Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1919-07-24

ger, President A0i 'iiiA0
~ ~. ,u;e.o, was evid enc
Gin so;l Inn aplenty to JOne
nrovanan+ A. and his neighbOr
eoc;.+;on that commercial
fertilizers do no
pay, and as result this cOmmunit.
has been deprived of larger yields AM
larger profits ever since.
Commercial fertilizers are manu-
'factured and sold for the express pur
pose of returning larger yields on low
yielding soils. This the fertilizer viii
do only when properly and intelligent
lily used.
Il The cause Of Jones' discOuraging re
suits is suggested by A. r. WhitsOn
Wisconsin College of Agriculture, il
one of the reasons: "Why commercial
fertilizers sometimes fail to produce
better yields"
! Wrong Kinds of Fertilizer Used
All soils do not need the same kind OF
fertilizer. Black soils with good drain
age are usually well supplied with nj
trOgen and will seldom be benefited by
a nitrogen fertilizer such as blood
meal or sodium nitrate Likewise
yields are not generally increased
much on heavy soils by potash fer
tiliZer. Nine out of ten Soils nee(
phosphorus, but to use acid phosphate
iOr ground rock phosphate alone lpay
mot increase the yields greatly because
the soil may need potash or nitrogen
las well, condition which a phosphate
fertilizer cannot correct. The exam
nations made by the state soil labOra
tory will show how much and what
kind of fertilizer is needed
Application Too Small.-In general
the amount of fertilizer used per acre
is too small. The surface foot of sol
of an acre of sandy loan weighs about
'3,500,OOO pounds. Usually about 300
pounds of acid phosphate is used tC
the acre. This would add 1925 pounds
of phosphorus; 1925 pounds of phos
phorus in 100000 pounds of soil is
mot very rich feed for crop.
Fertilizer Not Mixed Properly With
the Soil.-In order to give the crop the
best chance to get the fertilizer it is
fSOil. Do not pillow the fertilizer in, be
cause this leaves it in layers anC
lStreaks. Scatter thin and evenly or
top of the land and disk the fertilizer
lin. Fertilizers will be carried dowr
into the soil from near the surface by
trains, but they do not come up readily
If plowed in deeply.
i Weather Too Dry.-A crop can only
lmake use of fertility added by the fer
itiliZer after it is dissolved in the sol
moisture. For this reason, even large
amounts of the right fertilizer proper
Ily applied do not give much better
dry seasons.
No Organic Matter-ROtting matter
jim the soil, such as manure, a growing
scrop plowed under, or humus, helps
crops to make better use of the fertil
fZer added, by causing the soil to hold
more moisture and by supplying nitro
gen. For these reasons fertilizers con
ftaining only potash and phosphorus
often give poor results on soils low in
organic matter. 1t is considered a good
practice to apply fertilizers with ma
nure or to plowed clover sod.
Soil Too Acid-When soils are very
acid this condition tends to prevent
some fertilizers from being changed tC
a form the crop can feed on. In addi
.tion some crops do not make a gooG
growth on very acid soils, even when
well fortified. This condition should
he corrected by applying lime before
adding commercial fertilizers.
Too Much Fertilizer Near the Plant
When large amounts of fertilizer are
fapplied in the hill or in the row OF
cultivated crops it may cause actual
injury to the roots. More often
ithough. the bad results are due to the
fact that when fertilizers are used in
this way they are not we'll enough
tmixed with soil. AS long as there Is
considerable moisture in the ground
las in early summer, the plants fine
,enough plant food in one place to make
ia good top growth without developing
ia. normal root system. When the frs
dry spell comes the small root system
IFS not able to supply the needed mois
iture for the large top growth. Their
tthe crop willis, withers and may actu
Tally die. This is called firing" The
fertilizer is frequently blamed for "fir