Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1911-07-18
What Soil Surrey Means to Georgia Farmers


determining factor in crop production
Hence. il is necessary for one who
would operate a tract Of land success
fully TO know what the store Of plant
food essential to the growth of crops
may be, and how he may so manage and
Operate this piece of land as to bring
TINS plant food into a condition suited
20 the nutrition OF crops. II naturally
follows that II he understands the
source, character and amount OF plant
food contained In his soil he is In
position 70 intelligently supply the ele-
ments In which II Is lacking in both an
economic and scientific manner. In other
words. he may restore TO the soil the
equilibrium between the supply and de-
mand OF the plant food required to Sc
cure maximum yields.
An acre Of standard soil for the
United States should contain to the depth
OF 12s inches about 4Soo pounds Of nj
trogen. 4Soo pounds OF phosphoric acid,
500 pounds OF potash and I2.oo0 pounds
OF lime These. OF course. only .consti-
tute the elements IN which soils are most
likely to be deficient. and which. there
fore man most frequently has 10 supply.
A fair soil standard for the United
States would be one containing at least
half Of these amounts.
Let us see how these standards com
pare WIKI the plant food supply Of some
OF our Georgia soils In Barlow county
there Is a gray mountain soil which con-
tains in the first SIS inches 1000 pounds
OF nitrogen. 1.S0 pounds Of phosphoric
acid. Iso0 pounds OF potash and 1000
pounds OF lime per acre Underlying the
gray top soil Is a reddish clay subsoil In
SIS inches. OF which there was found to
be an additional 1000 pounds Of nitro
gen. $50 pounds OF phosphoric acid. 1.Soo
pounds Of potash and 400 pounds OF
lime. Aud these two series Of figures to-
gether and the first las inches Of soil
with the surface area of an acre con-
tains approximately 400 pounds OF III
tTogen. 3eo0 pounds OF phosphoric acid.
S600 pounds of potash and 5000 pounds
OF lime Comparing this with the stand
ard. Il appears that this soil is but
slightly deficient IN nitrogen. though
more so in phosphOric acid and potash.
The lime is one Of the lowest OF all the
elements in proportion 10 the standard
requirements. AS a matter OF fact, crops
on this type OF soil give better ru,rlts
when fertilizers containing a consider
able amount OF potash. and pbosphoric
acid are applied. which shows that these
particular elements of plant food are not
In an available form One reason why
the potash Is not in condition 70 serve
the needs OF the growing crop is due to
the deficiency in lime. One OF the i'm
portant functions which lime performs in
the soil is the setting free OF potash. and
10 less degree. phosphorus. Lime also
performs other important services in the
soil. and the farmer who has a soil Of
this character should apply at least a
ton OF. caustic lime per acre once in
three 10 I'VE years. He could then re-
Of 1rf7 Id In fc
fertilizer. and certainly he would get
better result from what he did apply.
Moreover. enough plant food OF this par
ticular eharacter would be rendered
avzlia6Fe 10 supply the NEEDS of a grow
ing crop This would stimulate and in
crease the yield. which is the point he
desires 70 attain His fertilizer should
contain a fair amount OF phosphorus,
while he should depend on crop rota-
tons. yard and green manures to supply
the nitrogen PROFESSIONALLY he would
Increase the yields Of this soil materially
BY using a formula probably which con-
tanned 5 per cent Of phosphorus. per
cent OF nitrogen, and ? to per cent
OF potash. provided he applies lime This
viii be found a more economical and de-
sirahIe application than any which ne
could use now which would give him a
corresponding result But this soil Is a
very good one compared with the stand
ard for the United States and rating
above what would be termed a fair
soil
1t will be interesting 10 note that in
the same county where the land is Of a
different character and color. the plant
food supply is quite at variance with
the figures just presented For in
stance. q Barlow red clay soil to the
- . Z 20
tam 2.s00 pounds Of nitrogen. 1900
pounds OF phcsphoric acid. ZOO pounds
OF potash and 10.400 pounds of lime.
This soil contained a superabundance OF
potash. yet cotton rusts on IL and IL ap-
parently needs potash II contains "A
good supply OF lime, but evidently the
time is not in a condition 10 act on the
potash. 1t is markedly deficient in
phosphoric acid, and contains only
fair amount of nitrogen. The owner of
this lad would not find the same fer
tiIizer used on the gray mountain soil
az all suitable His method Of manage
ment must be adapted to his own pecu-
liar conditions. and fertilizer suitable
for his land should contain an abundance
OF phosphoric acid. q fair supply Of nj
trogen. and no potash at all. provided
ne use ton OF caustic lime per acre.
Surely. these two comparisons of them
AaAaEAE
diligently one must understand the
plant food supply OF the soil so as to put
on the land in abundance those elements
in which IL is deficient. while economic
ing I'm the use OF those in which IL is
well supplied
II IL be true that the farmer possess
ed OF soils as rich as those under dis
cussion must understand their charae-
ter and composition in order 70 operate
them intelligently. what OF the man
whose soil contains a very small pre-
portion OF some OF the elements or plant
food when compared with the stand
ard In ..rooks county there is a sandy
soil which TO the depth Of 1876 inches
and the surface area Of an acre has been
found to contain but 1000 pounds of
nitrogen. OF one-fouf II OF the amunt
which a standard soil should contain. 1t
contains also $500 pounds Of phosphric
acid. or ABOUT half as much as the
standard soil calls for. " potash there
Is only 400 pounds. OF i-20 OF what
the soil. should normally contain The
time content is also rather low. being =
200 pounds. or one-third OF what the
standard calls for. As matter OF Iact,
F,,~.u, rnroaar nnd nn&&n