The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-03-20
NOTES OF THE FARM.
By w. F. MASSEY, of A. & M. College.


while the cIoddy condition of the ground
will make it less productive. Do not
be in too great haste then in putting the
plows at work if your land is clayey
Another correspondent asks us to give
him the real commercial value of tobac-
co dust per tom and what he can afford
TO pay for it as a fertilizer The dust
from the tobacco factories varies so much
that no proper estimate can be formed.
1t may be mainly pure tobacco dust or
may be more than half dirt AMI sand
The fine division of the particles renders
the tobacco III the dust more quickly
available as plant food than the stems
The stems from the stripping houses
average 80 per cent. nitrogen, $50 pot
ash and 90 phosphoric acid. 1t will be
seen then that with the addition of more
prosphorc acid they would make COM
plete fertilizer. But you must also take
into account the fact that the stems and
the dust must go through decay and nit
rifcation before the nitrogen in them is
available for plant food, and the potash
likewise. Hence it would not be right
to rate their value by the commercial
price of the plant food they contain in
comparison with a fertilizer in which
these are III a soluble state and ready for
use at once. Nevertherless the stems and
dust are valuable manures, and can usu-
ally be had at the factories for less than
the value of their fertilizing ingredients
l would suppose that you might be war
ranted in paying $3 more per ton for
the dust a fertilizer.
A CaSwell county correspondent wants
to know how many peas to SOW per acre
and whether acid phosphate and kainis
Will be good fertilizer for them He
wants to make as good crop of hay as
possible and to improve his land One
bushel per acre is about the average
amount to SOW. On strong land less may
do, but if the crop is to be made into
hay it will pay TO SOW quite thickly
so as TO prevent their making stout. stems
that are harder to cure. Acid phosphate
and kainit will make good fertilizer for
peas but where you have to freight the
goods so far from the port of entry the
potash in the kainit Will cost more than
that in the muriate of potash. Kainit
mas but about Il per cent. of potash in il
while the rest is mainly common salt and
OF no value as manure. The muriate
has 30 per cent. of. potash. Hence you
VIII get as much potash in one ton as IN
four OF the kainit, and save the freight
ing OF ton or two of no value. An
application of 400 pounds per acre of a
mixture of one part of muriate of potash
to five parts of acid phOphate will be d
good dressing for the peas and it will pay
you to give it. A mixture of 200 pounds
acid phosphate and 200 pounds kainit will
give good results, but the other will
be cheaper and better. The fertilizer
should go on the land week or two be-
fore the peas are SOwn so that the cauS-
tic potash may have time to become as
SimIlo cd with 70 ;p;,,
to the seed.
Still another asks: How will 200
pounds Acme guano, 200 pounds acid phos-
phate. 100 pounds of Lees Agricultural
Lime and 30 pounds OF potash do per acre
Tor cotton or corn, and what would be best
for sweet potatoes" One of the worst
features of our farming is that farmers
merely want TO speculate fertilizers.
Ifey seem to suppose that for every crop
planted there must invariably be some
commercial fertilizer used. And to such
an extent has this been carried that it is
Tor most Of them really necessary owing
to the depleted condition of the soil We
have endeavored to show that by good
farming and the use of peas and clover
in q short rotation there will never be
any need for the purchase of a complete
fertilizer if the mineral elements are put
oH tHe peas ana the forage IS fed and the
manure returned to the soil. The mix
ture you propose will not do at all.
have not at hand the analysis of the Ac-
me guano, but suppose it is a mixture of
nitrogen potash and phosphoric acid and
that 1t has as most of them have. an
excess OF phoSphorc acid already and
that adding more will not materially i'm
prove it. Then to add lime will be to
drive Off the ammonia you have bought
IN the fertilizer and to revert the phOS-
phoric acid, and in a word to iniure the
whole. For cotton mix 900 pounds acid
phosphate, 800 pounds of cotton seed
meal and 200 pounds kainit to make a
ton. For sweet potatoes mix 200 pounds
acid phosphate, 400 pounds cotton seed
meal and 400 pounds muriate of potash
and use about 800 pounds per acre in
the furrow. If you have paid attention
to our former letters YOU will find that we
believe that in a three year rotation of
Gotten. corn. oats and peas the only
place where there is need for a fertilizer
is on the peas and then only acid phos-
phate and potash. In fact we believe
that on our red clay soils we can i'm
prove and render them very productive
without the purchase in a few years OF
another pound of commercial fertilizers.
We hope to tell more about this after
aWhlle, but We are now over our space.