The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-02-26

400 pounds of seed carry away from an
acre of land six pounds of potash.
Half a carload of watermelons carry
away from an acre of land 1734 pounds of
potash.
This is an immense quantity of potash
removed by the watermelons, as much re-
moved from the soil as would be carried
away by three crops of cotton and cotton
seed, or five crops of corn. If the cotton
seed were returned to the soil and only
the lint sold, over thirteen crops of lint
cotton would be required to remove as
much potash from the soil as the one crop
of melons
The nitrogen or ammonia removed by
the melon crop is not as large as might be
inferred. The juice only containing about
loo of per cent, the pulp about $50 of
per cent, the ripd about 1880 of l per
cent. and the seeds about Il per cent. of
nitrogen. The juices constitutes about
ene-half OF the melon. and the seeds are a
very small proportion.
A crop of cotton and cotton seed may
remove Twenty-Five pounds of nitrogen
from an acre.
"a crop of corn may remove about four
teen pounds, and a half car load of melons
about as much as the corn.
The great demand upon the land is for
potash. Some soils naturally contain
much potash. clay soils being formed by
contain more or less potash, those clays
being richest in available potash which
have not been too thoroughly leeched.
Sandy soils are not rich in potash, and
when applied TO them it is readily leeched
out by the rains. The soils of the upper
half of the state should, as a rule, con-
| tain more potash than those of the lower
half, as the clays of the latter portion
have been subjected to more washing and
transportation, aud hence leeching.
| A common amount offertilizer used to
an acre of ground in Georgia is 200 pounds
Fertilizers average 10 per cent. available
| phosphoric acid and per cent of potash,
! so this would be an application of twenty
| pounds of available phosphoric acid and
! four pounds of potash, or, in other words
/ over four times as much phosphoric acid
| is put back as the watermelon takes o I.
! Yet 1t would take over four years of such
| fertilization to put back the potash taken
away by the one single crop of melons.
| No wonder melons do not do well, thus
| starved to death. -
AS potash and available phosphoric acid
| cost about the same, chemical manuring
| can be done much more simultaneously
and fully as cheaply by using more potash
| and less phosphoric acid. The potash
| should be used in the form of sulphate of
! potash, not as, a chloride or muriate of
| potash. The watermelon prefers the for
mer, as there was only a minute amount
| of chlorides found in the watermelon upon
| analysis, but considerable amount of
| sulphates.
The following is suggested as formula
| furnishing a liberal amount of potash and
| other fertilizinG material per acre:
| Acid phosphate ...,...............1O 100 pounds
| Sulphate OF potash ................. 80 pounds
| Dried blood. ....,. .............. IS pounds
OF comse,a much larger quantity can
be used per acre if the land is well pre-
| pared and large crop is desired. NJ.
| Georges Nilles, the eminent agricultural
! chemist of France, states as a general
| proposition: "Return to the soil by the
aid of manure more calcic phosphate,
| potash and lime than the crops have
| taken from it; restore to the soil about so
| per cent Of the nitrogen of the crops"
/ The acid phosphate inthe above formula
| furnishes ample calcic phosphate and
| lime
Cotton seed meal can be used in the
| above formula in the place of blood. If
| this is done, the quantity should be
| doubled, as cotton seed meal contains
| only little over half the percentage of
nitrogen found IN blood.
| These investigations were undertaken
in the hope that they might be eff some
| direct benefit to our people. If they
J should prove so, the time spent upon
| them which was principally at night
after Office hours, will not be regretted.