The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1884-04-17

Written for the journal
Phosphates.
have, myself, depended chiefly on
barn yard manure, and have taken care
to apply it literally, believing it to be
The model fertilizer. have also fed my
soil with PlosphlteS. to a considerable
extent | apply about eight cords of
manure to the acre. and when plant or
suw, use ABOUT ;}3D pounds of Phos-
phate in the hill. drill or broadcast. |
do this on The sane principle that leads
HE to give my cows what good hay they
need. anG then some prnvender. 1t
should be intimately mixed with plaster
for use on aIl crops except beans or peas.
One hundred pounds of plaster to a bar
rel Of phosphate is sufficient The plaster
prevents ammonia from escaping into
the atmosphere And here let me say
that we have been grossly cheated by
some fertilizer companies, who have rep
resented that their goods contained a
given amount Of ammonia, which state
uemt was no doubt true but they neg
lectel to state that it was in the form of
fine ground leather scraps and was ut
terly insoluble, and valueIess to us.
Dried blood, meat, or nitrate of soda con
tains ammonia in a soluble form. and is
readily taken up by plants when needed.
But these cost the company more than
leather scraps. We pay enough to en-
title lis 10 a first class article. and if We
ever get an Agricultural Experiment
Station, or if our State College ever be-
comes in truth an Agricultural College,
We are going to get some light on this
subject. The time is not far distant
When we farmers are going to buy any of
the standard Phosphates fox so q ton, or
We are going TO buy the materials and
make better article for much less than
that sum. 1t is my intention in these
articles to show plainly how this can be
done There is no great mystery about
the matter 4 man can learn what his
crops need and what his soil lacks with
out consulting the analytical chemist,
and at a very slight expense, if he can
read and remember. But there are some
good phosphates and the advantages
that result from their use are an early,
vigorous start, often carrying the crop to
maturity Just III season to escape injury
from drought, and an increased yield.
Besides this, a bushel of any sort of grain
or roots, or a ton Of hay, straw or stover
can only deplete the soil of fixed and
certain amount Of fertilizers, and if these
are supplied by phosphates the soil must
retain that contained in the manure, for
succeeding crops. The component parts
OF all phosphates are, or are supposed to
be, soluble, and are Immediately avail
able, while with manure, especially un-
termented or green. as we call it, it is
not 50, to so great an extent. Hence We
find that manure is more lasting that is,
it Yields up its plant food more gradual
y. As the plant can take up only a Ger
follows, that, if we apply more phosphate
than Is needed by any one crop, the soil
VIII be as a StOrehOuSe for the surplus
and we shall see the effects in after
Years. ! believe that the fertility of our
farms can be sustained by pho5phates
alone The only drawback that | meet
is the expense. | doubt if we can afford,
! at present prices, to use more than $50 or
300 pounds to the acre. We certainly
cannot until we know more about our
| soils, what is lacking in them and what
any given crop requires. If there is in
the soil sutliciency of phosphoric acid,
| potash and nitrogen, (potential ammo
MAJ and 1t is there in available form,
there will be no increase of the crop i'm
medately following the application of
| phosphate. If there be even "a slight
| deficiency Of either element, the use of
phosphate will be followed by an in
crease of crop. In one instance we have
to wait perhaps some years for our re-
muneratlon and in the latter we get it
| from the first harvest Whenever have
occasion to use 800 pounds to the acre,
on hoed crops, ! SOW half of it broad
east, and the rest in the bill or drill 1t
may he profitable to use them on one
piece of ground, while on a field adoin-
ing it would not be necessary and there
fore not advisable Here we see why
one man thinks it pays to use chemical
fertilizers, and another thinks it does
not Sometimes a fertilizer is applied,
which coming in contact with some ele-
ment in the soil, is neutraized and rem
dered valueless. But this is rare. Were
pbosphates cheap enough | should rec
ommend and practice using large quan-
Titles. Still it would be poor economy
make, save, and use all the barn-yard
manure possible. There can be no dan
ger of applying too much of that, because
we have experimental a life time in that
direction. The consideration of phos-
pilates and their use will still further oc-
cupy our attention, and in due time a
che p, simple and practical plan for test
ing soils will be presented
Hon Fred Atwood, Winterport, Man
ager Of the Eastern Branch of the Gregg
Iron Works Company, Trumansburgh
n. u, sends us copy of the annual
circular Of the company which describes
the Meadow King Mower, the Gregg
Rake. Sweep Rake Reaper--a new ma
chine-and the Osborne Plow Sulky
These are all standard implements fol
every well appointed farm, and the cir
cular is one we'll worth sending for and
reading. Write a postal card to Fred
and ask him to send it to you.