Smyrna times., 1884-02-13
For the Smyrna Times
Increased Yields of Wheat.

IL all the conditions are comnlied
with, and alone as to time, in the appli-
cation OF fertilizers to fall sown wheat
there is no reason why forty bushels
OF wheat per acre should not be grown
on the same ground that now Yields
only twenty.
The value and Importance of the
proper time to apply concentrated
fertilizers is, however, not SO much q
question of time as of expediencv and
this to great extent is borne ont hv
the nature of the fertilizers themselves
VIZ; concentrated and soluble. Iffrom
fourteen known elements that all coil,
contain as minerals in more or less de-
gree, there should be eliminated from
these fourteen less than four different
elements, and they in turn made cor.
centrated and soluble by the aid of
powerful reactionary acids, we have "a
resultant the prepared super-pbos.
phates Of commerce of the present time
ana the proper time for their use to ob-
tain the best results, and not alone an
one kind Of soil but of all alike Ga
then, the use or the increased WELD
from the use Of concentrated fertilizers
Is question so far as they are con-
cerhed one of cxpediency as to time
alone IN their application, and no bet.
ter proof of the value OF attending to
this point can be given to farmers who
desire large yields of wheat than 70
study the experiments conducted bv
Mr.. Charles Sanderson, of Baltimore
county, Md, and published in the
american Farmer, in order to demon
strate the value of Spring fertilizing On
Fall sown wheat, he saws.
The wheat which was grown on .
clay loan soil, was dressed in the Fall
with 800 pounds of good fertilizer per
acre. The land had previously pro-
duced corn corp, and had been manur-
ed and dressed with lime. In the
spring, however, slight application
OF phosphate and KANT (sulphate of
potash was applied. Departing from
the above regular method, in the
spring of 1882 ten acres of wheat were
dressed with 100 pounds Of phosphate
ana the same quantity of KANT, and in
one month marked difference was
noticed on the ten acres SO treated If
being of darker hue and of stronger
growth"
|. At harvest it was found that the
wheat that had received the Spring ap-
plcation Of fertilizer was heavier and
the heads larger and longer than ON
that portion which had received no
Spring application; and when this
wheat was threshed it was found to be
brighter and heavier, the yield being
thlrty-siX measured bushels per acre
weighing 81! pounds per bushel. while
the wheat grown close by on the same
soil, but without this top dressing, did
not do so well by five bushels. The
first wheat was sold for seed and
brought five cents per bushel more
than the other.
Now as to the cost. The application
OF 200 pounds of fertilizer involved an
expense not only of material but for
labor; but the extra yield bv this
slight application (only twenty pounds
per acre. and the extra price paid for
the wheat, paid for all the fertilizer
used on the ten acres. In 1883 about
Zo3 acres were again put in wheat, 90
acres of which was corn ground, and
81 acres was potato and drilled corn
ground. This last being in fine tilth
and rich, no Spring application was
given. This was a mistake. as the
straw was not stiff enough in the Joints
and the wheat fell down. Had KANT
been applied such difficulty would
nave been avoided. As it was. a few
dollars were saved in fertilizer and
many lost from failure in yield. The
twenty acres of corn ground wheat.
winch did not look nearly SO promis-
lhg' was divided into two equal parts,
Staked at each end. On one part 200 .
pounds OF nitrate of soda per acre was
used and on the other 200 pounds of {
KANT and 100 pounds of phosphate per
acre. The wheat where the soda was
Used grew faster and ripened a few I
days earlier and the yield was good
producing twenty-eight bushels per
lcre of fine bright wheat. But the
part where the KANT and phosphate t
we're applied yielded thirty,two and v
,hree quarter bushels per acre ofeuuallv {
rs good, bright wheat The clover .
ana timothy crop on the field was also b
Is good as could be desired. The ferti- a
lzers should not be applied too early q
n the Spring, when the heavy rains q
occur as they, being very soluble, n
would be washed off, nor should thew s.
'e applied too late, as they require a
quite an amount of moisture to become
April is about the right Is
lme, but the wheat should have the 81
Usual amount of fertilizer sown with it II
n the Fall to insure q start, and in y
he Spring dressed with few pounds s,
'er acre at whatever time is most W
aVoFahie without regard to cost or p
isk as the increased yield of grain and
arger quantity of straw will be more
han an equivalent for the expense in =,
urred. And certainly this second ex- "
eriment proves that full reliance
hould not be placed either on Fall or is
pring feFtiliSing alone, but rather that sr
he Fall application should be supple III
lented with light Spring dressing to m
lsure good yields of wheat at harvest %, %
nd of course increased profit by using ca
fertilizers at the proper w
me in the Fall and Spring. S. dr
SMYRNA, February 4, 1884. ~ ~
Fifty tents on ice, near the head of f.
atten's bay, few miles east of the
enobscot, are occupied by fifty OF
lore Maine farmers, sailors and fisher tn