The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1909-02-10

, dDOuI Jour lncneS OF the top soil and
putting in a piece of blue litmus pa
per, covering it up with soil and let
ting it stay a while. If this paper
turns red or pink you may know
your soil needs lime, which should be
used about 1000 pounds to the acre.
Use of PhosphOric Acid to Plant.
Phosphoric acid is needed to in
sure hardness of plants; therefore
it should be applied literally for
young plants, to give them strength
and vigor. 1t is the phosphoric acid
that makes our crops fruit we'll If
your land bears a large stalk and
very little fruit you need to apply
acid literally.
Potash is the most important of
all mineral plant foods. 1t is placed
after the other two elements because
it is the most abundant in the soil
The first twelve inches of an acre of
the average soil contains nearly 12,-
600 pounds of potash. Potash is
needed by the plant to make firm,
woody tissue, and starch in the plant
is much needle for fruiting crops and
all root crops. Potash is generally
deficient in sandy soils; red lands
contain a great deal of it in an I'M
available form.
There is another very important
thing the farmer should know, and
that is the source of each one of
these different elements of plant
food. Nitrogen has more than one
source. The air we breathe is full
of it, about fOur-fifths being nitro
gen. 1t can be gotten from the air
! by growing leguminous crops. This
| is the cheapest form in which the
farmer can obtain nitrogen, and at
the same time add humus to the soil.
| There are other sources from
which the farmer obtains nitrogen.
and the way the great majority of
them obtain it is from cotton seed
meal. Another source is dried blood
a product of slaughter houses. This
form of nitrogen is the best, Cd be-
: cause it is the richest of all organic
heterogeneous fertilizers; (2) because
It's physical character is such that it
decays rapidly. This is plainly ap-
! parent when we think that the blood
in the animal is in a fluid form, and
| if any material is finely divided
enough to flow it contains no fibrous
material, and when subjected to
proper temperature and moisture
conditions promotes decay and is
readily taken up by plants.
There are two kinds of blood-the
red and dark blood. The red blood
is much richer in nitrogen than the
dark, although the dark blood is the
form used for fertilizer. Another
sourch of nitrogen is dried and
ground fish. This product is OBJ
tanned from fish canneries. and the
! pomace from factories where the oil
! s extracted from fish. This form of
J blood analyses high in nitrogen. and
! Is used largely along the northern
coast states. Another source is
tankage, a product from slaughter
houses. 1t is the dried animal waste.
There are two forms of tankage-the
concentrated form and crushed form.
The concentrated form is the best
to use, because of its fineness. and
the nitrogen in this form is more
active than in the crushed form
Crushed tankage contains good per
cent, OF phosphOriC acid, and in trade
this form is sold on the basis of it's
composition. The per cent. of each
element is plainly stated on the sack.
Nitrate of soda is another source.
MS Is the most available of all nj
trogen. In my letter next week |
viii take up the analysis of fertili-
Aers' ana the home mixing of them.