Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1898-03-19
COMMERCIAL MANuREe.
How and when to apply Them on Grass
lands.

Row anu " men To apply Anttu Ou OANeA
Lands.
Soils differ widely in their compost
ton, and hence their needs are varied.
Pasture lands and hay meadows require
different treatment. Land deficient in
lime or rich in lime, clay soil and sandy
soil, upland and lowland, must each be
fortified according to its needs. The
general theory in fertilizing is this,
that certain amounts of the essential
elements, nitrogen. potash and phos-
phorous, must be supplied at the time
when needed and in an available or
soluble form Nitrogen is the most i'm.
portant and at the same time the most
expensive. 1t is also the least stable,
and hence should be applied only at
such times as it is needed and i'll guam
titles no greater than can be used by
the CROP
Except in the case of moist soils rich
in lime. the use of too much nitrogen
at one time is an extravaganza, for the
surplus rapidly teaches out or decom-
poses and passes into the air in the form
of ammonia. There is a considerable
amount of nitrogen in barnyard manure,
and where this is available it is the best
and often the cheapest source of nitrogen
and humus. Other sources of nitrogen
are ground bone and bonemeal, fish
scrap tankage, dried blood, bran, cot
tonseed meal and peanut meal, and that
supplied by various clovers, vetehes and
beans grown as green manurial and
soiling crops. Nitrate of soda is often
recommended for grass lands, but it is
expensive and so readily soluble that
single hard rain may wash out in few
hours all that has been applied to the
land. Bad results follow its use when
too large an amount is applied 1t has
been found by experiment that an appli-
cation of nitrate Of soda does not have
much influence on the total amount Of
nitrogen in crop of clover or peas, SO
that in the case of either of these crops
heavy application of heterogeneous fer
tilizer is undesirable
In growing hay for market bonemeal
and tankage certainly increase the yield
very materially Ground bone is imme
diately valuable, not, as has been gen
orally believed, for its content of phos-
phoric acid, but for its nitrogen, which
is in such form that it becomes gradual
ly available during several months and
so acts as a continuous stimulant to the
growing crop. Cottonseed meal has
much the same effect, and where it can
be obtained at reasonable rates is good
substitute for bone. Tankage, fish scrap
and dried blood are all rich in nitrogen
and nearly approach bone and cotton
seed meal in chemical composition and
effect on the growing crops.
Phosphoric acid may be best applied
as superphosphate or acid phosphate.
Fertilizers containing potash are wood
ashes, cotton hull ashes, kainit, potash
salt and ground tobacco stalks. The
best of theSe for grass lands are wood
ashes, kainit and tobacco stalks In a
clay soil deficient in humus the surplus
of either potash or phosphoric acid does
not leach out in the same way as sur
plus of nitrogen would, but enters into
combination with the clay and is held
for the benefit of future crops. Upon
the addition of organic matter, lime or
salt to the soil this surplus of potash
and phosphorus is gradually broken
down and is again transformed into
soluble plant food.
In soils that consist Of almost pure
sand, with very little clay or organic
matter intermixed, there must be fire.
quent applications of small amounts of
fertilizers, never putting on the field
more than can be utilized by the crop
before it has time to be washed and
leached out of the soil. On such lands
when it can be cheaply obtained crushed
cotton seed from which the oil has not
been extracted is better than oottonseed
meal, the oil acting to retard the rot
ting of the seed and thus extending the
period of usefulness of its nitrogen. The
foregoing is from the pen of Jared G.
Smith, assistant agrostologist, United
States department of agriculture.