The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1903-02-05

AtlNullC COAST are generally OF Y warm
and sandy character, lying level and
close to permanent moisture In The soil.
On such lands 1t is possible to use The
| concentrated fertilizers in quantities
/ that are not possible on dry upland
soils, and the growers instead Of seek
ing to know how little they can get
along with and make crops are seeking
to ascertain how much they can use
proftably, They have found that the
chief deficiencies Of their soil Is in nj
trogen and potash. In many Of these
soils where phosphate rocks occur the
growers have found that phosphoric
acid Is less needed than the other con-
stituents in their fertilizers. Some
years ago the New York station made
some experiments to determine the diff
! ference between n fertilizer for The
Irish potato crop based ON the exact
analysis Of the potato, and the fertil-
izer that the Long Island growers were
using in which the plant food constt-
uents were largely in excess Of what
the analysis seemed to show. Then in
the culture Of the carly Irish potato in
the soils Of the South Atlantic region
II was found that there the crop needed
for the best results n larger percentage
Of nitrogen than 1t did in the North.
Growing in the early cool spring the
additional nitrogen seemed TO have the
effect Of rapidly urging growth and
making the crop earlier. and as this
earliness was the important thing in
the competition for the early market
and the biggest prices, the heterogeneous
part of the fertilizer received increased
attention. But while the nitrogen in
creased the growth 1t was found that
the potato needed something else for
the formation Of big starchy tubcrs,
The study Of the life history Of vcgeta-
ton by scientists had shown that the
constituent in fertilizer that most in
creased the formation of starch. was
potash, and hence it was inferred that
a plant In which starch storing in the
tubers was OF such Importance rs it is
in the potato, and which its analysis
showed needed a large percentage OF
potash in the fertilizer applied, espe-
cially In the sandy soils where this
constituent was generally deficient
So the coast gardeners have grad
ually worked out for themselves
formulas to suit the various crops
grown. They have found for the po-
tato crop that while an immediate ef-
feet and early growth is aided by an
application Of nitrate OF soda that this
effect is not lasting, and that the full
success Of the crop demands some
slower available nitrogen in the form
of organic matter. This they supply
with the readily available fish scrap IN
some sections, but generally in the
form of cottonseed meal. Experiments
northward seemed to show in most
places that for the crop there grown
the potash should be in the form of Il
sulphate, since potatoes grown with
this form of potash seemed more mealy
and dryer than those grown with the
murate. But the Southern gardeners
found that this dryness was Of less i'm
portance TO them, as their crop is large
ly sold in an unripe condition, and the
muriate was not only cheaper but gave
them better results than the sulphate.
But it is not only with the early potato
crop that the Southern market garden
er uses fertilizers heavily. On land
that has been heavily dressed year af-
ter year they use from 1000 to 1000
pounds Of q high grade mixture, al
ways high in potash content, except
for the early cabbage crop, with which
1t has been found that aplarger per-
centage Of available phosphoric acid and
nitrogen are of more importance than
a large percentage Of potash, Recent
ly there has grown up along the South
ern const a great industry in the cul-
ture Of lettuce under cloth protection
in frames during the winter and early
spring months. The growers assumed
properly that this crop needs heavy
applications Of nitrogen and potash,
have accordingly mixed fertilizers In
which there Is about ten per cent Of
actual potash, and they use this At the
rate Of a ton per acre. Some damaging
results have come from this Where
heavy applications Of potash are need
ed, as in lettuce growing, the applica
tor should be made month before
setting the plants and the frames left
exposed to the rains, so that the potash
will get asslmllated with the soil and
lose much of Its caustic character, Tho
potash win not get away, and there il
no need to be unsasy about this. sOmt