Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-12-12

possible. You should next undertake
to stop all washes and bitches by fill
ing them and building suitable terraces.
This land should then be devoted 20
cover crops. Rye could even be sown
as late as this and possibly make some
development during the fall and early
spring. 1t should be turned under and
cowpeas, velvet beans and soy beans
grown during the following summer.
These should be turned under If you de-
sire to build up the land rapidly. If you
are willing to wait and take longer
time to enrich your land, you might
cut the cowpeas oc and seed to cereals.
The next year SOW again to legume
and follow with oats or crimson clover.
The cereals and crimson clover should
of course be planted early in the fall
so as to give them plenty of time to
develop a good stand before cold wealth
er.
About all the fertilizer you need to
use is acid phosphate. An application
of 800 pounds would be found satisfac-
tory 1t would also be good practise
to lime the ground freely, using about
one ton per acre. This should be used
as a top dressing and may be put on
at almost any time. 1t should Of
course be applied by itself and not mix
ed with other fertilizers.
KELP AS A SOURCE OF POTASH.
]. b. X, Columbus. Ga. writes: wish
some information in regard to the potash
derived from kelp. What about its avail
ability and general adaptabllity as a fer
tilizer for cotton and cOrnf
Kelp. as you probably know, grows
in great beds along the Pacific coast of
the United States. According to sur
veys which have been made there is ap-
parently an unlimited amount of kelp
which could be harvested annually and
when dried made to provide potash for
the use of the agricultural industry in
the United States. There are about 800
square miles of kelp beds which have
been surveyed already. This area should
produce about sixty million tons of
fresh kelp each year. which would be
equivalent when prepared for use 10 p
226, 900 tons of potassium chloride, or
about six times as much of this ma
terial as is now imported into the Unit
ed States.
1t is not likely that any great quanti-
ty of kelp will be harvested for some
time to come. The chief value of kelp
is as a source of potash for agricultural
purposes. The average analysis of dried
kelp shows that IL contains about 16
per cent potash, 2 per cent nitrogen and
some phosphoric acid. Dried kelp will
decompose very rapidly in the soil.
Hence il can be dried and ground and
applied directly as a fertilizer or it
may be mixed with fish. guano, tankage
and some acid phosphate and made into
a complete fertilizer. Several CONNER
ciaI organizations have erected plants
along the Pacific coast and are attempt
ing to use kelp as a fertilizer material.
Kelp is gather bulky and hence freight
rates seem to initiate against its use
i'm the south because of the distance
which il must be brought. IT is be-
lieved that the potash salts in kelp will
be extracted and then this form of pot
ash will be generally used in our south
ern agriculture.
CULTIVATING WHEAT IN THE
COASTAL PLAINS.
A. d. c. Abel Ca. writes: What va-
riaty of wheat DO you Il I'M best for this
section? I grew blue stem this year with
fsirly good results.
One of several varieties of wheat can
be planted i'm your section of the state
with advantage We would advise you
to secure the Blue Stem, Georgia Red
or the Fulcaster. These are standard
sorts which we can recommend because
we have extensively tested them and
they have made the best yields of any
varieties. we have grown up to this
time II you have some pure seed of
the Blue Stem we would certainly con-
tinue to grow it, Select the seed care
fully before planting and only plant the
best seed You should certainly treat
it with formaldehyde to prevent smut.