant and his family have to do then for a whole year of life?
In front of me is a small book - a lecture by Professor K. A. Timiryazev “Science and the Farmer”. On the cover there is an author's note: "The royalties from this book are intended for the benefit of the hungry."
The book appeared in 1906 and, apparently, is in no way dedicated to a specific year of famine caused by the elements - we're talking about about the victims of another, chronic famine in Russia:
“At the present time, unless some of Shchedrin’s generals do not realize that Russia is fed by the peasant. He himself calls the land his nurse. But is this really so? This is what, just yesterday, one could read in the newspapers: “ According to information received at the Highest meeting approved under the chairmanship of I. A. Goremykin on meeting the needs of the rural population, it turns out that in total in 50 provinces, the amount of bread per capita of both sexes does not reach the annual food standard for one soul, 20 poods - by 3.4 poods, i.e. 17 percent less than the norm." The one who feeds Russia is undernourished himself. And he is undernourished because the old nurse, the earth, refuses to continue to feed him... What needs to be done, to solve this problem of two ears of grain? Who will bring this solution?"
The cause of chronic hunger in Russia lay primarily in the lack of manure. At one time, the German proverb “the meadow is the breadwinner of the arable land” was widely known. Moreover, it was known exactly what size meadow could feed arable land with an area of 1 hectare: 2 hectares of meadow - 1 hectare of arable land. These figures can be confirmed by the same manure rate: one cow supplies 1 hectare of arable land with manure, and a cow feeds hay during the stall period on a 2-hectare meadow.
But such “meadow-arable land” relationships were preserved only where there was plenty of land. In the north there was prosperity, in the south the population grew very quickly and in order to feed people, it was necessary to increase arable land at the expense of meadows. The area of meadows was reduced, the amount of livestock and manure decreased, and then crops fell.
But this is not all the troubles of the land, which was once known as a generous nurse. The meadows, where hay was harvested for livestock year after year, of course, lost their strength, their fertility, because at that time they were not fertilized. Each time, the hay contained less and less macro- and microelements necessary for plant nutrition. It turns out that manure became less and less valuable. In addition, slightly more than 40% of potassium and phosphorus, which are spent on the construction of plant tissues, were returned to the field. This is how the arable land lost its strength, because the meadow lost its strength, and then the manure. But hay was harvested from the same meadow year after year in the north, and the yields there remained quite high for a long time.
It turns out that in the north, hay was most often cut from floodplain meadows, from lowlands that were washed by spring waters every spring. Spring water carried with it a large number of nutrients washed away in different places during floods, and left them in the floodplain of a river, stream, or in a damp low meadow. The soil was fertilized every spring again and again, and therefore beautiful grass always grew here, used to feed livestock.
But even in previous times, not every farm was provided with floodplain lands. And there were not always enough ordinary, non-floodplain meadows. And then they plowed up those lands where they had recently prepared hay for livestock, forgetting that without a sufficient amount of manure there would not be the desired harvest.
