The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-08-02

That the injudicious use OF CONNER.
ciaI fertilizers has been the cause q
OF a great deal OF the oepitteu
of much land in the South is certain
lv true. But | get letters from farm
ers in some sections saying thaI thes
do not believe in conmerclal ieItili-
zers One writes that he Will use i"e
in the i'm prOVement OF his son al rae
of two tons an acre, ana Will leeu
stock and make manure, but he does
not want to have anNthlng 10 90 With
commercial fertilizers.
This simply shows that he fails TO
understand the essential matters con
nected with the restoration and MAIN
tenance of the productlVeneSS Oh the
soil. He has seen that men nave
grown poor annually OWL COTTON
on the same land with little dribbie
of q low-grade fertilizer, and charges
this poverty to the soil to the tact
that they used commercial fertllfzers'
when it was due to lgnorant metnouS
in farming and a neglect of the means
for maintaining the humas in the son.
He proposes to use lime to enrlch
his land, but while lime has a valuable
and important part to play in farm
ing, lime will never make poor land
rich. Lime is not properly a fertilizer
at all. and is not used as a fertilizer,
though we often see 1t advertised as
such. All Of u cultivated soils nave
plenty OIL lime IN tneII1 1OI oil nC -
plants make of lime as food. We use
lime to sweeten the soil when it has
become sour. We use it on lands that
abound in ~insOluble potash. such as
most of the red lands of the South
ern Piedmont, for lime has the power
to release potash in the soil. We use
it TO hasten the n:trifcation of organic
matter in the soil, but We must main
tain this by a proper rotation of crops
and the use of animal nlanures. Lime
is very useful in a good rotation OF
crops, but used with the idea that 1t
is a fertilizer, we can soon run the
land down to a totally unproductive
state through its use.
Stable manure is excellent, of
course, ana few Of us can get enough
Of it. But stabi manur alone will
not maintain the 2~hosphOric acid and
potash III the soil. Every growing ami
NAL takes phosphorus to form its bony
system, and thus carries phosphorus
off the farm.
In fact. phosphorus is the one ele-
ment hat we must add to all of our
olu soils in some artificial a We
need never buy an ounce of nitrogen.
for we can maintain our supply OF
this ana increase the amount in our
soils through the growing of the leg
umes and feeding them to cattle. but
We cannot get The phosphorus from
the air. and in some soils. especially
the sandy soils of the Atlantic Coast,
potash IS also needed. If a man IS
situated like DR.. Dietrich was on his
little farm in Pennsylvania SO thai he
can afford to buy and feed grain
grown on the land of other people,
he can avoid the purchase of any
plant food in a fertilizer. But such
situations are rare, and most of US
must restore the wasted phosphorus
and potassium in erciat ferti-
liZerS.
When these are used for the pur-
pose of increasing the proc u lotion Of
peas and clover or other legume crops,
the feeding of which will give US the
needed supply Of manure it will be
found that liberal applications will
pay exceedingly well.
But because thousands have been
putting 200 pounds an acre Of the
poor 2-S-2 fertilizer on cotton year
after year, and have thus reduced the
fertility of the soil, this makes no
cause for the abandonment Of chem
lcal fertilizers. For the little 200
pounds Of 2-8-2 had in it less thar
a pounds of plant food to go over a
whole acre, and this was at once used
up in the start and the plants made
strong neough to draw still further on
the plant food in the soil. and the nat
ural result is a depletion of the fertil-
lty of the soil. Then all thai is pro
duced is sold off.
1t is this use of commercial fertili-
zerS that / do not believe in. But
do believe in the heavy use of phos-
phorjc acid, to give US more of the
legImes to feed and more humas-
making manure The broad assertion
tina YOU do not believe in commercial
fertilizers simply shows that you are
ignorant of the needs Of plant life and
Of our old soils.