St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1909-08-14
TEXAS SOIL NEEDS
Chiefly for PhosphoriC Acid and
for Nitrogen.
Addresses of State Chemist Traps Be-
fore the American Chemical So
ciety on "The Needs of Tex
as Soils for Fertilizers"

At the Fortieth general meeting of
the American Chemical society, held
at Detroit, Mich, recently, a paper
prepared by DR.. George s. Traps,
state chemist Of Texas, was read,
which Is, in part, as follows:
For several years past the Texas
experiment station has been making
soil analysis, pot tests, cooperative
fertilizer experiments, and field tests,
in order to study the needs of Texas
soils for fertilizers. This article does
not purpose to go into detail into any
of these studies, but to discuss in a
general way some of the conclusions
Of the work
Texas soils may be divided into iour
sectional groups-the East Texas sec
ton, the central black belt, the gulf
coast soils, and the arid soils.
The soils of East Texas, as a gener-
al rule, are sandy, or sandy loan
soils, deficient in phosphoric acid and
often in nitrogen, low in lime but not
acid. Their prevailing needs seem to
be phosphoric acid and nitrogen.
These soils are well adapted to truck
crops, and respond well to fertilizers.
1t is in this section of the state that
most Of the fertilizers are used.
Potash does not appear very i'm
portant for many of these soils. Fer.
tilizers are extensively used for corn
and cotton, which supply only nitro
gen and phosphoric acid, and even for
potatoes, tomatoes, and other truck
crops, fertilizers are used which con-
tain no more potash than is present
in the cotton seed meal used in com.
pounding them. The movement to do
away with potash appears to be
spreading.
According to our pot experiments,
very few Texas soils are deficient in
potash, and many of them give up
surprisingly large quantities of pot
ash. Indeed, we are having trouble in
securing, for experimental purposes,
soils deficient in potash. On the 9TH
er hand, soils deficient in nitrogen or
phosphoric acid can be secured with
out difficulty.
The soils of the Central black belt
are prevailinglyb black calcareous soils.
very productive and durable, but some
of them are wearing out. These soils,
as a general rule, are well supplied
with potash and nitrogen, but many
are low in phosphoric acid, while 9TH
ers are well supplied. Some of these
black soils respond to fertilizers, 9th
ers do not respond at all.
The gulf coast soils are, as a rule,
low-lying fiat soils, not well drained |
They are low in lime, but not acid,
fairly well supplied in nitrogen and |
potash, but low in phosphoric acid. |
Rice does not do well. Lime, ashes
or Thomas phosphate tends to pro- |
duce too much straw, SO that the rice |
falls. Rice soils, as a rule, respond |
well to phosphoric acid.
The soils of the arid section are,
as q rule, well supplied with plant
food. The chief problems with these
soils are water and alkali, though al.
kali has, as yet, not given a great deal
Of trouble.
What has been said must be taken
In a general way. There are, of
course, types of soils of different char.
acteristics within the areas men.
toned. The chief needs of Texas
soils are for phosphoric acid and for
nitrogen.