Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-02-13


monty called, Is imported from Ger.
many and sold as potash or kainit.
There are several potash mines In
Germany, which 80 far have consti.
Ituted the principal source Of supply
for the entire world. Farm manures
also contain potash, and there Is 9
possibility of obtaining vast quantities
from the sea weeds Of the oceans.
The plowing under Of green crops
add these elements, but as they were
originally taken from the soil, the land
Is made no richer In mineral elements
The increase In crops found In this
provement in the physical condition OF
the soil and the making available OF
the plant food already present. Such
a practice will ultimately prove ruin
Gus unless the necessary elements are
added. The feeding Of livestock and
returning the manure to the land de-
creases the rate Of exhaustion, but In
itself Is not system OF permanent
agriculture.
Soils have a tendency to leach. This
may be prevented by keeping grow
ing crop on the land all the time to
take up the plant food which other
wise would be washed away as IL be-
comes available.
| The rotation of crops Is beneficial
because 1t permits the growing Of q
legume which furnishes nitrogen. AL
so by growing various crops, each
with different root system, the texture
Of the soil Is improved, and the supply
Of plant food drawn upon more evenly.
Deeper plowing, with thorough and
proper tillage, will increase the crop
yields. The most important functions
Of tillage are to kill weeds and con-
serve moisture. Some compact soils
Il may be made more porous by plowing
shallow cultivation usually produce
better crops than shallow plowing and
deep cultivation.
Lime Is beneficial In some cases In
that 1t neutralizes the injurious acids,
makes more available the plant food,
land improves the physical condition
of the soils. Its effects are most no.
ticeable in growing legumes. Not all
soils need lime hence II should not be
used Unfortunately.
These are the things that make a
fertile soil and. are necessary to It's
proper maintenance. II any are neg
Iiected, maximum yields will not be
secured, and II the elements OF plant
food are not either added or are already
present in abundance, depletion will
soon follow. Every crop removes plant
food, and 1t must be returned or q
permanent system Of agriculture VIII
not be maintained.
Some of the improved methods In
caring for the soils and increasing the
yields can be illustrated by the exper-
mental work at Aiken, 8. c. This
farm has an extremely sandy soil. In
digging a we'll 10 feet deep near by no
clay was found. The yield Of cotton
previous to using the farm for exper-
mental purposes was five bales from
fifty acres. This work has been con-
Quoted by the Office Of farm manage
ment for two years, now starting on
the third. There are thirty mine acres
given over to experimental purposes,
divided into 131 plots. 1t Is designed
to find out the most profitable method
to handle that type Of soil In systems
Of farm management.
Field G, containing twelve plots,
was planted In staple cotton in 1911.
The fertilizers cost $10.40 per acre. In
addition, five tons Of barn yard manure
was applied. half broad-casted and
half drilled In the row. One-third OF
the plots were plowed deep, one-third
medium deep. and one-third shallow.
Half. the plots were cultivated deep
and half shallow, while these results
can not be considered final, as the ex-
periments have been conducted only
two wears, they check so CLOSELY with
similar work elsewhere. they may be
regarded as valuable and indicative.
4 summary Of some Of the important
points show the following:
Field G, Cotton Long Staple, Poverty
Hill Experiment Farm, Aiken, 8. G.
Yield per acre of seed cotton:
Deep plowing, 1,0b3 pounds. Return
Of deep plowing over shallow, $4.9S.
Medium plowing, 1,057a pounds.
Shallow plowing, 971 pounds.
Drilled manure, 1913 pounds. Re-
turn of drilled manure over broadcast,
$5.62 per acre.
Broadcast manure 981 pounds.
Shallow cultivation, 1,041 pounds.
Deep cultivation, 1,013 pounds.
Return Of shallow cultivation over
Drilled manure and shallow culti-
walton, 1,099 pounds.
Drilled manure and deep cultivation,
1852 pounds.
Return of drilled manure and shall
low cultivation over drilled manure
and deep cultivation $2.S7 per acre.
Broadcast manure and shallow culti-
walton, 989 pounds.
Broadcast manure and deep culti-
walton ,S14 POUNDS.
Return of broadcast manure and
shallow cultivation over broadcast
manure and deep cultivation, .92 per
acre.
Drilled manure and shallow culti-
walton, 1,190 pounds.
Broadcast manure and shallow cul-
ltivation, 989 pounds.
Return of drilled manure and shall
low cultivation over broadcast manure
and shallow cultivation, $6.72 per acre,
Drilled manure and deep cultivation
| 1852 POUNDS.
Broadcast manure and deep culti-
vation, 974 pounds.
Return Of drilled manure and deep
cultivation over broadcast manure
and deep cultivation, $4.7S per acre.
1t will be noticed that medium piow-
ing yielded better In this field than
deep. Tiris was probably due to the
med!.m plowed plots being a little
lower than the deep plowed. On an
other field in a test Of twenty-four
plots planted in cotton, deep plowing
gave a return of $2.79 per acre more
than medium. According to these re.
suits with sandy soil cotton land
should be plowed deep, the manure
drilled in the row, and the cultivation
should be shallow.
On the hest plot or this Iarm where
the land was plowed deep, five tons
of manure drilled In the row, hnely
ground rock phosphate used as the
source of phosphorus, and the cuitio
walton shallow, the cotton yielded 6S9
pounds of lint per acre, Another plot
plowed six. inches deep, yielded 3,26o
pounds Of cowpea hay per acre. Con-
sidering the original fertility OF the
soil. these returns were not small.
South Carolina is making progress In
caring for her soils.
The increase in the amount OF fer-
tilizers used, viewed with alarm by
many, has been to the benefit OF the
land. The yield Of crops has Increased
as the amount Of plant food returned
to the soil has increased. Hence the
yield of corn, which was seven busnels
per acre in 1900, or ten bushels In the
forty years following the war. has In
creased to 1876 in 1910 and 1871 IN
I1911. South Carolina uses more FER
tilizers than any other state In proper
| tion to the acres in cultivation, and
ranks among the highest In the yield
of cotton per acre. The soils being
originally below the average In their
content of plant food, save for potas-
sium in some sections, have been
among the first to require the use OF
fertilizers. The amount now added Is
probably nearly equal to the amount
l'removed. Eventually the amount
| ox,oaos Of fhof ro-