Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-02-23
HOW Shall We Fert1t1ze IN 1917?


preaching ana the question uppermost
in the farmers mind is what he shall
Use TO feriiIize his crop with during the
present year? As in seasons past he will
need q supply of those elements OF plant
food which are normally most deficient
I'm our soils These in order OF their
importance are nitrogen. phosphorus
acid. potash and calcium. The first three
are particularly valuable under cereal
crops and cotton. The last should gel-
orally be supplied where legumes are to
be planted. and i'm addition, these crops
will profit by applications of acid phos-
plate and potash. survey of the sit
uation indicates that all fertilizing ma
terials are considerably higher than In
1916. This is not surprising for cotton
seed. TO- instance. has brought a much
higher price than ever before. The SUP
ply of sulphate of ammonia from Great
Britain has been virtually cut Off Ire
mendous freight rates and the scarcity
of tonnage make IL almost impossible 10
secure nitrate of soda in satisfactory
amounts from the mines I'm South Amer
lea. There has been no potash 20 speak
of received from Germany since 1915.
The supply of this material which il
was hoped 10 obtain from the kelp beds
of the west has proven altogether in
adequate That manufactured from al
Unite is being consumed chiefly I'm arts
and industries Some potash can prob
ably be obtained from Japan but the
freight rates would probably be i'm eX-
cess of $50 to $50 a ton. Hence, unless
there are some local supplies of this
material which can be. depended on, il
will be necessary TO omit potash from
the fertilizers used in 1917. Phosphoric
acid is higher than usual because of the
tremendous demand which arose for sui
phuric acid on account OF the European
war.
These statements explain why all fer
tilzer materials are higher than usual
and I'm some instances impossible TO OBJ
tain. The question now naturally arises
as TO what method of procedure the
farmer should follow and whether it
will pay him to use fertilizers during
the present season. Some are disposed
to think that the cost of these match
ais makes their use prohibitive. This.
Of course, is true of potash, but not Of
the other elements mentioned, and II
will be exceedingly unfortunate for far
ers during the present season. Some
are disposed to think that the cost of
these materials makes their use prohibit
tive. This. of course. is true of potash,
but not of the other elements mentioned,
and IL will he exceedingly unfortunate
for farmers to refrain from the use Of
fertilizers because they cost more than
previously As a matter OF fact. the
farmer is just as able to buy fertilizers
this year as last year by reason of the
higher prices obtained for his crops. and
il he has regarded these materials es-
sential TO the production of good yields
N pre- ioUS 'ears, he win iinj the use
of commercial I,art food JUS as neces-
sary now as ever before IN the history
OF southern agriculture.
1t has been suggested. for instance,
that rock phosphate be used as a sub
stitute for acid phosphate. This con-
tentiOn is based on the theory that the
ground raw phosphate rock contains 80
per. cent OF phosphoric acid. whereas.
the treated rock contains only 16 per
cent. In this case. farmers should re-
member that our southern soils contain
compare lively little vegetable matter.
and that while floats may contain 20
per cent of total phosphoric acid. prac-
tically none of this material Is availa-
Die or likely TO become so lot a cOll-
siderable period Of time. On the other
hand. acid phosphate contains Is per
cent of quickly available plant food.
hence IL should he used since experience.
observation and experiment have shown
that our southern soils are deficient in
this element for the most part. and our
crops therefore in need Of quickly
available supply of this material. IL
will be particularly unfortunate i'm those
sections which the boil weevil has in
vaded to use anything but acid phos-
phate as a source Of phOsphoric acid. for
IL has been clearly shown that this ma
terisI hastens the maturity Of cotton
quite considerably. due 10 the fact that
the plants take II up so quickly and in
the early stages of their development.
with this review Of tho situation be-
fore us. IL now becomes important 10
consider what the farmer can do In a
practical way to supply the deficiency Of
his soils and meet the requirements Of