Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1911-02-10
by HI. G.

small quantities of the ground rock
may be added to the fresh barnyard
manure every day and the action OF
the acids in the manure will make
the plant fOo in the ground rock
soluble so that plants may use it. I'm
der the proper rotation of crops with
the legumes, the soil will be filled full
of humus and nitrogen and the vege-
table matter will act On the ground
rock and make it available for plants.
Soils full of vegetable matter for sew
eral inches deep need only ground
phosphate rock that can be obtained
for about %one-fourth the price of acid
phosphate. This would save our state
a fertilizer bill of more tina two and
a half millions of dollars annually.
Washing Land.-We may clear land,
remove the stumps, fence it, and at
tempt to increase its fertility by good
tillage, the rotation of crops, the grow
ing of leguminous crops, ana the ap-
plication Of barnyard manure and
commercial fertilizers, blu any i'm
provement in the soil is almost out
of the question until washing is re-
duced to the minimum. OF course, no
human precautiOn can wholly prevent
the washing Of cultivated lands. How
ever, we can easily prevent excessive
washing.
How to Reduce Washing Of Land to
the Minimum.-SoiI thoroughly pull
velized and full of vegetable matter
TO a depth of say eight or ten inches
will readily absorb three inches Of
rainfall, and a soil in this condition
1,;JI --,ec ~, 80 -,rf--o u-nrhSrr P.nn
ordinary rains. A green crop grow
ing on the lard at all times will bind
he surface particles, protect it from
washing, reduce l%aeching out Of plant
food to the minimum, and also add
vegetable matter to the soil.
Ditches.-While the soil nay be
gradually deepened, filled full OF
humus, and covered with vegetation
as mucn of the year as pOssible-still
these methods may not be sufficient
at all times to enable the soil to alb
sorb all of the rain as fast as it falls.
1t is, therefore, advisable to provide
good hillside bitches with a fall OF
from one to two inches in twenty feet
to carry the surplus water out Of the
field. These bitches must be con-
structed with care and have to be
strengthened where they cross any
depression or mack a sudden curve
by building up an e~mbankment with
sticks n brush thrown across to
| support the embankment. A large
pillow and dump scraper are the best
tools to use in making the bitches.
The following report was made by
the fertilizer committee at the last
meeting Of the state Farmers Union:
We realize that the judicious S Of
~high-grade commercial fertilizer Is alb
! solutely essential to the production
Of maximum crops, but we do not De-
lieve in substituting commercial fer
tilizers for the rotation of crops, the
| growing Of leguminOus crop the use
of barnyard manure, the use Of cotton
seed, or the thorough preparation of
the soil. That is, we believe in max
ing full use of all available fertil-
izing materials on our farms and in
the liberal application Of the ploW,
the best known fertilizer, and then
a judicious, liberal application OF
high-grade commercial fertilizers.
We therefore recommend that the
farmers refrain from the use of ready
mixed fertilizers for the following rea-
sons:
/. The experiment stations have
proven co%nclusively that potash, one
of the three ingredients contained in
! ready-mixed fertilizer, is absolutely
useless as a fertilizer.
2. AS much nitrogen, the most
costly element in ready-mixed fertil-
izers, can be transferred from the air
to the soil as is necessary to produce
maximum crops, by the rotation OF
crops, the growing of peas, velvet
beans, ~clovers, and other pod bearing
plants and the use Of ~barnyard
manure and cotton seed.
3. The rotation of crops and he
turning under of vegetable matter
will soon place a sufficient amount OF
acid in the soil to make it neces-
sary to use acid phosphate. 1t will
then only be necessary to use the an
treated ground rock which can he
purchased at about one-fifth the cost
OF acid phosphate. Signed by G.. X.
Afford, Orange Harrington and w. W.
HeideIburg.