Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1906-05-11
A CHEAP FERTILIzER.

One series of experiments have just been
concluded by the Department Of Agricul-
ture that promise to be of immense value to
the farmers of the country 10 furnishing
them with new supply of fertilizer at very
much cheaper rates than has ever been pos
sible before, and at the same time emancl'
pating this country from Germany, which
has heretofore furnished our whole supply
Of carbonate OF potash fertilizer. 1t is long
and quite an interesting story, and probably
will mean q great deal to agriculture In this
country. The most remarkable part OF II is,
too, that the idea originated in the bureau
of roads, which nominally has nothing to
do with fertilizers.
Last summer when DR.. Cushman, OF the
roads Office, was working on some granite
road material he was working In the lab
oratory with very finely powdered rock, and
the idea struck him, as 1t has struck good
many other chemists, that 1t was natural
born shame that this country, with an I'm
limited supply of rock high In Its percent
age of potash, should have to depend on
other countries for Its potash salts, for there
has never been any commercial deposits OF
the salts found In this country as 1t Is in
Germany. he extracted some of the potash
by electricity, though 1t is by no means GER
tain yet that this can be done on paying
commercial basis. But then he decided that
as ground rock was very cheap 1t might be
worth while to try the experiment Of letting
the plants do their own extracting. He tried
the experiment on his own place up the
country and found that the powered rock
did actually act as fertilizer, though the
potash 1t carried was 90 tied up that IL took
the chemistry of nature to extract It and feed
1t into the plant. But the first trial prom
ised we'll.
The work was then turned over to the
bureau Of plant industry, and three plots of
tobacco were planted In the greenhouse.
One of these was treated with the imported
German fertilizer, another was left without
any fertilizer at all and the third was fer
tilted with finely ground granite. The
granite was high in potash, but 1t had not
been treated in any way, and If the expert
ment succeeded It simply meant that there
was big new field of home. grown fertilizer
open to the farmer.
Recently the crops of tobacco were cut.
The imported fertilizer had produced crop
green that weighed 1866 pounds. The pow
dered rock produced crop of 154 pounds
and the uniertilized crop was spotted and
ran about 1870 pounds or little under.
This crop was examined by the experts,
and, so far as could be told, the leaf was not
only just as heavy, but OF just as good tex
ture In the rock fertllized patch as In the
patch on which the imported fertilizer had
been used The crop is being dried now,
and 1t will take long time before 1t Is all
fermented and properly cured 80 that 1t can
be made up for smoking and tested In that
way.
But that was q greenhouse experiment,
and greenhouse work to field work is about
like laboratory experiments to commercial
work. What succeeds under glass may or
may not go out of doors. But the depart
ment was 80 well pleased with the results
that It has tried the fertilizer on crops of
tobacco upi Connecticut, in Virginia, Ken
lucky and Florida. These crops are now
just getting under way, and there Is great
deal of interest felt In the success Of the
work out Of doors. The principal question
seems to be whether there will be enough
water In the natural rainfall to make the
potash in the ground rock available for the
plants. During anything like decently
wet season there is little question that there
would be water in plenty. Bot 1t Is posi-
BILE that for a very dry crop there will have
to be as much as tenth of imported fer
tiizer added to the native rock.
Now the commercial value of the work Is
in the fact that the imported fertilizer costs
in this country about 800 ton. II is an
absolutely necessary fertilizer in the tobacco
field, and there are number of other crops
on which II is used.
The ground rock, on the other hand, can
be produced for about % ton, and there
Is so much Of ii in the country that runs
high 10 potash and Is available for use that
the supply could never be cornered. II Is
true that the native fertilizer takes about
two tons to the acre to give the same results
as one ton OF the soluble imported salts.
But it amounts to SO an acre for fertilizer
against 500 So the result Is not bad.
Several mills are already being erected
one In Maryland and one In New England
for grinding rock for just this purpose, and
there are number OF other concerns that
have talked Of going into the business be-
fore even the field experiments OF the de-
partment are finished
The outlook Is for very important change
In the fertilizer business In this country.
Just where the credit for the work ultimate
ly will land 10 question. 1t probably will
not be with DR.. Cushman or the road Office,
90 1t 10 not 10 their line of work. And the
department will get nothing out Of 1t from
the farmers but thanks, for that Is what the
department 10 there for. II is not likely,
either, that the smokers Of the country will
be able to get their tobacco any cheaper,
but II may leave q little wider margin OF
profit for the farmer between raising his
crop and selling It to the tobacco trust.
Anyhow, 1t looks like an important de-
velopment