The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-11
TO Prepare Land for trucking.

W. F. Mussee, in Southern Farm Maya
zine, replies to this question as follows:
"I have a piece of sandy soil that will
bring fifteen bushels of corn per acre
without help. We have good facilities
for shipping truck North, and l want to
devote a considerable area to the culture
Of early Irish potatoes. snaps, peas and
melons. How much commercial fertilizer
and what kind viii be required to make
good crops on this land?" Land that Will
bring but fifteen bushels of corn per acre
is far from being In condition to make
even fair crops of vegetables. 1t takes
something besides commercial fertilizer
to prepare land for the growing Of the
maximum crops of these things. No mat
ter how heavily you apply the commercial
fertilizers on this land it will not at once
give you large crops Of truck. OF course,
the application of fertilizers will largely
increase the crops that it would make
without them, but what / wish to impress
upon you is the fact that land in that
condition cannot use heavy applications
of commercial fertilizers to advantage. In
fact 1t has been time and again proved
by experience that no land which has
never before been cultivated in truck
crops will give its maximum yield until
1t has been cultivated in these crops for
several years and has been changed in its
character by the use of crops after the
early truck which add humus to the
soil.
This humus is the vegetable decay that
makes the soil darker in color, mellow and
retentive of warmth and moisture. The
retention of moisture is the most import
ant function of the humus or black mat
ter in the SOIL for upon this moisture
retaining capacity depends its power TO
use large applications of commercial fer
tilizers probably. We bad an illustra-
ton OF this the past summer. We had
one patch of sweet potatoes on a soil very
deficient in vegetable decay Another
patch was on land where peas has been
grown and finally grass sod plowed I'M
der Both were fertilzed alike. The sec
ond patch kept green and nourlshing all
through the unprecedented drought and
heat and made fair crop The other
made a very inferior crop, and on dig
ging them the fertilizer that had been
applied IN the furrow was found there as
dry as when applied. 1t had simply done
no good while on the other patch the
humus from the previous treatment of
the soil had made the land more reten-
tive of moisture. and the fertilizers had
been dissolved and largely used by the
crop Hence. i say that In the present
state Of the land described large april
cation of fertilizer might be totally ineffi-
Gent II 1t did not do actual harm. Land
must be brought up gradually to render
ii productive as a truck garden, and 1t Is
far better to make a small piece produc-
tive than to waste time and labor in 60
ing over a large area that has not been
brought up.
The land you intend to grow Irish po-
tatoes upon in the spring should have
been sown in peas last summer, and the
peas should have had a liberal dressing
OF potash and acid phosphate, for your
sandy soil is especially deficient In potash,
and potash Is not only an important ele-
ment in the growth OF the pee plant but
It is even more important TO the potato
crop. II the peas had been sown last sum-
mer and thus treated and the whole
growth allowed to die upon the land, and,
as the leaves were failing in September,
seed of crimson clover had been scattered
all among them, you would have had a
green crop on he land as a trap for the
nitrogen during winter and the best of
preparation for the soil for the potato
crop for the potash and acid phosphate
applied TO the peas would all be there
still since these do not leach repldly from
the soil, as nitrogen Is aps To do But
even II this preparation had been made II
would not do to assume that the land is
ready to grow a fine crop OF early pota-
toes without further fertilization Few
farmers realize the amount OF fertilizers
that the regular truck gardeners use. They
have been accustomed 10 the use OF one
or two hundred pounds OF commercial
fertilizer per acre. ana are apt 10 lack
the nerve needed TO apply them by the
ton per acre. But for the production Of
early truck q. 9ps.very heavy applications
are absolutely essential 10 success; nor