Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-08-18

William Butterworth of Moline,
lacCording to practically all scientific
literature, is present in quite limited
amounts in nearly all normal soils in
all humid countries, and, since this
element is contained in neither air nor
water, and is sold from the farm in
both grain and bone, and in milk, it is
evident that it must be purchased in
some form and returned to the soil.
Studied Oldest Experiments.
1--WE have tried to get the best infor-
nation possible from the numerous
! field experiments conducted by the
various agricultural experiment sta
lions, the oldest of which, is the well
known Rothamsted experiment sta
ton of England, established in 1913
I'm a four-year rotation OF crops, in
| Guiding turnips, barley, clover and
wheat, the manure produced by feed
ing the turnip crop was returned to
two plats, and to one of these IS
pounds per acre of PHOSPHORUS was
also applied every four years for the
first Sc years of the experiment, with
the result that at the close of that
period. the PHOSPHORUS plat was pro-
ducing IL tons more turnipS, eight
bushels more barley. two tons more
clover and IA bushels more wheat per
acre than the land not receiving the
PHOSPHORUS, but otherwise treated
the same. These differences produced
by PHOSPHORUS in a reasonably prac-
tical system of farming, have an ag-
gregate value of more than 10 times
the cost of the PHOSPHORUS applied
for the four crops.
various other commercial fertilizers,
including nitrogen and potassium. were
tried for many years in the Rotham-
sted experiments, but in no case was
the increase produced on the common
grain or forage crops sufficient to jus
tify their use, based upon our average
prices for the staple farm crops.
THE Oldest fertilizer experiments in
America, with a continuous record, are
those by the Pennsylvania experiment
station. AS an average of 81 years,
the application of ~ pounds of phos-
phorous every "a years, produced 10
bushels more corn, six bushels more
oats, five bushels more wheat and half
a ton more clover and timothy hay
per acre, than where no PHOSPHORUS
was applied. Thus, the value of the
average increase was worth nearly
three times the cost of the phosphor-
Gus. Here, too, many trials were made
with commercial nitrogen and potas-
SUM, in various forms and combina-
lions, but the increase in yield was
never sufficient to justify their use.
THE Ohio experiment station has
conducted several extensive expert
ments over periods of II and Is years.
On the fields at Wooster, the use Of
phosphorus in a five year rotation of
corn, oats, wheat, clover and timothy
reduced increased yields worth five
times the cost of the PHOSPHORUS, and
the increase were even greater in the
same rotation at Strongville, Ohio, but
at neither place were the increased
yields produced by any of the various
kinds of commercial nitrogen or po-
tassium sufficient to justify their use.
The Louisiana experiment station
has reported an experiment in which
mixed fertilizer, consisting essentially
of farm manure, cotton seed and COM
mercial PHOSPHORUS was used, for 10
years, in a three year rotation of cot
ton, corn and COW peas, oats and COW
peas, in which the average value of the
increase produced was seven times
the estimated cost of the fertilizer
81 have now cited what are clearly |
the Oldest and longest experiments on |
record, and they all agree with the |
general invoice already discussed, with !
respect to the supply of the essential |
elements of plant food. Wherever |
has been used on normal /
soils, in a reasonable system of farm |
ing, which included the use of legume |
crops, or other source of heterogeneous
organic matter, the results have been |
successful and profitable, while other
commercial fertilizers are not called |
for by the invoice and were not profit |
ably used in the scientific experiments
OF course, the use of commercial nitro
gen or potassium may prove highly |
profitable on abnormal soils, or for |
market garden crops, which often bring |
from $50 to 500 per acre or more, but |
we are discussing results which apply |
to normal soils, and to the great staple /
grain and forage crops of the United |
States.
Illinois Results Agree.
at will not be necessary for me to
cite the results of the numerous inves-
tigations conducted by the Illinois ex-