South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-08-09
COMMUNITY STONE
CRUSHING LATEST
Mari is Found to Be Good for
Sour Soils in Several
Counties.

The American farmer IS a great
man 20 do things on shares. Not sol
many years ago IL was customary toI
ger together for barn raisings and
husking bees and. in fact most OF
the heavy labor was done in COM
mon. u has come down TO the pres
ent day when the farmers OF st. Jo-
seph's county have formed coop
eratiye method Of buying and sell
ing their supplies. They 20 to-
gether 10 buy their twines and ma
chimes. several OF them being JOIN e
owners OF threshing OUTFITS
The very latest cooperative move
ment in Indiana is a mutually own
ed stone crusher. BY this method
the farmers can manufacture their
own Fertilizers and thus Increase the
production OF trains by the mcreas-
ing OF the fertility Of their lands
For many years the marshy lands
OF the state have been unproductive
because or the sourness Of land. The
use o. fertilizer for this land is held
70 be the only tonic. The treat
rrent % the land is not a new thing.
but the community stone crusher
which is used in the manufacture Of
the tonic is entire new innova-
ton.
ANY Brand Is Good.
While manufacturers OF linn stone
fertilizer are wont TO say that they
nave the best grade of fertilizer OBJ
tainabIe il is a known fact that any
kind OF limestone aas the same
chemical effect on the soil. The
numerous beds Of limestone i'm north
ern Indiana are just a. good as tn"
fertilizer obtained in any part Of the
world
While calcium carbonate COM
pounds have been used i'm the treat
ment OF soils almost back as far as
history records Of the life Of man
are availabl it Is now tina the peo-
pie are beginning 10 realize the nee
essity OF feeding the soil
Use Of Limestone.
The reason for the use Of limestone
is for the purpose of neutraliz ng the
acids that may be present. The re-
action OF these acids on the lime
leaves the soil free OF acids quick
lime will have the desired effect. but
at the same time il is very destruc-
tive 20 organic matter This is be
cause the ground limestone does not
dissolve so rapidly and therefore
does not work so quickly on the or
ganic matter in the soil.
II is said that soils with per cent.
content OF lime have lime suffi-
cheney. Where the percentage is
but one-half. the occasional apph-
cation or lime is found to be bene-
hcial and this is doubly true where
the lime content falls to one-fourth
OF one per cent. When less than
this quantity is found it is essential
that some lime be used.
Much soil Has Acid.
There is a small area of land in
Guiding most of st Joseph Porter
Laporte. Stark Pulaski Marshall
and EIkhart counties. that are de-
cidedly acid.
ANY limestone applied 10 thes,
lands in sufficient quantities will
neutralize the acidity The exact
amount to be used can be determin-
ed by chemical analysis ~ the soils.
An average application is two tons
10 an acre every four years.
While the industry Of obtaining
limestone and mari is still IN its in
fancy. still many OF the farmers i'm
the Bedford stone quarries are at
work and the mari beds i'm northern
Indiana are furnishing their sup
plies 70 aid in the greater production
OF crops