Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-04-12

weight up to 1000 pounds. This for
mula will analyze approximately 10
per cent of phosphoric acid 8 per cent
of nitrogen and per cent of potash.
Instead of adding earth you may d.
vide the mixture into four equal parts.
and you will then be applying the
equivalent of 500 pounds of 1O-3-5
fertilizer per acre.
A good formula for cotton would be
an 1914. Mix together 1000 pounds
of acid 500 pounds of sulphate of am
monia and $50 pounds of muriate of
potash. The total weight of this mix
ture will be 1,460 pounds. Divide hy
four and use and you will be applying
the equivalent of 500 pounds of an
S-3-4 formula to each acre of land.
SCIENCE VS.. PRACTICE.
w. ]. G., Bostic6, Ga, writes: 1 find
on reading the bulletin on the rational
use of commercial fertilizers that you
are teaching about what l have learned
from experience, that on poor land it is
not advisable to use large quantities of
guano, but on land in good condition
and we'll prepared and cultivated, heavy
applications will pay. l have some red
land 1 have been sowing in oats and
peas for several years, but the clay is
so hard 1 cannot even get a disk pillow
to use Spalding pillow? We are just
beginning to learn to farm
1t is gratifying to know that you
found the bulletin on the rational use
of fertilizers of benefit to you, and
that you think 1t comedies with your
practical experience as a farmer. This
is the best evidence that we are work
ing along the right line at the college,
and that our advice will be found of
service to those who are actually en-
gagged in the practice of farming. We
are endeavoring to secure data for pub
locations such as this one from our ex-
perience on the college farm, from the
results secured in our demonstration
field and from observations made in
various parts of the state through our
extension service.
Old red clay land of the character to
which you refer is very difficult to
bring under cultivation We have sew
eral pieces of this land on the college
farm which we have been working on
with considerable system for the past
three years. We \have never been able
to break up some of this land salts
factorily until the past season, but
when we once get it broken up and
secure stand it yields splendidly In
our judgment this land should be de-
voted to peas or velvet beans for sew
eral years 1t should then be broken
deeply and SUBSIDIZED. This had best be
done in the fall. You cam of course,
break this land up with a Spalding
deep-tilling pillow, but it will require
from four to six mules to do the work
You must not expect even with the
Spalding pillow to break the land 16 or
Is inches the first time. The gradual
deepening of the soil through several
plowings is the end you must keep in
view. 1t will be beneficial to use caus-
tic lime on this land at lthe rate of one
ton per acre, and you may put it on
this spring. 1t should be put on 80
days before any crop is planted or any
fertilizer applied to the soil, and it
should be put on as a top dressing after
the ground is broken.
1t is a fact that we are Just begin
ming to learn to farm and to have some
proper appreciation of a few elemental
facts about the soil and the relation of
its cultivation and fertilization to crop
production. We are getting started in
the right direction, and it seems to me
that we should be able to do much in
developing our farm practice in Geor-
gia in the next few years.
STRIVING FOR EXTRAORDINARY
YIELDS.
+ n. j. G., Acworth, Ga, writes: I am
going to try and see how much corn
and cotton / can make on an acre of
land. have plenty of compost, and
have heard that lime was good to use
with it. 1 will appreciate any help you
can give me.
One desiring to grow an extra large
crop should plow the land with a two
horse turning pillow. In fact, it is too
bad that the soil could not have been
broken up last fall and subsoiled be-
fore the heavy rains of the present win
ter fell. 1t would not do to subsoil land
now. Then it would have been good
practice to apply ton of caustic lime
about this season of the year. 1t should
have been put on the surface this win
ter, and help to pulverize the soil, to
sweeten it, and put it in good condition
for the growth of the crop. 1t would
also have tended to set free some of
the phosphorus and potash already con-
tanned in the land but which is not in
an available form. 1t would not be too
! late to apply this spring, provided your
! land is broken 1t should be put on 80
days before the crop is planted or before
any fertilizer is applied to the land. 1t
should be applied by itself. When used
| in compost it will serve to break down
the material out of which the compost
is made, but it will also set free much
of the nitrogen. Its benefits in a com
post are more than Offset in the loss
of nitrogen which occurs. A good COM
post may be prepared by mixing togeth-
er 1000 pounds of yard manure, 300
pounds of high grade acid phosphate
and 100 pounds of kainit or sulphate of
ammonia, depending on the per cent of
sand in the land. Use this compost at
the rate of five tons per acre, putting
it under the drill row before planting
and mixing it we'll with the subsoil by
means of a bull tongue. 1t will often
be advisable on red clay land to use in
addition 500 pounds of an 1914 formula.
/ The thorough preparation of the land
continuous shallow cultivation until the
crop is made, and the use of an album