Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-02-04

| following as good as any you can use on
| them: Mix together 1000 pounds of high
| grade acid phosphate, 500 pounds of tank
age containing per cent of nitrogen and
| II per cent of phosphoric acid, and 200
pounds of muriate of potash. This mix
\ ture should contain about 80 per cent
| of nitrogen, 10 per cent of phosphoric
acid, and per cent of potash. From 800
to 500 pounds should be used under the
J crop, depending upon the fertility Of the
I land. You might use high grade cotton
seed meal in the place of tankage If you
| prefer, or fish scrap or dried blood. The
use of nitrate of soda as a top dressing
on oats at the rate of 100 to $50 pounds
per acre has proven effective in many
| instances.
is THE SOIL WEARING OUT?
A correspondent writes: I have heard
1.-THE statement made that our soils are
wearing out What is the significance OF
these reports? Do soils wear out /
would like some suggestions and advice
concerning this matter.
1t is true that large per cent of land
| is wearing out in the sense that 1t is
reaching the point where the yields secur-
| ed from il are so low as to prove unre-
Imunerative in the face of the high price
prevailing for labor and the increased
cost of living. The equipment needed for
farm at the present time is also an
item to be considered as the farmer now
must purchase and employ many high
priced implements. Then. the cost of land
has doubled and trebled in recent years
in many localities, making it more diff
cult than ever to secure a satisfactory
interest on any considerable investment in
farming lands.
We may we'll ask what is to be the
outcome of this condition of affairs. In
the south ii is a question of peculiarly
grave concern because we are spending
annually millions of dollars for CONNER
cial fertilizers, and yet the yields of
crops in some instances are not as high
as they were before the war. 1t Is quite
evident that the present system of prac-
tice is at fault. 1t is true that the lands
Of the south in many localities were never
rich as compared with those, say of the
Mississippi valley, but they were supplied
with comparative abundance of vegeta-
BILE matter in proportion to that found
today, and it is not surprising that they
should have been depleted in view of the
barbarous system of farm practice which
has been pursued. All OF this, however, is
more or less ancient history, and the real
crux of the situation is whether these
lands have been permanently destroyed,
and If not, how they can be profitably and
successfully titled not for the next 70
years, but for the next few centuries.
From one point of view there is no worn
out or exhausted land in the south. 1t is
| true that in some states probably one
tenth of the arabic land has been put out
of commission, so far as profitable Guilt
walton is concerned, but practically all
of this land can be reclaimed. 1t would
1 ant ftrN1o
/ yet we see the process going on every
where In fact, we are accomplishing
much along this line on the college farm.
| This institution organized two years ago
| was given a farm of $50 acres which had
| been abused by one crop system for an
| indefinite period. AS result, its produc-
! ing powers were at a very low ebb and 1t
was in as bad physical condition as could
well be imagined. The process for reclaim
| ing this land and which is being pursued
| by many farmers in the south is the rota-
| ton of crops in which the legumes pre-
| dominate, the maintenance of live stock,
the saving of the manure and using it to-
gether with mineral neutrality-suspicious.
acid and potash. Any farmer can follow
| this system successfully If he is willing to
do so, and it will not be long before his
! land will begin to increase in crop-yield-
| ing power, and the necessity for depend
| ing almost exclusively on commercial
| fertilizers will have been lessened. Deep
and thoroughly blowing, the preparation
| of the land before planting, the selection
and Improvement of the seed used and a
proper after cultivation of the crop are es
| sential in producing large yields every
where, and our exhausted soils would sur
prise their owners if these aids to crop
production were properly utilized. More
L.
used to prevent erosion and teaching in
| the winter season. 1t has been stated that
more food is washed into the sea from
the soils of the south than is utilized in
crop production.
There is another way to look at this
problem of soil exhaustion. While it is
| true that most of the nitrogen and avail
able plant food are near the surface, still
earth brought from great depths will pro-
duce crops if allowed to weather for some
| time. We have SKINNED over and util-
lied the enrichment contained in the sur
| face of our soils and which nature had
| been preparing for hundreds of years be-
| fore the white man came to America, and
now that that is gone, we say the soil
has been permanently destroyed. Those
who have lands cut or burned over and
| left alone for % to so years are surprised
| to see how much vegetable matter has
accumulated in the surface of the soil,
and what a splendid tree growth has de-
veloped thereon. Nature will reclaim and
make profitable what man has apparently
destroyed if given time and opportunity
| to do so. Those things all teach us that
| in spite of the serious situation which con-
| fronts us, We may improve our soils ma
| terially within the next few years, and
continue to cultivate them successfully for
| indefinite periods of time if we can con-
serve their fertility and use the aids and
means which science up to this time has
| revealed to us as essential to insure the
permanent fertility of our lands.
| SOWING OATS AND VETCH To-
GETHER.
| c. A. NJ. Commerce, Ga, writes: /
have been thinking of planting oats and
Oregon vetch together, provided it is not
| too late I, plai: the vetch. to furnish
feed for my farm animals. L have never
had any experience raising vetch, but de-
sire to try it, unless you could suggest
something that would be better.
1t is now too late to seed the Oregon
vetch. In our experience this variety has
not proven nearly so hardy as the hairy
vetch The Oregon vetch should be
planted early in August and it will de-
velop rather rapidly and make consider
able pasture during the fall and early