Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1882-02-16
4arm aaa Gjaassba!S.
For the American
Queries Answered,

A.. c. NJ. Trenton. writes. please
answer IN AMERICAN, Which j, the best
fertilizer for saF clay soil, when, and
hoa applied"
Our Quer.s,. whom We knew as pop
ular teacher. in years agone, has opened
wide field, whose me;es and bounds, science
la. no, le5i5lg defined.
Common clay j. formed by the compost
ton Of feIdspar rork, mixed with large
proy ..on Of quartz sand. The pr.nclpa.
ingredients art alka.l. a.umina, and silica.
!. G. potash, clay and sand, accompanied
occasionally with lime, maSnes!a, and oxide
Of iron. The red color Of brick. Is due TO
tn iron. \ clay is stiff when II has too
much clay and no; enough sand. As a
fertilizer for clay soils, sand perform. an
Office almost CONTRADICTION, to It's very nature
l, is a greedy absorbent, bu, is value is
chiefly a. a mechanical agent. Beach sand
especially is a powerful absorbent Of ammo
MA and urine. which il hold, with a firm
grip.
stuff clays become unproducire, not be-
cause they are Impoverished Of plant food.
but, because they become so compact that
air and heat, two Of the essentials Of plant
life, are excluded Again, the surface 4
clay lands when suffered to lie too long, be-
comes glazed or crusied over. which tx
c.ades the free access Of both air and heat:
il does more, il prevents capillary attraction
by which plants pump-uP plan, food on, Of
the sub-soil. When a lamp WICK is glazed
ever. the lamp won't burn, because the giaz-
ing has cut If the capillary a;,raction-yhe
air cannot enter the wick, and hence il IS
deprived Of It, power to draw up the fald
il the lamp.
The most Of stiff CLAWS can be made pre-
duc;ive, ~ t..lage alone. Such lands con
tain a large suppl, Of iu>olub.e plant food.
which by stirring the sol. j, changed into an
available condition.
Lime. in some form, as q carbonate. sul pha,e
or phosphate often proves 10 be ihe"one thing
needful', for a stiff clay. A, a carbonate.
We know Of nothing equal 10 lobster ~as'e.
It should be plowed under. For surface
application We prefer phosphate Of lime
(Done four How sulpha;e Of lime lplas-
teri vii act, nothing can be told IN advance.
How, why OF when, it will act. is puzzle TO
l.. D.,
culated
No soil viii 50 quickly respond to green
manuring-Ereen crops plowed under-as a
stiff clay. Our experience has been with
buckwheat. Break up in the fall, blowing
eight inches deep, if possible. As early in
the spring IS the land can be worked. give j;
q thorough pu,verizing with 4 Randall har-
row, SOW two bushels Of buckwheat TO the
acre; when it Is in full bloom, which will be
in early August, roll down, apply two casks
per acre, Of stacked lime plov in, and seed
down. If one wants 10 hear a clay soil
groan under its crop, Try 1t.
As to commercial fertilizers. There IS a
popular notion. As erroneous as popular, that
al such are pure plant food. They all con-
tain more or less Of Wha, is termed organ
ic matter" We have analyses before Us. in
which this organic matter is equal to 50 per
cent. and worse, large share Of this 81
pounds in hundred, is absolutely
worthless.
In our farm practice, We have used, more
or less, Of the various brands Of concentrated
fertilizers, which have been offered 20 the
farming public. For our soil, bone -four
and the "Stockbridge," have given the most
satisfactory results.
All strictly clay lsnds-and such are stiff
clays-indicste at once, without the neces-
siiy Of an analysis, the lack Of available sill
ca. At long transportation. one canno,
remedy this defect by an application Of sand
Silica or silicie dcid, which is sand in an
available form, enters largely into the COM
position Of every food plant, whether for
man or beast.
We suggest to "A. c. NJ" experiments
with fertilizer known as The Popplein
Slicated Phosphate" To give hoed crops
s vigorous start, Bowker's Hill and Drill
Phosphate XL.
The effect of drainage upon a clay soil,
cannot be considered in this article suffice
it to say. it has been found that from 100
pounds Of quartz sand SOIL water will begin
to drop when it has absorbed 2j pounds if
calcareous sand, when il has absorbed %
pounds loan soil, 40 pounds clay-loam,
80 and pure clay, 20 pounds. The differ
ence shows how much more retentiye of
moisture, clay soil is than are the others.
AGRICOLA.