The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1901-01-15
NOTES OF THE FARMo
By w. F. MASSEY, of A. & M. College.


please tell m~ if you think there is any
potash in the red clay soil of this sec
ton? 1t is claimed by some that all
this land needs is pure bone meal. and
that there is pleny of potash in the
soil. Do YOU think peas furnish any
potash" All of our Piedmont red clay.
! being the result of the decomposition
of fieldspathic rocks. has in it a large
percentage of potash. But this potash
is III the form of an insoluble silicate,
which is rendered available slowly
! through the action of the carbonic
, acid in the rain and snow. and thus
| the plants do get some of ii. 1t Will
be rendered more available by the use
| of lime and plaster occasionally in the
rotation. If farmer practices good
| rotation of crops on the red soil we are
| satisfied that there will seldom be any
| need for the application of potash to
your soil. provided that YOU use lime
| about once IN five wears, and grow le-
Slminous crops for the furnishing of
| nitrogen. But pure bone meal is not
| what YOU Reed True it will furnish
; you phOsphuric acid, but the phosphoric
acid will cost you great deal more in
the bone than it will in acid phosphate
and it will be in less available form
Some farmers have notion that the
| phosphoric acid in bones is better than
the phOSphOric acid in rock. but this
| is an error. Phosphoric acid is simply
phOsphoric acid, no matter from what
; it is derived. The acid in ground bones
will be more availible than the acid in
| pulverized rock because it will decay
faster. But when the rock is treated
with su,phuric acid. the phOSphOrc
acid is mI1@ available and is in better
! shape than in the raw bones. Pure raw
! bone meal has some nitrogen in it which
! shows at once in the crops. but it costs
! more than the nitrogen You can get
/ through the growing of peas or clover
and there Is no need for buying nitro
gen for tn" ordinary farm crops il you
grow the lesumes. Peas get nitrogen
, from the air and lhcy get potash and
phOSphOric acid from the soil only. SO
that all the potash the peas leave in the
soil is what they get from the soil in
the first pia,'". and is of course no new
addition. IL depends upon the differ
ence in expense as to whether it will
pay better TO apply some potash to the
soil or to ucDend on the lime making
what YOU have available. In a large
section of IN" wheat growing part oG
Mar rEland. the farmers have for many
Years abandoned the use OF all fertil-
iZers except acid phosphate on their
wheat. ana The crops have regularly in
creased. OF course they grow clover to
keep up the nitrogen in the soil. Land
| that formerly made ten to twelve bush
els of wheat per acre now makes from
thirty to fifty bushels. | feel sure that
in Your naturally fertile soils in For
sEth a rotation of corn. wheat and
clover. with acide phosphate used lib
orally on the wheat, and dressing Of
lime occasionally on the second spring
clover, would do NOR" to increase the
production of grain than anything vou
, cola DO. or course if YOU grow to-
! pacCo that VIII need extra fertiliza ton.
and could come in on part of the corn
. tend. While lime and plaster are Use
1ul in properly arranged rotation, It
viii not do to jump 20 the conclusion
that they ave manures, for their action
is mainly to release and make available
matters already in the soil. and thus
their injudiCiou% us" would tend rather
to exhaustion. But when used at in
terVAls III connection with the growing
peas or clover the lime and plaster are
very useful. and used in this way. in
connection with regular supply of
phoSphoriC acid your soil will be found
to contain an ineXhaustible supply Of
potash through the slow decomposition
of the granite rocks. Thorough Guilt
Vation of soil like yours is of far more.
Importance than I'll" Kind or amount O.,
fertilizers applied. Few farmers real
Ne tn" great Importance OF a thorough
p"INerlzation OF 4 clay soil and the
, Subsequent rapid and shallow cultiva-
tl"'l "f tn" crop. Wheat particularly is
mo"" dept nGent on the preparation of
! tilt Holl 1h2n on the fertilizer applied.
L had ratn": have good clay soil
! thof"9GhlN pIoWed and then repeatedly
narrowed ant rolled ana fined till COM
pact IN preparing for the wheat CROP
without an Fertilizer At all than to
nave poorly prepared soil with the
best OF fertilization. There is no one
thing which the farmers on our l,D-
land red clay coils need to learn more.
than the Val':e of thorough proparation
and fininc Of th.. soil
Our letter box is again emptv and
. We wait Tor plOrc. We had a Ions, let
ter the past week from a farmer in
Wisconsin, Who sent us Il sa,nnlo OF
! Black Eye pea raised there They
were as pretty peas as we have ever.
seen, and h" said that the whole ,ron
ripenc;i. and he is going to grow them
largely. AS We said recently. the north
ern farmers know a good thing when
they see it and they do not hesitate
to use it. This sample of the efforts
; they are making. and the one from
! Iowa who's" WhiDpOorWil peas no
ticcd lately. show the interest that tho
Southern pea is awakening in the
North. AMI rrc long tho Yankee farm
erS Will be selling peas South.