Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1919-02-12
Treatment OF Sandy Soil.

Dy DQl IOn GCh.
Sank county has a considerable
area of. sandy soil, especially in that
portion bounded by the Wisconsin
river. This type of soil known as the
Plainfeld Sandy loan is derived from
the disintegration of sandstone and
was left in its present location by the
action of water in ages gone by.
While a great deal of this soil was
at one time fairly fertile, large part
of it is now considerably depleted of
plant food due to continuous crop
ping without any thought of replac-
ing the elements taken off in the
crops.
Chemical analysis Of several samp-
les of this soil, collected by Prof. w.
w. Weir of the College of Agricul-
ture, shows that the nitrogen con-
tent runs from poor to fair, the phos-
phOrous content is very low and in
many cases the potash supply is so
low as to be the limiting factor. AS
this soil is derived from sand stone
the lime supply is very low, conse-
quently it is almost invariably quite
acid.
TO one UNI 3quainted with the man
agement of land it would appear that
one would be strictly up against it
IT he were to try and farm it with any
degree Of success. However sand of
this type is quick to respond to good
treatment The first step in this kind
OF soil Improvement is to grow le-
gume crops to supply the nitrogen
and organic matter and this may be
easily accomplished by sowing soy
beans or mammoth clover for hay on
soil that has received an application
of about three tons of ground lime
stone per acre. The seed or soil
should be inOculted with the proper
bacteria at the time of seeding and
this will allow the plants to feed up
on the nitrogen in the air thru the de-
velOpment Of the bacteria on the
plant roots. Manure will also sup
ply organic matter and nitrogen, but
it is usually deficient in phosphor-
Gus, therefore it is usually advisable
to apply acid phosphate with the
manure at the rate of about five hun
dred pounds per acre.
One of the best methods of seed
ing clover on sandy soils is the me-
thOd employed by Frank McKune of
CpA ms 04CCI' wi MCAQnG Ids OSSI
following this plan with great de-
gree of success and it appeals to us
as being very sensible plan.
AS soon as he can get in the field
IN the spring he top dresses field
OF fall sown rye with about ten loads
OF manure per acre, together with
three tons of ground limestone. This
is then disked in and the mammoth
clover is Immediately sown and har-
rOWed in. The disking seems to ben
eft the rye and good catch of Glow
er is assured. However one must
be careful not to SOW the clover too
deeply or the crop will be a failure.
The soy bean is really the best le-
gume for sands when starting the
soil building process and the second
year corn may be grown and the field
seeded to rye in the fall The third
years crop will then be rye seeded
to mammoth clover in the fourth
year.
One of the greatest problems of
this type OF soil is the action of the
wind iii the early spring. This may
be avoided by plating the fields in
narrow strips running north and
south, as most of our severe winds
come from the west. The corrugat-
ed roller or culti-packer is also an
excellent means of controlling blow
ing.
Alfalfa it not to be recommended
for sand soils in earlier stages of de-
velopment and rather than waste good
seed and labor it is better to try a
crop that is more certain.
Spring Green.