The Red Cloud chief., 1889-03-01
PHosPHoRIc ACID.

ACID.
its Value as n Fertilizer ~ Established
bY Recent Experiments.
In one regard the various expert.
ment stations OF the country are doing
valuable service to farmers, and that
is in the line Of thinking, studying and
experimenting for themselves. Prof.
johnson. of the Connecticut State Ex-
pertinent Station. stated at the recent
farmers convention that it was crafty
ing to mark the progress that had
been made among farmers in the Last
twenty-five years. That whereas Al
one time talk upon fertilizers and feed
ing rations was As Greek almost to the
average farmer, he can to-day talk In
telligently upon these subjects, and
discuss them with credit to himself.
1t Is far better that this is 30, be.
cause the farmer has actual practice
to deal with. and it is frequently the
case that scientific theory requires
some modification in order to CORE.
spOnd with practice; and the intel.
ligent farmer who understands scien.
tific declarations. and can judge Of the
auses and results which he obtains,
can not only adopt any particular
mode OF procedure to the necessities
of the case. but can also point out the
probable point in which science Is in.
correctly interpreted.
For some time there have been
tables in existence arranged by the
German scientists in the course OF
their experimentation, giving the
amount of manurial substances taken
from the soil by average crops of vari.
u kinds. by these it appears that
phOsphOric acid is quite largely re.
quirod in the production OF grain;
that is. the tables show a considerably
larger proportion Of phosphoric acid
in the grain of crops than in the
straw. with the exception Of corn.
where the percentage Of phosphoric
acid in the grain is given as five and
nine-tenths, and of cOrn-stalks rs five
and three-tcnths, and in buckwheat,
where the grain has five and seven.
tenths and the straw six and one
tenths; the other grains range from
over five to nearly twelve. with q
range of two to three and five.tenths
in the straws. Whether this proper
ton is true regarding buckwheat, it
is yet difficult to determine. but there
is an experiment: with regard to corn
that seems to denote a limit to the
value of phOsphoric acid for the pro-
duction of grain.
In a held that had not been cropped
for some time. with the exception Of
the previous year to buckwheat. the
soil WINS supplied with an amount of
nitrogen and potash estimated to be
sufficient for the production Of an
average crop Of corn, the nitrogen in
the form of sulphate of ammonia, and
potash az high grade muriate. being
spread broadcast after the ground was
plOwed. and well narrowed in. Upon
n section OF One-sixteenth of an acre
dissolved bone black was employed at
the rate of two hundred and fifty-six
pounds per acre, another with moth
ing. another with double the quantity
of bone black. and still another with
pothing. The nothing plots were near
ly identical in their yield. giving only
a small quantity Of grain. as we'll as
small stalks. but there were some Pc
culiar features with the other two
plots. The one with the lesser guam
tity OF the bone black. which contained
the element phOsphOric acid. gave a
good development of stalks. while they
produced well-developed and we'll
cured r of corn, many stalks
furnishing two ears perfectly capped
over. In the case OF the larger guam
tity OF phOsphOric acid there was e
considerably increased growth OF
stalks. being in the proportion Of
5261.2 for an acre to S745.6 OF the
former quantity. while tho yield Of
"a r of cOrn was actually less; the
ears were somewhat larger. but
scarcely a stalk had two ears. and the
proportion was 1892 to 1904 of
tho former. This would seem to in
dictate that so far as the chemical use
of ph6sphOric acid is concerned there
is a limit in grain production, and
that beyond that point it only serves
to give an increase of fodder. the econ.
Omy of which is questionable w. H.
YeOmans, in n. Y. Observer.