The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1924-10-02
From Montana state College.

* LPHUR and molasses was the
S ever ready remedy for all hui
~ man ailments in grandmother's
medicine chest and now it appears
that sulphur and lime in the more
familiar form of gypsum is proving
an equally standard remedy for the
low productive silt soils Of Sanders
county. Tests being carried on in
this western Montana county under
the direction of the Montana State
4 College Extension Service show that
the application Of a small amount
OF gypsum is having q striking re-
juvenating effect upon soils which in
some ase q pronounced too
thin" TO grow q crop. In many
cases the application Of 200 pounds
OF gypsum to the acre, valued at
S12O, increased the production Of
clover and alfalfa hay than
loo per cent
The work with gypsum in Sanders
county actually started about "A
years ago when a farmer near
Thompson Falls, tried a little TO
see what it would do. The results
seemed satisfactory for he contin-
ued to use the gypsum and a little
later q neighboring farmer also
started using il. For a number Of
years these men continued their
practice without attracting attention.
In 1919, however, W. R. Ginther of
Trout creek happened 10 notice one
of the farmers unloading q carload
of gypsum and upon inquiry found
out what it was being used for and
the results that were being obtained.
Mr.. Ginther tried the experiment and
had the same success that the 9th
farmers had.
About this time F. NJ. Hillman,
then county agent for Sanders coun-
", visited Mr.. Ginther's place and
obtained some first hand infOrma-
ton OF the 5 OF gypsum. Immed-
lately some experimental work for
the county vas outlined and the fol-
spring q number Of farmers
In the county were induced TO try
test plots with gypsum. In the fall
1928 the first real results OF this
work became apparent under the
leadership OF II. a. Thorfinnson
Who became county agent upon the
OF Mr.. Hillman. {
On checking up the work in the I
all of 1928 it was found that 100 I
Der cent increase in yields of such Z
as alfalfa and clover were the ;
'ule rather than the exception and
n one instance an increase of 400 t
.er cent was recorded. In addition f
0 checking yields on test plots, Ed :
nund Burke, chemist for the Mon :
ana Experiment Station, conducted |
ests on soils from treated and from
untreated plots. These q
ests disclosed that there was enough :
Inference in soil conditions to ac- '
for the difference in yield. c
Quite as striking as the increased
yield was the fact that hay from T
he gypsum treated land showed a =
marked increase in feed value. AL :
llfa samples taken from the land [
where gypsum had been applied a
as high as so per cent in /
,rease in protein content and So per =
,ent increase of protein was noted :
n clover. Even timothy hay from 1
land was IL per CEN higher Y
n protein than similar hay from I'M T
land.
The tests were continued in 1924
md a recent check on test plots a
bowed similar results to those OBJ c
Try conditions reduced yields con- :,
iderably throughout the county u
nd provided an excellent compari- n
on which showed up also to the adj e
antage of the gypsum treated land.
Where gypsum had been applied hay II
ppeared green and luxuriant, while 4