Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1916-02-09
by T.. II. kEIIT, Chemist.


! both scarce and high in price. Many
| materials are being pressed on the
| market as substitutes, and there is
| a grave danger that our farmers Will
become over enthusiastic and waste
Il considerable amount Of money at
time when they can i'll afford the
loss.
Such materials as Gland plaster"
and 'phoSptio-llne" are being otter
| cd at comparatively high prices. Far
mers are being led to believe that
these materials will liberate consid-
cradle quantities Of potash from the
insoluble supply already present in
the soil. AS rule. they do not real
izc that they have been applying land
plaster for years in the acid pbos-
Dhate that has gone into both home
mixed and factory-miXed fertilizers.
Therefore, we should expect tina.
most of the results to be derived
from this material have already been
accomplished
The use Of ground limestone" for
the correction Of acidity in the sill
and for the growth of certain lr-
gumes is highly desirable, but i. can
not be considered "cure ALL" and
if it is pushed to such an extent that
there IS considerable pccuniary loss,
there is a danger that it's use for The
above named purposes will be re.
duccd in the future.
Burnt lime" possesses certain
characteristics, such as focculation
OF cOlloidal matter and granulation
Of clay, to a much more marked ey-
tent than does ground limestone.
Burnt lime is more drastic in it's
chemical action in that it corrects
acidity more rapidly and also hastcrs
the decomposition Of the store OF or
ganic matter in the soil. 1t may be
used for immediate results on rich
land but it should be remembered
that the Increase in crop yield is at
the expense of the plant food stored
up in the soil.
"Ground phosphate rock" can be
used to advantage only on certain
classes Of soils, or in combination
with animal manure or green ma
nures-such as are furnished by
cover crops. 1t Is preferable to apply
it to the soil in fall, when the cover
crop is planted. In this way all of
takes up will be stored in the soil
in the readily available organic form
when that crop is turned under. The
phosphorus Of this organic matter
will be liberated as nitrification pro-
cceds and the products Of nitrfica-
tion, such as organic acids and car
bon dioxide, will act on the applied
phosphate rock to some extent.
Ground phosphate rock may be
Sprinkled in the stalls or manure pit
at the rate Of from SO to $50 pounds
per ton OF manure accumulated, de-
pending upon the quantity Of ma
nure that you intend to apply per
acre, in order to get the proper ap-
plication Of ground rock per acre.
Our experiments show that an appli-
cation Of about 500 pounds per
acre gives best results from a none
tary standpoint. Ground phosphate
| rock may be used to advantage on
soils in a high state Of cultivation, as
there is a good supply Of organic
matter present in such soils. For
use on very poor to ordinary lands,
ii is almost valucless. This material
seems to give comparatively better
results on corn than on cotton. Also
it gives better results after being
used several years than in the be-
ginning Of its use. (See Bulletin
IT'S, S. G. Experiment Station.)
The reader is referred to S. G.. En-
pertinent Station Bulletin 1872 for a
treatise on various materials found
on the farm that contain potash Of
these materials animal manure is the
one most generally available. 1t
should be applied to cotton land in
very light applications--abnut two
tons per acre, deep in the drill It
will give better returns applied to
cotton than to any other general
farm crop.
There are three fcrtilizing mate
rials of which, our farmers can make
good use on land that is in COM
paMtively poor state Of cultivation.