The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1900-09-27

SOIL FERTILITY.
In !crestinS Conclusions FrO-n EE-
pcriments with Fertilizers.

pcriments with Fertilizers.
Valuable and thorough experiments
in the maintenance Ct the fertility OF
the soil have been continued for a num.
be. of yCa-s at the Ohio station. The re-
suI,S Of these ey' ncnts appear to
i"~tiiy the optRion 'Iat for tho crops
and spills under test yhosphoric acid is
at present the most important constitu-
cnt of fertilizer, with nitrogen and
potash following in the order named
Further conclusions drawn by the sta-
tion are:
The largest increase is only obtained
when the fertilizer contains all thrSe OF
these constituents, hut it does nd ns
yet seem necessary to use nitrogen and
potash in so large proportion, relatively
to phosphoric acid, az would be indicst-
ed by the chemical composition Of tbs
crops.
Apparently, phosphoric acid should
considerably exceed either nitrogen or
potash in quantity in fertilizer for
corn, cats or potatoes, while for wheat
the proportion of nitrogen may closely
approximate that Of phosphoriC acid.
Nitrate of soda sapparently the most
effective carrier of nitrogen in common
use as q fertilizer, but it can seldom be
US d with economy in Ohio because of
the relatively high cost of its nitrogen.
Slaughterhousc tanl:Qge, witch IL the
carrier of ammonia" III practically
all the factory mixed fertilizers sold IN
this state, is probably less effective
carrier of nitrogen than nitrate of soda.
but the cost of Nitrogen i'll urmlxed
tankage, when due allowance is made
for the phospho1ic acid carried by the
tanGage, is so much less than III nitrate
of coda that tankage becomes much
more economical source of nitrogen to
the Ohio farmer than nitrate OF soda.
This advantage in tankage disappears
how ever, when it is purchased in the
ordinary factory mixed fertilizer, since
the price at which such fertilizers are
generally sold brings the cost OF their
nitrogen to higher figure than It's
necessary cost in nitrate Of soda. while
the experiments reported in bulletin SO
of this station indicate that the nitrogen
of tha factory mixed fertilizer is not
more effective than that OF ordinary
tankage.
Dissolved comeback is apparently
more effective carrier Of pbosphoric acid
than r. W bonemeal or acid phosphate,
but dissolved boueb!ack, like nitrate
of soda, is seldom or never used in the
compounding of factory mixed fertil-
izers in Ohio, because of the lower cost
of phosphoric acid in other materials.
Acid phosphate, on account OF lts
comparative cheapness and large sup
ply, has become the standard carrier OF
fertilizer phosphoric ucid. Our expert
ments indicate that commercial acid
phosphate, like slaughterhouse tankage,
is variable in composition, and both
materials should only be bought on
guaranteed analysis.
Our experiments fully support the in.
ference that the phosphorio acid OF bone.
meal and tankage, when these materi-
ais are finely ground, is quite as effect.
i've, pound for pound, as the available"
phosphorio acid of acid phosphate, and
that these materials, unlike boneblack
and Carolina rock. require no treatment
with sulphuric acid to make their phos.
phoric acid available, provided only the
Sg,inding be done with sufficient thor
oughness. Investigations Indicate that
there has been decided improvement
in grinding within recent years.
Basic Stag appears to stand next to
dissolved teneblack in effectiveness as
a carrier of phosphorio acid. Apparent
~ this result is in part at least due to
the superior mechanical condition OF the
Stag meal, as it is an extremely fine pow
der. This material is not treated with
acid.
These experiments show that the fer
tilizing constituents Of barnyard ma
nure act more slowly than those Of COM
mercial fertilizers, but as they cost
much less in manure it becomes the
cheapest fertilizer.
The advantage Of applying manure to
the surface instead Of plowing it under
is strikingly shown.
WintrrinE CabbnEes.
I'll