The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1912-11-06
: FARM CROPS

Stable Manure Supplies Many Plant
Food Elemen IS and Adds Humus to
the SoiI-Calcium Should tie APP
piled
Howard Eldridge, Porterville, New
York, writes as follows: 81 am far
mer living in Erie county, New York
The soil raises very good crops in
everything excepting wheat and oats
The average yield of this grain for the
past few years has been fifteen or
twenty bushels to the acre, as com.
pared to fifty bushels to an acre few.
years ago. How can this land be i'm
proved?"
The principal plant food elements
are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium
and calcium. These are necessary for
the production of crops. If any one.
OF these elements is deficient, it will
mean that the crop production will be
lessened. Continuous cropping with.
out rotation, combined with poor cul-
tivation, is bound to result in de-
creased yields.
The nitrogen can be replenished by
growing leguminous crops, such as
cloVers. cowpeas, soy beans, vetches,
etc. Also, by applying stable manure,
or plowing under legume as a green
manuring crop. By doing this YOU
not only supply nitrogen to your soil
but you improve its physical condition
by adding vegetable matter.
Very few soils require potassium.
This is especially so of sandy soils,
although II the soil is not In good
physical condition, the potassium may
not be available, but if you supply the
vegetable matter either in the form of
green manure or stable manure, It will
tend to make the potassium available
lt may be necessary to supply phos-
phorus In the form OF commercial
fertilizer, which may be done by using
finely ground phosphate rock, provid-
ing the soil is in the proper physical
condition. The phosphate rock will
cost you only about half as much and
contains practically twice as much
phosphorus as acid phosphate. The
best way Of handling rock phosphate
Is to spread 1t In the stables with the
bedding or to scatter 1t on the manure
pile The decaying OF the stable
manure will tend to render the phos-
phorus available.
The other principle element, which
is especially important II you. expect
to grow leguminous crops such as
clover and alfalfa, Is calcium. This
may be supplied by the use of finely
ground limestone rock. The need of
calcium is shown by the presence of
horse sorrel. and the failure OF legumes
to grow.
There Is another way Of determining
the acidlty OF the soil or the lack OF
calcium by the use OF litmus paper.
which may he purchased at any drug
store. Place the most soil around the
itmus paper for ten or fifteen minutes.
II the blue paper is turned to pinkish
or reddish color. 1t will indicate that
your soil requires lime. Finely ground
Limestone may be applied at the rate
OF from one to eight tons to the acre.
depending upon how badly your soil
needs calcium, but the usual applica.
tion varies from one to four tons.
The other factors which enter into
crop production are the selecting of
good seed and the preparing of the
soil. 1t is possible that the seed that
you are using has become somewhat
run out and needs to be replaced by
pure seed. Combine with this the
preparation of good seed bed-whlch
is very important In order to obtain a
satisfactory yield OF small grain. n
Yours very truly,
/ j.. ,,I nc SERVICE BUREAU.