Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-03-17

VIII ue unprecedented
II your mountain land is well grassed,
as we Judge from your letter. ana you
are i'm position to protect sheep on IT, we
imagine that they would prove more sat
isfactory and profitable than goats.
Goats are supposed to take care of them
selves better than sheep and be immune
from attacks by dogs. We have had
goats killed, however, here on the col
lege farm by dogs, but our farm is s1tu-
ated on the edge of Athens and good
many worthless dogs roam over 1t at
night These goats, however, were not
Angora, and may not have protected
themselves as well from attacks as the
Angoras would. We do not think you
would make a mistake in selecting
Angora goats. as they are valuable for
the production of mohair and their flesh
is of considerable value as we'll, though
they do not sell as readily for meat pur-|
poses as sheep nor do they bring as
good a price. Angoras produce about
three pounds of mohair each year. They
are not necessarily horned, though most
of them have horns, and presumably il
IS a good thing for them to have horns
where they have to restle for them
selves. We think you will find these
goats reasonably hardy, though you will
of necessity find Ii advisable to give
them supervision If you expect them to
do we'll and multiply and thrive as they
should. We imagine that Angoras are
commanding a good price, as there is
quite a marked tendency to use them for
clearing or brushing out land. The
price, of course, is influenced much by
local demand and convenience to ship
ping centers. We suggest that you get
in touch with number of breeders be-
fore making purchases.
VALUE OF PHOSLIME FOR FARM
LANDS
j. W., Hemp Ca, writes: What do you
know about phoslime? Have you made
any tests with it?
We have not tested the material about
which you inquire and are not familiar
with its composition. We do not know,
therefore, whether it is a material sim
liar to floats or not, but presume 1t
must be, as it is stated that it contains
lime and phosphoric acid. Floats. as
you probably know, is finely ground
notwithstanding rock. When 1000
pounds of this material Is treated with |
1000 pounds of sulphuric acid the acid
phosphate of commerce~is obtained. Or
dinarily this acid phosphate contains
about 16 per cent of available phos-
phoric acid. We have used floats in |
varying amounts on quite a number of
test plants in various parts of the state, /
but up to the present time we have not
secured the returns from is application |
which we anticipated. We are there /
fore forced to the conclusion that
farmers will find it to their interest at
present to use acid phosphate. If soils |
be made unusually rich in organic mat |
ter or if they are naturally rich in this |
material. and if the farmer is in posi- |
ton to apply about 1000 pounds per /
acre and wait several years for tie re-
suits. we believe that floats or ground ,
phosphate rock can probably be used to /
some advantage. The results obtained i
with this material in Illionois are not |
applicable in Georgia, because many of
our soils here do not contain over 1000 |
to 2,5O0 pounds of nitrogen per acre
foot, while many of the soils in Illinois /
run from $4,000 to 10000 pounds per
acre foot Our experience which now
covers several years and which has been |
quite extended leads us to feel, there
fore, that it is best to advise farmers
under existing conditions to use the raw
ground lime rock whenever necessary
for the sweetening of their soils, and /
to use acid phosphate as the chief |
source of phosphoric acid.
INFORMATION ABOUT COMPOST. |
G. I. s., Tennille, Ca, writes: ! want
some information in regard to compost. If
put a Aasef VI ltdNeS ana Ineu or straw |
about ten inches deep and spray with box
potash viii IL eat up the straw and leaves |
and viii this be good for use around corn !
and sugar Gamer
Compost heaps may be made in a i
variety of ways. A small place may be |
followed out, for instance, somewhere |
on hard, firm ground and leaves and |
other vegetable matter which may be |
decayed very rapidly placed therein,
packed down and kept thoroughly wet |
at all times. 1t Is well that the material |
should be forked over from time to
time to aid in breaking it down. You |
can of course mix ground rock phosphate |
with your compost heap or you may
use acid phosphate and when possible,