Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1914-12-30

GIFTS, ,ollege as to the
get r rtiIizers this com
der meet this demand
1 rpcr, director OF the
"A experiment station.
a bulletin on this sub
ing other things he states
. tiCally al1 the soils OF South
a will respond to good treat
and fertilization. 1t does not
.# TO plant and cultivate crops un-
q, IS they are well supplied with plant
Good.
The most important plant food
for the soils Of this State" says Prof
Harper. is nitrogen (ammoniat All
OF ,Ir soils are deficient in this ele-
ment. This is due to the fact that
the nitrates are soluble in water and
are constantly teaching out Of the
land. Therefore unless crops are
grown in rotation with the legumeS,
the farmer must use some form Of
commercial nitrogen and he should
insist that this nitrogen be available.
Nitrate Of soda. sulphate OF ammonia.
blood, cotton seed meal fish scrap
and tankage are splendid sources OF
nitrogen. Cotton seed meal is one
Of the best and at the present price
it is one OF the cheapest. Nitrate OF
soda is also a good source OF nitro
gen and it will liberate a certain
amount of potash in the soil. When
applied early in the spring it greatly
increases the yield of grain.
1T also pays TO use acid phosphate
on all types OF soil found in this
State, excepting where it has acou-
mulated from previous fertilizations.
Acid phosphate is not only a valuable
plant food, but it is also valuable in
that it hastens the maturity of plants
especially cotton, and prevents cot
ton from running to stalk or weed.
"On account OF the European war
our source OF potash which comes
from Germany, has been cut off. caus-
ing the price to increase considera-
bly,. At the present time it will not
pay the farmers OF the Piedmont sec
tion TO use any potash in their fertili-
Zers. The sandy soils Of the coastal
plain are very deficient in potash and
what is on hand should be used for
the soils Of that region.
Fertilizers are not amendments
or stimulants to plant growth, but
N ch hn
plant food without which they will
not grow. Our staple crops take out
large amounts Of plant food from
the soil which must be replaced. The
farmers of the State have not acted
unwtsely in that they have been using
fertilizers in large amounts for /
Eumbcr Of years. However, under
the present conditions with the low
crs to reduce the amount Of fertilizer
they will use this coming season.
"Thcrc is a considerable amount
Of plant food stored in our soils as 4
residual from previous fertilizations
which can be called on in this time
Of need. Practically all the phOs-
phOrous that has been applied in acid
phosphate to the soils in this State,
ing that which has been taken out by
plants. Acid phosphate does not
wash out Of the land as does nitro
gen. In our present financial stress
81 al 70 2
food stored in our soils and reduce
our fertilizer bill as much as possi-
BILE.
I'VE recommend to the farmers OF
the Piedmont region that the apply
to their corn 800 pounds Of fertilizer
composed of equal parts OF acid phos-
phate and cotton seed meal; this to
be applied at the time Of planting
and when the corn is waist high a
top-dressing of from 60 to -
pounds Of nitrate of soda.
'FOr cotton we recommend 200
pounds Of acid phosphate and 200
pounds Of cotton seed meal, applied
al the time OF planting.
For oats and wheat, we recon-
mend 100 pounds of acid phosphate,
100 pOu4 ds Of cotton seed meal and
70 pOunoS of nitrate Of soda. The
soda should be applied early in
March.
For the coastal plain we recon-
mend for corn 200 pounds Of acid
phosphate and 200 pounds Of cotton