The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-08-23
THE POTASH FAMINE AND
THE BEST WAY OUT OF IT
supply Has Bcen Coming From Ger
many, but Now Other Sources
Must BE Found.
ANOTHER CHANCE FOX SOUTH
Virginia and Other Southern States
Can Find Potash Right Mt Home.
Views of Evperts--Mattcr Worth,
of Thought

John J. Porter. OF IfaGerstown, Nd.
writes for the Manufacturers Record
An article on tho subject OF potash.
which just ~ this particular tine is In
tcnscly Interesting Mr. Fortcrs ar
ticle follows:
The worlds supply Of potash Is oh
taincd from German, and with this
souTc" or supply now cut OF by the
Europcau way, there viii Inevitably he
"a famine Of this Inaterial rs soon ~
present stocks arc exhausted. Accord
ing 10 Wall street Journal. tho price
has already advanced from CENTS TO
l. cents per pound
Potash Is essential TO plant growth.
and is one OF the three constituents Of
complete fertilizer The other two
being phosphorus and nitrogen Enor-
nous quantities are used annually by
the farmers OF this country, and this
famine bids fair to be Il serious mat
ter 10 our agricultural interests
There is. however, a way out available
to the large proportion of farmers.
Almost all soils contain potash: most
contain enough for all present plant
requirements, while some contain a
large excess beyond these requirements
As Il rule however. the potash is in
insoluble combinations. which render
II unavailable, or at least only very
slowly available to plants. II tho store
OF potash III the soil could DO made
available as needed it would be many
years before the average farmer would
have to worry about the price of pot
ash fertilizer and the source OF his sup
ply. Fortunately. an agent is at hand
to accomplish this result
TIMELY VIEWS or A
NUMBER or EXPERTS
Lime. in addition TO its valuable ac-
ton in neutralizinc soil acidity ana
supplying the needed calcium for plant
growth. has the property OF rendering
soluble and available to plant life tie
store of inert potash in the soil. TO
lesser extent il also renders moro
readily available tltc soil stores Of
phosphorus. Tho following quotations
from some representative authorities
will serve to establish these points:
u. II. Jenkins and L.. NJ. East sul-
lctin lG3, Connecticut Agricultural l;y
pertinent station: Tile element calcium
is necessary constituent of plants.
but. as almost all scils contain il in
sufficient amounts FOR their needs. tho
action of lime is not like that OF -
direct fertilizer. Indirectly, however
ii is an agent by which iusoIubic spot,
ash ~ changed 10 Il form available as
plant food"
~. j. Patterson, Bulletin ITO. Mary
lana Agricultural Station Lime has
not only the effect of aiding iii the
formation OF unions OF potash which
viii he held in the soil. but IT also has
the abilit% to liberatc potash from
combinations which are locked up and
unavailable To plants Tas is partic-
ularly marked when lime is applied to
land containing fragments Of fields
par"
a FEW RE.1ItRI,s ON TIRE
SUBJECT BI VIRGINIANS
w. Il. Elicit, Bulletin I67, Virginia
Agricultural Experiment Station:
Nearly all soils. especially clay soils.
contain more or less OF the plant food
CONTINUED on Third Page.)