The Savannah morning news., 1903-12-21
Lime on sandy SOiI-Incrensing the
Yield of Cotton.

please advise me about using lime on
my soil, my place is sandy, no clay
within two feet of surface, and very
poor. l am told the farmers use lime in
great quantities in Virginia as a soil
tonic, once in every eight years about.
Do you think it would improve my
lands ! have d field containing fif-
teen acres that l want to plant in cot
ton next year and want you to tell
me how 10 make twenty bales on the
fifteen acres. Land sandy. but very
good. and would yield a bale to two
acres, without any fertilizer.
There is very little soil in the South
that needs common lime for the pur-
pose that it is generally used for, viz:
TO correct any acidity that may result
from having a superabundance of
fresh vegetable matter. Lime is bene
fetal in fastening the decay of such
matter. To 50 per cent. of our long
cultivated soils it would be a perfect
ly useless application.
On the clay soils of Virginia. it is
all well enough to make an occasional
application OF it as there the lime is
very cheap and MUCH grain and clover
are grown there. our clean cultivated
sandy soil does not need the lime.
il needs phosphorus and potash. In
applying phosphorus we have to use
a phosphate of lime-acid phosphate for
instance and this is the only kind
OF lime we need spend money for.
We would be very glad indeed TO
tell you how to make next year twen-
" bales of cotton on fifteen acres
of such soil as you mention, and would
if we only knew. We assume that
YOU desire to do this at a reasonable
expense, and without spending one or
two hundred dollars per acre Tor much
more as in the case of the South Caro-
lima farmer who grew the premium
acre of corn several years ago.. But
a bale is an uncertain quantity nova
DAYS. It may be round or square, and
here all the difference lies" If by
bale is meant square bale approx
mating, say 470 pounds, we are quite
sure il would be almost impossible TO
make the fifteen acres produce twen-
" bales next year. and in such a way
as to produce a net profit, proportion
ed to the expense of production. There
is hardly time now to give the soil
crop of vegetable manure of any KIND.
Bur or crimson clover, neither could be
grown in time for this purpose. The
productive capacity of this sandy SOIL
is only to be increased greatly by CIV
ing IL vegetable matter abundantly.
1t will require two years to do this
properly. The only alternative nov
for next seasons crop would be stable
manure applied and turned under right
away. With commercial fertilizers alone
II would be difficult to increase the
yield much beyond 40 per cent. over
the natural yield and without apply
ing more than would accord with
reasonable expectations. That is
to say it would not be reasonable to
use 81 to $40 worth of commercial
fertilizer alone on such soil and ex-
pect any proportionate profit from It,
II would be different il the soil had an
abundance of humus in it. Then che
commercial fertilizers could be made
TO pay.
Granting that the season may be
n very favorable one next year, there
is no telling what you might do to-
wards increasing your yield by thor
ouch preparation of the soil and using
the best cluster veriety Of cotton that
YOU can procure, and by way of fer
tilizer. applying 400 pounds of fine
raw hone along with 200 pounds Of
l5ainit per acre, putting it not in the
single furrow, but in the siding fur-
rows Of the half bed before finishing
out the bed. Commercial fertilizer
should never be applied in a single
furrow Finally give the crop at least
a half dozen sweepngs or harrowing5
after thinning to a stand as soon as
II possibly can be done You may not
make 600 pounds of lint. but you Will
come as near to it perhaps as you
will until you have filed the soil with
vegetable matter by several years
working to that end.
Ill. Nnv~ Nnw OF