Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-03-10

post heap for this you certainly are not
doing. Moreover. you are paying an ex-
cessive price for material for use in
compost heap, more than you can af-
ford to pay. One desiring to break up a
compost heap could use caustic lime for
this purpose. The effect Of the lime,
however, would be to cause the organic
matter to crumble up, and there would
be a loss Of nitrogen. We can see
no reason for using either Sterling ball
potash or caustic lime in compost heaps
in Georgia. Our plan would be to gather
all the leaves, straw and other trash
together and pack it in some place
where it can be kept wet, then fork it
over and pack it down several times.
In the course of a few weeks it will
be broken down sufficiently to answer
every purpose. We do not think COM
post should be handled with the idea
of putting the material through a drill,
but it should be scattered in the drill
rows or broadcasted on the land at the
rate of two to five tons per acre; in
other words, compost should be handled
most the same as yard manure.
SAWDUST AS A. FERTILIZER.
G. A. p, Hamilton, Ca, writes: I wish
to know the value of rotten sawdust a
fertilizer and what plant food ingredients it
containSg
Sawdust contains very little plant food
at best, and rotted sawdust would not
likely contain much more plant food
than the fresh material, and possibly not
so much. A ton of sawdust is estimated
to contain pounds of nitrogen,
pounds of phosphoric acid, and about 8
pounds of potash. There is so little
plant food in it that it would not pay
to dig it out and haul it anywhere. The
only element it contains which would
give it any special value at the present
time is the pounds of potash. 1t is
not certain at all, however, as to the
form In which this potash would be
found and whether it would become
readily available or not. The use of
some sawdust for litter is not objection
able, though it does not improve the
quality of yard manure like the use of
straw or leaves as absorbents would
do. The use of large quantities of saw
dust in the form Of direct applications
to the land would not be advisable, but
the use of a limited amount of it would
dc no harm. This would be particularly
true on heavy lands. We believe there
are other more acceptable materials
which you can find and use, and we
would advise that you secure all the
dry leaves, straw, pine needles and other
litter possible and compost it. You will
not only secure a larger quantity of
nitrogen thereby, but of phosphoric acid
and potash as well.
APPLYING TRASH TO COTTON
LAND.
T. L. H., Nashville, N. c., writes:
have twenty-five loads Of trash that / want
TO put on two acres OF cotton land. How
will be the best way TO use 1t, and what
kind Of fertilizer to use in connection
with it2
Situated as you are we would haul
the trash out and scatter over the land
as uniformly as possible and then pillow
under Immediately to good depth
Disc or harrow the land so as to firm
it and cause the moisture to come
quickly to the surface. This will cause
the trash incorporated with the soil to
decay quickly. Theer is no better way
to manage such q proposition as you
have written about.
We would use along with the organic
matter at least 800 pounds of a go
formula for cotton. We believe you
can secure a return from as much as
500 pounds of fertilizer where you use
a considerable amount Of vegetable mat
ter.