Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-02-23
PLASTER, BONEDUST AND SU-
PERPHOSPHATE

To the Editors of the Union and American
NEAR SAUNDBRsvILLR, Sumner county,
Feb. IL, lS7l.-The Agricultural Depart
ment of the ''PeOple's Paper has given
Ii an interest it never before possessed IN
this locality, and has added another at
traction to its valuable and influential col
umns. 1t may be regarded as the pioneer
among the secular papers of the State, in
that it devotes larger space TO the farm
ing interests, and from its extended, and
still growing circulation disseminstes
much valuable information hitherto mac
ceesible to the farmer. And as this is its
mission, allow me to ask you through it's
columns the following questions IN which
many of US here are interested:
l. Is plaster beneficial to corn; and if
SO, how should it be sppliedl
Q. Its weight per bushel4
g. What kind Of pea would you recon-
mend as fertilizer; when, and in what
quantity should they be sown; and where
obtainedf
4. Will it pay to use bonedust on corn,
putting in the hill at the time of planting
JEEMs FARMER.
We thank our correspondent for his
Kindly appreciation of our efforts to sub
serve the interests of the farmers of the
South, and in order that we may the bet
ter accomplish this end, we earnestly urge
upon every practical farmer of the State,
and of the South, the necessity of for
wsrding TO US the results of any expert
ments they may make. Science in farm
ing is the deductions of experience, and
therefore Whist may be agricultural
science in the State of New York or in
England, would not be science in the
State of Tennessee, because the condi-
tons of fertility are modified by soil,
climate and variety of productions. We
know, for instance, that potato that
will yield abundantly in lat. 40 deg, will
scarcely produce at all in lat. 25 deg.
The truth is every State must make its
own science in farming, and disappoint,
ments will certainly await any one who
bIndly relies upon experiments made
under other modifying influences.
In answer to our correspondents in
quiries, we think that plaster is of no ad
vantage to any species of grain farther
than it acts as an absorbent of fertilizing
gases. There are three ways in which
the so-called fertilizers act:
I. They may exercise a mechanical
effect This is the case mostly with
lime 1t reduces vegetable matter; pull
verizes the soil, and is the means of fit
ting the mineral Ingredients for plant
food.
2. They may act as absorbents of fer
tlizing gases, as is the case with gypsum
or land plaster, salts of ammonia anC
lime.
s. They may enter the plant directly
as plant food. Now, if manures acted
only as food, the science of manuring
would be urcomplcated, and all thai
would be required TO raise q large croT
Of any vegetable production would be tc
analyze such plants and apply to the land
such constituents as the ash of such plants
wSuld be composed of. Herein lies the
euor in supposing that an analysis OF
the soil or plants, according to the theory
of Liebig, would show heneeds of the one
and the requirements of the other. We
know there are instances reported OF
large crops having been made from the
application of certain fertilizers, and also
remarkable failures in the same crop by
the application of the same fertilizer.
Plaster or sulphate of lime should gen
orally be applied to the surface, because
it acts in the first named way, that is al
absorvent of fertilizing gases especially