The Mena weekly star., 1909-01-28
EXPERIMENT STA
 TON WORK HERE
Detailed Report of Results as Compiled by Mir. Nelson. Agriculturist of State Department Commercial Fertil-
 izsrs Not Always Worth Cost.
REPORT OF SUB-STATToN FAT
 Mona fQ09

REPORT OF SUB-STATION MAI
 Mena, 1908.
 ! Jn accordance with the provisions of Act No 3la, passed by the Arkansas legislature in 1907. sub-station ot the Arkansas experiment station was es- tal,lished in the Fourth Congressional district al Mena in Polk county. Ar kansas. Work was outlined and eS- perlments planned by the head of the Department of Agronomy at the Ar kansas experiment station at Fayette- vile and Mir. Wm Grant of Mena, Ark, was employed to carry on the work m accordance with these plans
 The land selected for this work lies about one mile south of the town of Mcna and comprises tract 0f about twenty acres which IS owned by Mrs C L. klemm The land may bc de- scribed as clay loam, low in fertility. lying on the north slope of rather steep mountain This last feature com piicatcs the work considerably on ac- count of the tendency of the land to wash hut on the other hand t provides an excellent opportunity tor testing methods of preventing washing hillside lands Owing to the tact that there are in different parts of the state large areas of sioping and hillside land, any practical information regarding the prevention of this washing will be a help to farmers all over the state.
 The work done at Mena during the past year was ol a nature calculated to be oi practical and immediate beneft to the farmers of that section Results obtained, while not conclusive, may be accepted as temporary guides IL IS
 ..A I 1fi.,fa in the experience of one year and while we may regard our results as accurate several years tests are necessary to es- tablish a principle as final
 The results which we give below will serve as m indication of the different lines of work conducted during the past season and will prove of undoubted value to those who care to study and accept them.
 SOIL TEST
 If K from the soil that plants receive food upon which they subsist By plant food we mean those elements in the soil which the plant uses to build up it's structure through the process of growth. There are but three of these which are likely to become deficient. nameivs Nitrogen. phosphorus and
 
 be lacking, normal plant growth Is inn possible. It K essential therefore, that the farmer be assured that there are sufficient am nts of these three ele ments in the soil m order that he secure ample returns from the outlay of time and money IL iS often the case that there is q dearth of one of these three elements in the soil and an abundance of the other two and the addition of this one which is lacking would correct a want and perhaps increase the yield two. three or even many fold.
 There are two methods of finding out which clements are needed in the soii. First. bv making a chemical analysis and second bv applying the different elements to the crop direct and observ- ing the effect produced The first method. that is by chemical analysis. is not to be recommended for the reason that the results when found do not tell us all we need to know about the soil, In the second method, however. the crop will indicate what IS lacking in the soil and thus enable us to take steps to correct deficiency if any exists.
 On the sub-station farm this second method was used in order to discover if possible the element or elements most needed by the soil to obtain best re- suits. X series of eight plots were ar ranged and treated, leaving one plot blank for a check The different cle- ments were applied and cotton was planted on all on May 2, 1908. It would have been better had the cotton seed been planted at least ten days earlier, but,owing to the very wet spring this was not possible A good stand was obtained on all the plots and same cultivation was gwen to all
 In summing up the results the low est yield. as we would expect, came from the plot having no fertilizer upon it The highest yield was produced upon the plot having a combination nitrogen and phosphoric acid in the forms Of nitrate of soda and acid phoS- phate This plot gave about seven times the yield ot the blank plot The next highest yield was produced on inc plot having all three ol the elements upon il, Nitrogen in the form of nj trate oi soda. phosphoric acid in the form ol acid phosphate and potassium in the in form of muriate of potash, at the rates of llo lbs. 220 lbs and 10 lbs per acre respectively Of the three clements applied singly, nitrate of soda  .t the rate of li0 lbs. per acre gave best results, producing over five times the amount ef cotton seed that the blank plot produced. while the plots receiving the application of muriate of potash and acid phosphate only in creased the yield to twice that of the blank plot
 From the results obtained we may safely deduce that ot the three elements sentloned the one most needed at Mena is nitrogen That is the applica- ton ol nitrogen in some form will give a better yield Of cotton than will the ap- plieatian of the other two clements
 The question most naturally arises how are We tn supply thiS much fell need or in other words how are we to get nitrogen into the soil Several netheds suggest themselves. The eas