The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-08-28

NOTES OF THE FARM.
BY w: F. MASSEY, of A. & M. College



el1al teaspoonful Of good fertilizer.
iiidheS us doubt the common sense Of |
the ordinary farmer. \ ton of stable
manure mixed with two tons of rich
eaf.n IS not bit better than it would
We Il spread at once on the land and
al tnat the rich earth has gained has
neell lost by the manure. and vouId
not have been lost had the manure
been spread as soon as made on land
Whefe some plant was; waiting to use
1T. Ana the rich earth would have
peen just as good if it too had been
spread on a spot that needed rich
earth The lime would have done as
much good too if it had been spread
Where 1T was needed, and the land
would have been better off without
the salt than with it. But your ..for-
mula proposes to have YOU haul the
manure, and pile it, and then to 90
TO the labor Of heating water. and
burning fuel to do it, SO that it may
De started to heating. And when the
natural carbonating of the ammania
through the action of the carbOnic
acid present is not enough to- hasten
natural carbonating Of the ammonia
merely for the fun of trying to catch
1T IN the earth cover And after All
tins turning and sitting YOU have =
mass OF far less value than the orici-
nal ingredients had if used separate
~. \ Gil have merely wasted a lot of
time and labor without adding any
value at all except to get the materi-
ais INTO a better mechanical state for
the dribbling which our farmers are
so fond Of My advice is to save all
that useless expenditure Of labor. If
You have stable and yard manure, get
[ n
made and Oh to the land where crops
are waiting for it. Manure cannot be
boarded without loss. no matter
whether it is under cover or not. If
YOU have rich earth that is not needed
where it lies. and have time to haul It,
then spread it too where it will help
poorer land If your land needs lime
then spread the lime tco. and do all
this with Il tithe of the labor and
time that it would take to mix them
and make them Of less value to YOU
Then, If YOU have not enough OF ma
nure or rich earth to cover the field
| YOU want TO cultivate. get what the
| field needs in the way Of plant fod
| in a commercial fertilizer, and YOU
| can then know Just what you are put
ting on the land. Bat say. get what
, your land needs. What this is. no one
| can tell you. No chemist can analyze
|
lacks to make it productive. He may.
| be able to tell YOU that a piece of land.
! which YOU know to be perfectly un-
| productive. has an abundant supply
Of plant food in it, but it is in such
an inSOluble state that no plant can
get some one or more of the ingretl-
tents. without which it cannot be
productive. You can find out what
! the lacking element IS by experiment.
applied separately. and mixed in
varying proportions, and by studying
the results you can find out what
your soil needs most. and what you
have no need for buying in a fertiiiz-
er. And YOU can do this as no one
else can do it for YOU. If you find on
experiment that acid phosphate has no
effect on your land when appiie1
alone. then try it mixed with some
form Of nitrogen, and on another plot
mixed With potash. Then try potash
alone and mixed with nitrogen, and
in this way you will ascertain by COM
pairing the results with Il plot Of same
size on which no fertilizer is applied,
Just what your land needs and what
does 10 good.
Then buy that which is needed and
save the money YOU would spend IN
buying what you do not need In all
the upland red clay OF our l'IednOn'
section, it will usually be found that
pfosphoric acid and nitrogen are the
things most generally needed. and
that potash has little effect. The nj
trogen YOU need not buy for our or
dinary farm crops, except tobacco
and acid phosphate will very probably
fill the bill for YOU in Il rational fota
ton of crops. In some sections OF the
eastern part of the State, however
the chief need is for nitrogen ant
potash. and on many soils there
, /, which have had year after year appll
cations of complete fertilizer for tht
cotton crop. there has been such al
accumulation Of the excess OF phOS
nhoric acid. that acid phosphate ha
little effect on the soil. Hence tn
| need for studying your soll, so ina
1 YOU need not spend money lor 'hiiiS
t Won do not need. and what you ma.
4 afford to be more liberal with wha
2 ,o,,r coil does need Make all the ma
5 nrre yoi1 can and save it carefully, Du
e o,at II where it will feed your crop a
+, soon as possible. resting assured ina
: manure in the barn yard. like none.
' in a bank. is losing interest, ana ca
e ONLY be made to pay Wheh wen ~ -,
8 vested. Mixing inferior matter WI,
the manure does not make the PIE dl
t manure by any means. b'at VIII nv q
riably lead to the loss OF Halue. I
ehort study your farm, and do moth
. ;,n yvitbout a reasonable prospect o
! ;n,nrovement. Of all things let alon
. ~ mon who have secrets to sci
/, Thoy are frauds without exception
: either knowingly or ignorantlY.