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

was the driest known in years. the
cotton crop was the greatest and the
corn crop only a slight decrease In
lyield per acre over the previous year
This has undoubtedly been due largely
to the enormous increase In the use
Of fertilizers. Good lands In humid
sections produce good crops in dry
lyears, while poor soils in years of
heavy rainfall give small returns.
I. Moisture in soils can be controlled
by the addition Of organic matter
olina has sufficient rainfall II properly
handled to provide sufficient moisture
for the growing of all ordinary farm
crops.
The great problem in soil fertility is
the supply Of plant food. Unless that
| supply Is maintained, decreased yields
lmust ultimately follow. Every crop
removed from the land takes with II
a certain amount of plant food that
must be returned in some form IL the
soils are to remain profltably produc-
Tive. It Is the failure to do this one
thing that has caused the depletion OF
J soils In so many Of the older coun-
tries.
The lower producing lands and the
Subsequent famines Of China and In
dia are attributed largely to this fact.
The increase in yields and continued
productivity Of Germany, England,
France and Japan have been possible
only by supplying to a large extent
the plant food as 1t is removed. The
soil is like bank, deposits must be
lmade II the continual drafts upon 1t
are to be honored.
Fifteen elements are OF special In
terest and Importance in the study Of
soil fertility, because they are COM
Imonly found In plants and animals
land because they 80 largely consti-
Itute the soil and air and ocean and
the common things Of earth. OF these
fifteen elements, ten are known to be
Essential to plant growth. These ten
elements may be grouped as follows:
Carbon, hydrogen. oxygen, obtained
Iby plants from air and water.
Phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen.
sometimes deficient in soils, and Of
lmoney value as plant food.
Sulphur, calcium, iron and magne-
lsium, required in small amounts and
not likely to be deficient In soils.
The five other elements commonly
lpresent in plants are silesium, alum
linum, sodium, chlorin and manganese.
Plants secure their supply Of both
carbon and oxygen from the carbon
dioxide Of the air. The hydrogen Of
plants Is taken from the water alb
sorbed by the roots. The corn plant
secures its supply Of nitrogen from
the trace contained in the earth's
crust, which, however, amounts to
one fourth Of one per cent In the titled
stratum Of good soil. Under proper
conditions legume plants secure more
or less Of their nitrogen from the air.
The remaining six essential elements
are secured only from the soil by AL
lplants.
After the other essential factors Of
plant growth are provided, the prob
lem Of soil fertility therefore narrows
itself down to providing the supply Of
nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
lit Is the custom Of South Carolina fer
ltilizer manufacturers and farmers to
speak Of those elements as ammonia,
lphosphoric acid and potash. These
are misnomers, as they are chemical
compounds. and are valuable for plant
food only because they contain nitro
gen. phosphorus and potassium.
An average soil Of the world 62-3
phosphorus and 49,200 pounds OF po-
Itassium. One hundred bushels of corn
contains II pounds Of phosphorus and
Ito pounds Of potassium. Thus an acre
of average soil 1913 inches deep con-
ltains sufficient phosphorus to grow 400
bushels of corn per year for 40 years
land potassium sufficient for $500 years
All Of this, however, may not be In an
available form. so long before the
phosphorus and potassium Is exhaust
ed, the soil may refuse to produce
flood Is returned In some form 1t Will
ultimately become exhausted. None
of South Carolina soils contain an av-
erage amount of phosphorus, and only
1.-THE Piedmont, red lands and part Of
1.-THE mountain contain average amounts
of potassium. The sand hills and
coastal plains are deficient in both
phosphorus and potassium.
The nitrogen content varies greatlv
lin soils. A good soil will contain 5000
mounds Of nitrogen Der acre In the first
"a inches, or sufficient to grow 100
bushels of corn every year for fifty
years, provided the stalks are returned
Ito the land. The sand hills Of South
Carolina contain only 1,500 pounds Of
nitrogen per acre, 200 pounds of phos-
lphorus and 1900 pounds Of potash,
thence 1t can easily be seen why they
are so non-productlve.
How then are we to supply the de-
lficient elements Of plant food in order
to maintain the soil fertility? Shall
we use a complete fertilizer. contain
ash, and apply them all to the soil, or
shall we determine the needs Of the
soil and apply the specific remedy? II
lyou were seriously Ill would you buy
a patent medicine, a supposed cure for
lall diseases. and take It, or would you
employ a doctor to diagnose the case
land give you the medicine best suited
to the disease? Why then should we
not buy the element or elements that
lare lacking In our soils and apply
these and these only instead of COM
plete fertilizer, part Of which may
not be needed and useless expense?
We are greatly in need Of more ex-
detrimental work in determining the
Requirements Of the soils. The only
LANDS Of the Piedmont rich In potash
as they are. certainly need nothing
like the amount Of that element now
fused, while in all probability on the
sandy lands more could be used with
profit. The definite information In re-
gard to this and other matters Is un-
fortunately very limited. II we had
the proper information, together with
a greater knowledge and use Of le-
eumes. the state could easily save
SIS. .000, 900 annually in the fertilizer bill.
Let us consider some of the fertil-
Iizers used in South Carolina. NITROGEN
Is applied primarily through nitrate
of soda, cotton seed meal. blood meal.
fish scraps, farm manure and legumin-
lous crops.
There should be more legumes grown
for this purpose. Every acre Of the
learth's surface Is covered by 100000 900
pounds Of nitrogen, all Of which can
be taken from the air and made avail
able for the plant by means OF the
lnodule forming bacteria Of legumes.
The decrease in the supply Of nitrate
of soda and the subsequent increase
in price. together with the wider use
and increase in price Of cotton seed
meal, makes 1t imperative for farmers
to rely more and more upon legumes
as the source Of nitrogen.
Phosphorus Is obtained from the
phosphate mines near the sea coast.
It Is treated with sulphuric acid and
sold as acid phosphate, Basic Stag or
Thomas phosphate. Is a by-nroduct In
manufacturing steel. and brought to
this country from Germany. Iron ores
are usually high in phosphorus Farm
lmanures contain a small amount. A
lmore extended use should be made or
the untreated ground phosphate rock.
This Is obtained from mines in Ten
Inessee and Is ground to a dust. 1t
can usually he bought for half the
price and contains twice as much
plant food as the ordinary acid phos-
IL Il n n