Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-02-15
FERTILIzING BOTTOM LAND.

Editor Agr. Dept. Semi Weekly Journal: .-
Dear Sir: l have ten-aere field which
mean to put in corn. 1t was in rye last year and
made an excellent growth. The land has an
abundant supply OF humus. IL was lined heavily
three years ago. The formation is black, heavy
loan with clay subsoil Two years ago IL made
40 bushels of per acre with no fertilizer
There are no farmers using commercial fertiiz-
er for corn in this section on this kind of land
as they say il does not pay to buy IT,
Do you think IL advisable for me to buy
good fertilizer and use II in this field for
corn2 II what kind should I use? / plow
with two-horse pillow and mean to turn the
land about seven inches deep.
Is IL advisable to subsoil behind the turning
plow2 The land I'm its natural state is wet,
but is fairly dried by ditching. I want to
manage nv land in such a way as to get the
best results from it.
If more of us would. instead Of selling hay
and corn. would feed ii TO horses and hogs, and
sell colts and bacon. instead OF selling clover
feed 1t TO beef cattle and sell beef. and instead
of selling cotton seed feed Its meal to
and sell butter thereby we get a good price
for products and best of all. we have all the
manure to put back to our fields. | see quite a
number Of farmers letting manure waste from
the barn ward. Care should be taken In stor-
ing manure. 1t should be protected from rain
and sun. III IL not be treated thus IL should
be scattered the field as fast as II is made.
Farmers should always remember that HGuid
manure is OF more value than solid; because nj
trogen is found almuMt wholly In the liquid
form.
get off by saying good wishes for the Journal
readers and good crops for us farmers
Yours truly.
Fletcher, n c.. R. l.. Jan. 81, 1910.
1t is probable that even your heavy
black loamy soil will be benefited by
applications OF phosphate and potash. or
course, II is possible that an alluvial soil
such as you appear to have may con-
tain an abundance of plant food Since
fertilizers have not been tested In your
community, we would advise your expert
menting this summer to ascertain just
what benefits may be anticipated from the
use of these special plant foods. From
what you say undertaking will no doubt
benefit your land. This we would judge
from your description to be one OF the
most important things you and your
friends could undertake. If you find that
your corn makes an abundance of stalk,
and we Judge this to be the case, 1t is
evidence that there is plenty of nitrogen.
II you are not securing larger yield than
20 bushels per acre, it would seem that
phosphates and potash would give BEN
eft, especially as these elements are Of
ten found in disproportionate quantities
to nitrogen in soils such as you describe.
/ would suggest that you try on one acre
a fertilizer containing 1 TO per cent OF
nitrogen, 10 per cent of phosphoric acid
and 4 per cent of potash; on another acre
a fertilizer containing 10 per cent of phos-
phoric acid and per cent of potash; and
on a third acre a fertilizer containing
containing 10 per cent Of phosphoric acid
and per cent of potash, and top dress
with 100 pounds of nitrate of soda. I
would suggest that you use the fertilizer
at the rate of not less than 300 pounds per
acre. You can buy the fertilizer direct
from the manufacturer, or purchase the
materials and mix, just as you see prop
er. Across half Of each of these three
sections we would put lime at the rate OF
one ton per acre. The lime should be
put on as convenient, and the fertilizer
applied a little before or at the time of
planting the corn. The nitrate of soda
should be reserved and used as a top
dressing when the corn is from 4 to 8
inches high.
BY making these tests you will ascertain
some information which will be of great
beenfit to you as well as to your commu-
nifty, and 1 am very glad to see you taxi
ing this live and aggressive interest in a
subject of such vital Importance as the
maintenance of soil fertility. You are ex-
actly right i'm advising and urging the
farmers to keep more live stock and di-
versify, and by feeding the crops grown
on the land have by-product to put back
on the soil. Whenever we begin to do this
systematically, no one need worry about
the position the south will hold in our
industrial and educational developments.