Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-03-01

either q travelling suit. hat,
had corn yield as little as eight
bushels per acre on our college farm
and as high as 100 bushels in the
same field The drought just hap
pened to strike the corn at an I'M
favorable time one year, whereas the
rainfall and every other condition
was favorable another year. These,
of course, are extremes and not likely
to occur in the average year, but L
am Just citing what can happen in
the matter of crop production.
Cow peas have yielded with us
anywhere from eight up to twenty
bushels per acre, and soy beans from
say ten or twelve bushels to as high
as thirty-five bushels. The high
yields are the exception and not the
rule. The lowest yields are lower
than the average. IL would be i'm
could Increase the yields of these
crops by the use of 100 pounds OF
fertilizer. Some years this might
amount to five bushels per acre, 9TH
err years you might get very little
benefit, and some years maybe only
fertilizers to apparently increase the
yield of crops anywhere from fifteen
up to twenty-five or more bushels
per acre. Unless the season is IA
vorable fertilizer cannot give it's best
results because 1T must be dissolved
in the soil water and carried to the
roots of plants and utilized by them
for their growth and development.
Cowpeas and soy beans will draw
about the same amount Of nitrogen
from the air. 1t has been thought
by many that the cowpea was more
soy bean, but in the light of, investi-
cations that have been made there
is very little to choose between these
two crops. Legumes as rule do
no need any nitrogen. We would
fertilize leguminous crops with say
phate and under normal conditions
with 100 pounds of kainit. Potash
fertilizers are now so high that we
are not using them, but our soils are
often deficient in this element and
it will no doubt pay, when potash
fertilizers reach moderate price,
to again use them.
The same fertilization should be
practiced with peanuts as with cow
peas and soy beans. Corn requires
complete fertilizer. We advise the
use of to 4 per cent nitrogen, 8
to 10 per cent phosphoric acid, de-
pending on the amount Of sand in
the land, and 8 to 4 per cent potash.
Five hundred pounds per acre is not
too much to use. We would put 100
pounds under the drill row at the
time of planting, and the remainder
in two side applications, one when
the corn is knee high and one when
it is shooting into tassel.
Making Fertilizer with velvet
Beans
7. G. E., Matthews, Ca, writes:
/ have a few more tons Of velvet
bean meal ground with the hulls
than I will need for feeding pur-
poses apd am offered only SO
ton in trade for them. Would
you advise using them as fertiliz-
err and what should be used with
them?
If velvet beans AID the hu11s are
ground together a material contain
ing considerable plant food will re-
suit. A ton Of beans and hulls would
contain approximately 81 pounds ca
nitrogen, 16 pounds Of phosphoric
acid, and IS ounds Of potash, # you
teria1 with 1000 pounds of acid phos-
phate each ton would contain approx
imately 2S.4 pounds of nitrogen, 1853
pounds phosphoric acid, 17.5 pounds
potash. This would be equivalent to
about is per cent nitrogen, S.4 per
cent phosphoric acid, and about rs
per cent potash. This would not be
a we'll balanced formula for any pur-
pose, as. it would be entirely too low
in nitrogen though it's content of
phosphoric acid would be SATISFACTORY
to improve this material for the pur-
pose indicated would be to add say
200 pounds of sulphate of ammonia
to the mixture. This would increase
the supply Of nitrogen by AZ pounds.
The mixture would then contain
something like per cent nitrogen:
Of course the relative percentage OF
phosphoric acid and potash would
be reduced slightly.
Potash is sti1 so high that we mes
itate to advise farmers under exist
ing circumstances to buy much OF IL.
Sulphate of ammonia, as we under
stand it, is now being offered at a
much lower price than pertalned
few weeks ago. 1t is an exceIlene
carrier of nitrogen and because Of
its concentrated nature small
amounts of it could be used to ad-
vantage in mixtures such as you sug-
gest to raise the percentage OF tnesS
ingredients to a desirable degree. Inc
nlant food contained il velvet beans
is quite available enough, as much
so as it would be in cotton SEED or
cotton seed meal. l would not 4eSl-
tate to use it on that account 40
not see why mixtures such as L nave
suggested could not be applied to the
crons which YOU are no doubt prepay
ing to cultivate in your section Oh the
state. ,x xx~.x-s1
Handling Cotton Under Boil WeeV1A
Conditions
r. n w Macon, Ca, writes:
7 wish to plant about ten acres
Of cotton to the pillow this year
and cultivate lightly at least
once a week to cover the weevils
shat should fall with the dam
aeed squares. AS l think this is
Setter and cheaper than pick
ing them up. The land grows
large weed without fertilizer,
but is slow in maturing. Please
tell me what fertilizer to use
to make the stalk grow off fast,
develop the bolls and make them
mature quickly. The weevil
simply ate up our cotton last
year.
You need to use plenty of phos-
phoric acid in the fertilizer which
you apply to your cotton this
spring. This material hastens ma
tIIritX more than anY other com