Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-04-04


| part OF the plant to another.
Fourth, there is calcium, an ele-
| ment which we apply to the soil as
| rule when we top dress it with lime
| This element IS concerned in the
order Of Importance they are:
sweetering OF the soil, which often
| becomes acid and produces very
| much the same results in the land
acidity in the stomach of the human
, being. Nature having supplied the
! other ten or twelve elements to the
soil man, if he is able to control the
| four just mentioned, should be able
| to grew profitable crops on the
greater part OF the land devoted to
| agricultural operations.
Demands of Soil
In this connection it is proper to
point out that all plants and crops
! make different demands on the food
supply of the soil, and that if any
one of the elements mentioned is de-
| ticient it becomes a limiting factor in
| crop production. Therefore it is es-
sential for the landowner to know
| just how much of these necessary
elements are contained in the first
Is to "a inches of his soil and the
relative amount of each which is
! likely to become available. If he has
this information at hand he can then
| proceed to handle and operate his
land intelligently and devote it to the
cultivation of such crops as it is best
adapted to produce. He will then be
in position to supply the one or more
elements in which the land may be
! deficient in an amount adequate to
meet the needs of the crop. In other
words, with this information in hand
he is exactly in the position of the
man VINO has taken out liberal life
| insurance policy and though misfor-
tune may overtake him she still ade-
quately provides for hs family. The
farmer who understands the needs
and requirements of his soil from
| the point of a ready available plant
food supply is simply insuring his
crop against failure.
Next we must understand that
| there are two kinds of food in the
soil. That which is known as avail
able and that which is unavailable.
! Since plants take up their food in So
luton only that portion portion OF
the essential elements in the soil
which may be dissolved in water will
| be of benefit to the crop growing on
the land in given year.
1t is desirable that we have avail
able and unavailable food because the
unavailable represents the store OF
| wealth in the soil for future crop
growth. Since we can ascertain from
analysis the amount of food which
| is likely to become available in any
! one year. we are therefore in position
| to supply with a considerable degree
! of intelligence the proper amount OF
| any essential element which may be
| lacking. A carefully made soil an
alysis enables US to do this, hence
we can see the paramount importance
! of this information to the farmer.
| We frequently hear the terms fer
/ tile and ''infertile" used as they re-
/ late to soils. The average mans idea
/ of a fertile soil is one that produces
! abundant crops, say bale or upward
/ of cotton per acre and fifty or more
| bushels of corn. Why is 1T that some
soils will make these yields and 9TH
ers, which may not be greatly dtsslm-
/ liar in general appearance in SO lar
! as the eye can ascertain, will produce
| only eight bushels of corn and an
! eighth of a bale of cotton. In one
! case the soil contains, in all prop
ability, a larger amount of plant food
! and in any event a sufficient amount
| of available plant food to readily
| supply the needs of a crop OF cotton
yielding a bale per acre or field OF
corn yielding fifty bushels per acre.
smaller yields indicated above we
naturally regard them as infertile.
This is due to their lack, there
fore, of available plant food.
Suppose, for instance, we find
soil on which eight bushels of corn
| is the average yield. A chemical
ANALYSIS reveals the fact that it con-
1
| gen insthe first eighteen inches. the
| minimum amount of nitrogen soil
| of this character ought to contain
| would be $500 pounds, and Ter
! tile soil would contain nearer 5000
4 pounds and upward. Knowing that
| this land contains only 500 pounds OF
! total nitrogen when fifty bushel
crop of corn would require at least
| fifty pounds of nitrogen, it is easy
for us either to supply the deficiency
or abandon the cultivation OF the
| land in question as Improbable in its
natural condition. 1t certainly can
not grow crops which justify its Gull
! tivation.
We thus see that if we have a
| chemical analysis available we can
determine the abundance or the de-
f1ciency of essential plant food ele-
ments and undertake to supply these.
| In some soils, for instance, potash
may be the element most needed. In
| others it may be phosphoric acid,
and in still others nitrogen or lime.
| Sometimes there are two elements
! deficient occasionally three, or even
all four may be needed. soil sur
vey, therefore, does not tell us just
the amount of available plant food
| in the land and is not panacea for
all the ills which trouble our farm
| ers, but it does tell us of the Lmita-
| lions of essential elements in our
| SOILS, OIL Cn6 TOTAL STORE Ol plant lOOO
at the land owners command and
how he may proceed, through a rota-
ton of crops, through proper rela-
! tion of live stock to his farming OPP
| erations and the rational use of
green leguminous crops and such soil
amendments as may be necessary,
to balance up his land, bring it into
proper equilibrium in SO far as
the needs of the growing crops are
| concerned, and make his farming OPP
erations permanently profitable.
Soil Surveys
! In Georgia and in other southern
states soil surveys are of as much
Importance as in any other sections
| of the country. This is due to the
fact that our soils are frequently
badly erodcd and by reason of the
! makeup or character Of much of our
land, which represented in the be-
| ginning the rock of the eternal hills
| ground up through various processes
and carried by the action 70 water
into the valleys and plains beyond
| where it was admiXed with the
detritus of the sea plain. Naturally
we have great variety of soils
varying widely in composition and
their available content of plant food.