The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-04-03

any sieve would divide it, and hence IN
much better condition for the acting
power of rain, loaded with carbonic acid
and ammonia, in dissolving and convey
ing it to the roots of plants. This mix
ture was applied in the fall of 1877 to a
very poor spot in a field where every
other application had failed to show any
results, and its action was watched with
much interest.
Early in the spring of 1878, q remark
able growth of white clover began to
show itself, and this, with timothy, red
top and red clover, soon covered the
ground with beautiful green carpet,
Something I had never seen there be-
tore,) and by harvest time had fine
crop of hay and the pasture continued
good till December, along with great
growth Of some annual plant l am not
acquainted with, and which I soon in
tend to burn for the ash, as the stock did
not seem to touch it. A similar mixture
was used by my friend, Jos. Roberts, n
son of your former editor, with results
corresponding in measure with my own,
only a much larger crop of white clover
where none had been seen before.
Although with me the season was a
very favorable one, am prepared to give
credit to tie application; and being so
much cheaper than bone, it may be an
inducement to some of your readers to
try an experiment with it.
The mixtre acting so we'll with the
writer, / have induced my friend, Prof
Simon, the analytic chemist who has
charge of Messrs. Tyson & Co.'S chrome
works, to prepare some of it-muriatic
acid, as I said before, being by-product
with them in making the bi-chromate of
potassa, it is an object to get rid Of it in
this form provided value in full is given
to the farmer. To further test the mat
ter, several of my neighbors have pro-
cured small lots as an experiment to as
certain whether it will prove desirable
addition to their land-for having SO
often seen highly-recommended and ex-
pensive fertilizers fail in doing the least
apparent good, l am rather cautious in
recommending any of them, even when
I have seen good effects from their use.
This mixture is guaranteed to contain
twenty-five per cent. of precipitated or
reconverted bone phosphate, much
larger percentage than is often found in
mixtures costing double the money.
I regret not being able to report any
thing from parties who tried it last fall
on wheat, and can hardly hope to hear
of such good results rs with me, for the
simple reason that what will make grass
may entirely fail with wheat, as the lat
ter seems to require food that has once
been through some other plant, or, what
is better, through both plants and ami
mails. On this ground 1 have depended
more on animal phosphate, knowing it to
have passed through both, whilst the
mineral phosphate has touched neither.
Wheat is the highest organized vegetable
product, and must have proper food, both
chemical and physical, as we we'll know
must be the case in the animal kingdom
and on this point I am reminded by my
dog sitting alongside of me, that he must
have animal food, although of the same
compositio,sas vegetable-carbon, hydro
gen and oxygen, or, in other words,
charcoal and water. If I correctly re-
member, ffty.one days is the longest
time dog has been known to live on
starchy food, while rabbit will grow fat
on the starch found in bark, &c.
If this preparation will act as food for
wheat, it can be made much cheaper than
with bone containing 80 to so per cent.
organic matter said to be able to generate
8 to 6 per cent. ammonia. All my ex-
periments have made me little fanatical
on the subject of the worthlessness of Or
ganic matter as plant food, except for the
mineral matters they contain-i. C., the
ash.
In addition to a full supply of phos-
phoric acid in the above mixture, there
is chlorine and lime, making three i'm
portant elements for the soil. The
further addition of potash might prove
desirable for some lands, but I have
failed to see any benefit by its use-which
simply means that mg soil did not need
it. The above mixture can be sold in
the city, delivered in bags, at $lS per
ton, upon the conditions mentioned of
containing Is per cent. of precipitated
bone phosphate, and entirely free Of any
organic matter or free ammonia.
The world is full of errors, and the
idea that fertilizer must contain 80 per
cent. of organic matter to produce 8 per
cent. ammonia / consider one of the
greatest, and one which has cost our
farmers millions of dollars and bank
7upted many; and I am glad to know
that many are finding it out, but unfor-
tunately too late for some.
The error I think has crept in from the
fact that ammonia is the prominent ele-
ment, or the perceptible one, in stable
manure, Peruvian guano, &C., and no
doubt as stimulant in producing an alb
normal growth of the plant-the same
result being obtained by an unusual sup
ply of water. This is we'll calculated to
mislead many to the conclusion that the
artificial application of it is all-important,
losing sight of every other element in
manure, and many of them in guano.
Formerly 10 to Is per cent of ammonia
was deemed necessary; now 3 per cent.
is ample, and many of our most reliable
manufacturers of fertilizers are dropping
it altogether-among them the reliable
house of Slingluff & Co., who are using
bone ash and South Carolina phosphate,
and l know in many cases with great
success with those who have used it.
Ten years ago, when I first started the
idea that the air, composed of rs per
cent. of nitrogen. (the base of ammonia }
supplied all that was necessary, as it does
Of carbon. represented by only two per
cent. in the air. and yet hundred:fold
more consumed in the production of Or
ganic life, the idea was treated with ridi-
cule by almost every one, not forgetting
your senior editor. But now what
change! Ammonia is losing friends, and
none do her reverence. On the contrary,
the cry is, chit her again"
1 intended to give you the formula
used in preparing a phosphate contain
ing about twenty-five per cent. of bone
phosphate, but upon a close calculation
I find that the material will cost about as
much as such phosphate can be OBJ