The Carbon County chronicle. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1924-1924, 1924-10-01
From Montana State College.

e 4
ever ready remedy for all hui
~ man ailments in grandmother
medicine chest and now 1t 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
College Extension Service show that
the application of a small amount
OF gypsum Is having a striking re-
juvenating effect upon soils which In
some cases we're pronounced too
thin" to grow crop. In many
cases the application OF 200 pounds
of gypsum to the acre, valued at
s1.20. increased the production of
clover and alfalfa hay more than
100 per cent.
The work with gypsum in Sanders
county actually started about Ia
years ago when farmer near
Thompson Falls, tried a little TO
see what 1t would do. The results
seemed satisfactory for he contin-
ued to use the gypsum, and little
later a neighboring farmer also
started using 1t. For a number of
years these men continued their
practice without attracting attention.
In 1919. however, w. r. Ginther of
Trout Creek happened to notice one
of the farmers unloading a carload
of gypsum and upon inquiry found
out what 1t was being used for and
the results that were being obtained.
Mr.. Ginther tried the experiment and
had the same success that the 9th
er farmers had.
About this time r. NJ Hillman,
then county agent for Sanders coun-
ty, visited Mr.. Ginther's place and
obtained some first hand informa
ton on the use of gypsum. Immed-
lately some experimental work for
the county was outlined and the fol-
lowing spring q number of farmers
in the county were induced to try
test plots with gypsum. In the fall
of 1928 the first real results of this
work became apparent under the
leadership of M. A. Thorfinnson
who became county agent upon the
resignation of Mr.. Hillman.
On checking up the work in the
fall of 1928 1t was found that 100
per cent increase in yields of such
crops as alfalfa and clover were the
rule rather than the exception and
in one instance an increase of 400
per cent was recorded In addition
to checking yields on test plots, Ed
mund Burke, chemist for the Mon
tana Experiment Station, conducted
tests on soils from treated and from
adjacent untreated plots. These
tests disclosed that there was enough
difference In soil conditions to &C
count for the difference In yield.
Quite as striking as the increased
yield was the fact that hay from
the gypsum trated land showed a
marked increase in feed value. AL
alta samples taken from the land
where gypsum had been applied
showed as high as SO per cent in
crease In protein content and 35 per
cent increase OF protein was noted
In clover. Even timothy hay from
treated land was IL per cent higher
in protein than similar hay from I'M
treated land
The tests we're continued in 1924
and recent check on test plots
showed similar results to those OBJ
tanned in other years. Generally
dry conditions reduced yields con-
siderably throughout the county
and provided an excellent COMPARE
son which showed up also to the adj
vantage of the gypsum treated land.
Where gypsum had been applied hay
appeared green and luxuriant, while
hay on adjoining land was brown and