Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1902-10-27
FARMERS INSTITUTE AT
wAHIAwA COLONY
CLOSES Up YEARS WORK
CONTINUED from Page 81

lOOu NHdl plbUts TAKE up Out IN winch
the food is so bound up that the plant
cannot utilize Il.
We have found as a rule that both
potashes and phosphates are so firm.
ly held in the soil that they are not
readily available to young plants. This
is shown by the hardness of growth
Of many young plants, and their ready
response to a dose of a soluble fertili.
ger. Notwithstanding that Hawaiian
soils as a rule are rich, know of no
country where artificial fertilizers
show such immediate and lasting eff
fects. A crop growing but poorly on
soil containing $1,000 pounds of pot.
ash per acre to the depth of one foot
and this is not an exaggerated case
may grow well on the same soil TO
which has been added but 80 pounds
Of soluble potash, to the acre. This
will be brought home to some OF you
who have seen the wonderful effects
of few hundred pounds of phosphates
per acre to sorghum growing in soil
containing 10000 pounds Of soil phos.
pilates. In this case the soil ingre.
dents are not available to the plant,
whereas the small amount of phos.
pilates added are available and the
crop responds at once. The question
is not, what elements and how much
does the soil contain, but how much Of
these elements are available to the
growing crop?
Elements Not Available.
With your experience | think that
you will agree with me that the ele.
ments in the Wahiawa soil are not in
very available form, and ] can ex.
tend this knowledge by saying that
this is true of most Hawaiian soils,
and especially of those soils subject to
a heavy rainfall.
Virgin Soil Acid.
Addressing myself to local condi.
,ions, the Wahiawa soil especially in
the upper portion. of the lands, is
somewhat acid. This has been cor.
.ected by clearing, destroying the nat
ural vegetation, and turning over the
soil and exposing It to the air. The
acidity would be more rapidly and eff.
fectively corrected by an application
of lime. The lime can be applied as
ground coral, which is the cheapest
form. or caustic lime. Either will cor
rect the acidity and add a store Of
many ways, but caustic lime will also
act upon the organic matter. rendering
part of the nitrogen available. Besides
this, plant food becomes more readily
available in soils literally supplied
with lime, and II is one of the elements
that heavy irrigations or rains wash
out of the soil.
Phosphorie Acid.
While phosphoric acid is not in a
readily available form in the soil,
crops do not take off great deal of it,
and 1t Is not supplied, therefore, in ar.
tificial fertilizers in very large guam
titles, Certainly cane growers are not
using by any means as much phospho.
ric acid per ton of fertilizers that they
used, say, ten years ago.
rotdSn MOT available.
The elements potash and nitrogen
are Of more Importance here than eth
er lime or phqsphoric acid, While the
potash content of most Hawaiian soils
Is satisfactory, 1t is singularly unavail.
able and crops remove large quaint
ties Of 1t. The amount OF potash re-
moved by such crops as wheat, oats,
barley, ETC., is three or four times as
much as the phosphoric acid. and II
should therefore be supplied literally.
This Is especially the case with fruits
and vegetables. Large quantities Of
potash are found In the ends of plants
and in fruits, and very beneficial eff.
fects have been derived from liberal
quantities of this element. 1t also
does well with plants of large leaf sur.
face and with leguminous plants such
as peas, vetches, etc. Recognizing
your local conditions and the crops
that you grow, have always recon-
liberal amounts OF potash in |
he fertilizers.
Nitrogen Essential.
Nitrogen is another very essential
clement, and 1t has the disadvantage
II being the most costly. There are
.hree chief sources of nitrogen sup.
Piled to the agriculturist, nitrate Of.
soda from Chill, sulphate OF ammonia |
from the gas works of England, and |
bones, blood, etc, from the slaughter
houses. or the three foEms, nitrate Of
soda is the cheapest and 1t has the ad-
Of being readily soluble and
available to the plant But it has the
disadvantage of being easily leached |
rom the soil either by heavy rains or
heavy irrigations. 1t should be used
out rarely in regions of heavy rain
all, and in lands that are literally ir- /
'lgated it should be applied after irri-
cation and no large amount of water