Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-02-27
FARM EDUCATION
BY DIR. ANDREW M. SOULE

should be added 125 grains Of arse
nate of soda. Boil the mixture and
strain it, and on cooling, use with
sponges as already described. Tine
addition of a small amount of honey
is said to add to the attractiveness
to ants of this mixture.
Utilizing Air-Slacked Lime Under
Truck Crops
H. D. S.. Pitts, Ga, writes;
Is air-slacked builders lime
valuable as a fertilizer? want
to grow pepper and tomato
plants and these plants failed
to grow successfully for me last
season, and l was informed it
was because I failed to use lime.
l can buy one ton of builders
lime for $500, but | have some
doubt as to it's being of any
value as a fertilizer. l will APP
preciate your advice in the mat
ter.
. In the old days, burned lime,
builders lime, or biting lime, as it
was variously called, was the only
kind of this material used as Il
sui dlllS1luIllSiIl. OlciASu 4lIllS llclo
lost a part of it's activity. In other
words. its reaction in the soil will
be relatively slow. 1t will not cor
rect acidity so rapidly nor effect
other changes in the land as soon
as unslaked lime. 1t carries, how
ever, the element calcium just as
the builders lime ordinarily does.
1t contains calcium just as the
crushed, raw rock, so much of
which is now used in agricultural
production. Calcium lime has never
been regarded as a fertilizer, though
it supplies an element to many of
our soils in which they are def
cient, and particularly to our legum-
inous crops. Leguminous crops need
lime. If you can buy this material
at fair price, therefore, scatter
it broadcast over the surface Of
your ground, and it will answer
your purpose quite well. You should
use a ton per acre. Harrow it into
the land some days before the crops
are to be planted.
1t may be that calcium is the
element which your pepper and to-
mato plants needed. We are inclir-
ed to think, however, that the wilt
disease or some of the other fungous
diseases was more likely to have at
fected these vegetables rather than
deficiency in lime. Calcium is not
an element which crops of the char
acter you mention specially need,
in so far as our tests and observa-
tiOns go. 1t is important that you
change these crops from one area
Of land to another each year, in
order to avoid as far as possible
their becoming infested with the
fungus which produces the trou-
bles indicated above.
Five dollars per ton is not too
much to pay for builders lime for
the purpose you have in view.
Fertilizers Suited to Red and Gray
Land
B. A. D., Manchester Ga,
writes: What is the best fer
tilizer to use on dark red land
and also on gray land?
The amount and character of fer
tilizer to use on land of the nature
described in your letter will vary of
course with the crops to be planted
thereon. The natural condition of
the land also influences the amount
of fertilizer which can be used. Thor
ough soil preparation is essential to
securing good results with any type
of commercial plant food. Sometimes
there is a very great deal of differ
ence between dark red lands and
those which are classed as gray"
At other times, these soils are very
much the same in their general
characteristics except that the il on
has been leached out of the gray
lands. Gray lands are sometimes
clay in character. In other instances,
the color is due to the predominance
of sand in the soil. When this oc-
ours, heavier fertilization with higher
grade formulas is generally essential.
Where the difference in the soil is
primarily due to the degree Of leach
ing which has taken place, the same
formulas can be used on both
For cotton on red lands, we sug-
gest the use of applications contain
ing 4 per cent nitrogen. per cent
hphosphoric acid and from 3@to per
cent potash. For gray lands of 9
sandy character, we advise the use
OF a formula containing per cent
nitrogen, 10 per cent phosphoric acid
and per cent potash. In the case
of cotton, we recommend that most
of the fertilizer be put under the
drill row at the time the crop is
planted. Minimum applications of
from 500 to 700 pounds per acre
should be used with cotton under
boil weeviI conditions. For corn,
these formulas will answer very well.
In that event, however, part Of
the fertilizer might be used as. side
application. A good time to<Napply
it is when the corn is knee high. We
think corn, as a rule, should be
planted in the water furrow, and
that side applications for this crop
will often prove more effective than
the use of all the fertilizer under.
ponds on seasonal conditions, which
no one can possibly forecast with
any degree of accuracy. You observe
| that we recommend the application