The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-10-13
.n,cuLrURAL DEPARTMENT


| 81 81 !, ctr II 81 ! 6@- -S---
.,,icit articles for this department.
r..-,ao, tia writer sho1ld accompany.
,,..,-o- a-ti not ns,sssarly for pub
-, hit as al evidsncs of good faith
.c-d Phospnates Make Land Sour ?
I-..isant Alvord, of the Maryland Agri-
-.1t,,-aI College aud Experimental Station,
o.,hIisbes in the American Farm pre-
$50 extract from forthcoming bulle-
-. ,vbich is a discussion OF the above
49, 80, if it can be said to be question.
f. annsars that the investigation OF the ac-
10, Of phosphatss on soils and crops is to
- nretty wide scope This question
3 o,raat economic Importance. and one that
-, m have been Investigated much more
,,orougl " than it has been in this country.
/. 5oss not do for US to accept conclusions
.+ohlished under the conditions of other
Inmates and soils. We want to know what is
-ne for cur own soils, seasons. rainfells, and
,.bar meteorological conditions. The paper
ssfore us quotes the famous Rothampstead's
Sooriments of Laws to show that long
nDfl eAPPN~N~S@O~%~
SoSnhates do not injure soils or crops. This
y bean shown for the Rothampstead
- Init their condition is widely different
IN tha condition of the poor, sandy and
.nraous soils to ne found, for example, in
Nv parts of Maryland, and which are
al nigh destitute of organic matter. The
gaId of the Rothampstead plots, which
i've been cropped every year and received
:, manure for forty years, is sufficient to
A. &c lU QfTT arin 70 ft.a
,rerage of American soils. The plots which
Ave Tor nearly forty years produced an
rerege OF about thirty-one and a half
,sbels wheat per acre is said to have re-
rved no organic manure, but the organic
after produced by the roots and stubble
ia crop which yields thirty-one and half
lrshels is OF itself an annual addition Of
-yanic matter greater than would be pro-
aced by an acre of the Maryland Agricul-
mrsl College farm in perhaps ten years in a
Smjlar course of cropping and manuriug.
mother matter of great Importance is the
l,t that the British wheat crop, which is
.aied about the same time as ours, is not
Invested until September, while ours is
N sbout June 90 It's clear that while the
Rdhampstead experiments afford us
highly valuable model and guide, we must
lest these matters for ourselves. Does long
eutinued use of acid phosphates make our
lands SOure NO, HOb Ill L00 sense OF an dC-
emulation of free sui phuric acid; consider
able quantities of neutral sulphates are of
course formed, but of these the soil is not
very retentive aud they leach out in the
drainage water pretty rapidly. 1t has been
supposed that the growth of sheep sorrel,
which is a very sour plant, is promoted by
the sourness of the land produced by acid
phosphates. This is non Sequitur; for
first the land is not made sour by the phos.
phate aud it is not sour, and in the second
place the cxalic acid which makes the sor-
rel sour is product of the plant, and is not
really formed in the soil Neither is sui
phuric acil capable of conversion into, or
taking part i'll the formation of oxalic acid
But if acid phosphates do not make
land sour do hey injure it in any way, and
if yea, how? If the soil be already poor in
alkalis the excess of sulphuric acid in the
phosphate will promote the teaching of
these minerals already present in scant sup
ply In this way the crop may be actually
diminished while the land, already very
poor in certain important ash minerals and
in organic matter and nitrogen, is left poorer
still IN these essential elements of fertility.
The physical texture of the soil may also,
as suggested by President Alvord be iniuri-
OnSly affected the soil itself left barer than
before during the rainy season, and the
freezing and thawing of winter, NAV be
posened up and washed, and even when dry
and dusty blown off exposed places Again,
We have here periods of midsummer
Tought accompanied by excessive heat,
Ehen acid phosphates may promote the
archlng OF plants. How hot and dry our
por sandy soils can get under our midsum-
ner sun and drought combined is not
Known, but we all know they get very hot
aud very dry. Whether phosphates make
lem hotter and dryer is question. This
true, VIZ: that Unbalanced manure of any
KIND may hurt crop on poor soil. while it
may largely increase the same crop on rich
lahd Astounding in organic matter. Soil
PHYSICS, as PRESIDENT Alvord very truly
states, is a subject but little INVESTIGATED
hitherto. Our literally endowed colleges
ana stations are now looked to by the peo-
i pie TO push this work. Important results
are looked for without much further de-