(Excerpt from article by)
"G.A, Abbott - Leonardite - A Material of Industrial Promise"
Bureau of Mines Circular #8164
(published in 1963)


Today we are witnessing the serious depletion of the humus even in our richest soils. Remedies are sought in crop rotation and in plowing under suitable cover crops. But at best, the actual amounts of fully synthesized humic acids formed in a short time are relatively small. This is in contrast to the rich composts represented in our Ieonardite deposits, and these deposits offer an abundant means of replenishing and maintaining a high level of soil organic colloids.

Those most interested in soil science often have shown not merely indifference, but even positive antagonism toward the suggestion of adding humic acids from coal to replenish soil colludes. Yet in foreign countries a surprising amount of research is under way dealing with the effects of humic acid when added directly to soils. This is true in Germany, Russia, Italy, France, Belgium, Finland, England, Scotland, and especially in Japan. In all of these countries, important contributions are being made to the relation of soil humic acids to plant growth. Their abundant literature shows that humic acids added to soils not only greatly improve the texture and tilth, but actually help to mobilize and release plant nutrients otherwise unavailable to the plant.

Perhaps then, the suggestion that fuel chemists carry their leonardite "coals" back to the agricultural "Newcastle" may not be as wild as sit seems to some people. Such a use would appear to be inevitable as the earth's population continues to mount geometrically, and we continue with government aid to bury much of our richest farm land under concrete. Surely it does not take Space Age imagination to picture a time when soil banks will be obsolete and summer fallowing a luxury we cannot afford. In order to maintain an intensive agriculture on our per capita acreage, there will be an enormous demand for organic soil conditioners.

Bibliography

Kohanowski, N. N. An Origin of Leonardite. Proc. of the North Dakota Acad. of Sci., v.11, July 1957, pp.60-64.

Kreulen, D. J. W. and F. G. Kroulin-van Selms. Neure untersuchungen uber Huminsauren und ihre Rolle in der Kohlegenese. (Recent Experiments Concerning Humic Acids and Their Role in Coal Formations.) Brennstoppf-Chemie 37, No. 1/2, May 1956, pp. 14-19.

Walther, Herbert C. Jr. Some Phkysico-Chemical Properties of the Humic Acids. Ph. D. Thesis Univ. of Minnesota 1959.

Wood J, C., S. E. Moschopedie, and R. N. Elofson. Studies in Humic Acid Chemistry. pt. 1. Molecular Weights of Humic Acids in Sulfolane. Fuel v.40, No. 3, May 1961, pp. 193-201.

Zeichman, W. Untersuchungen uber die Infrarotsptren von Huminsauren. (Investigations Concerning Infrared Spectra of Humic Acids.) Brennstoff-Chemie, v. 39, No. 23/24, December 1958, pp. 353-359.

Titles enclosed in parentheses are translations from the language in which the item was originally published.