Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1908-03-04
FARMING IN
THE SOUTH
ABOUT USING EERTILIzERs.

OOHO lUO0Atb0 F'OuA wv SHsS ~
Helping Land.
Some of the best things in the
world when used wrongly are produc-
tive of undesirable results, and ferti-
lizers are no exception to the rule.
Fertilizers are absolutely essential for
best results, and yet you will hear
many men say that 1t does not pay
them to use fertilizers.
If used intelliently, know OF no
soil that cannot be made more produc.
tive by their use. know men who
grew large crops Of fruit on soil that
is so poor that without Fertilizers,
buckwheat would not grow upon it.
My own experience is that the richer
the soil is naturally, the better the
proportionate results are from the use
of commercial fertilizers.
If the land is very poor, 1t takes
many years to bring it up, and this Is
best done by applying humus and con-
centrated fertilizers IN small doses
every year until it is finally brought
to full productive state. Poor land
CduuOI UG DIOuBAI up lA6hS
have seen several inches of good barn
manure applied to poor land in one
season. and the crop was not satisfac-
tory simply because the soil could not
digest all the fertilizer at once. The
more vegetable fiber in the soil. the
better will be the results from the use
of commercial fertilizers.
All the conditions must be right to
get maximum results from concen-
trated fertilizers. The soil must not
be too wet nor too dry; it must be
well drained and have sufficient hui
mus in its makeup, and the fertilizer
must be right in the proportion of pot
ash, phosphoric acid and nitrogen.
Potash should predominant for pota-
toes and most truck crops, and phos-
plate should be applied to all crops.
The above is an extract from Farm
and Home. and should be read. di-
gested and tested. One thing the
writer ought to have added is that all
over the South, and that means from
| West Texas to the Atlantic Coast,
farmers who reckon themselves eco
nomical and far-sighted, are throwing
away millions Of dollars and letting
them go down to the bottom of the
sea by allowing the manure and waste
stuff to wash away, or be wasted in
the air. The acre of Brazos bottom
land that now produces one bale OF
cotton could be made to produce crops
equal to two if the droppings of the
animals and waste of the feeding
! places were utilized and taken care
Of with the same fidelity that the
farmer exercises with the cash he has
received from what he has saved. The
day is here when the "land hunger" is
upon men. Lands in the far West are
being snapped up as meat by hungry
wolves. Lands in Williamson, Ellis,
Dallas, Collin, Grayson and other
counties in Texas are selling as high
as $50 to $110 per acre; lands, mind
you, that could have been bought two
| dacades ago at less than half the
money Those lands produce no more
than they would have produced then,
and these products are worth no more
now than then. This '1and hunger"
Is partly the result of hungry land"
all over. not only the South. but. in a
measure, all over the Nation. One of
the best remedies for Gland hunger
Is to feed the hungry land" and the
best food on earth is the humus-laden
stuff that is going to waste on almost
| every Southern farm. Intensive farm
ing has come, and it has come to stay.
Save your wastes and make an acre
do what you formerly got out of two
Dr. three acres.