I
THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY.
Vol. 16.
Raleigh, N. C, March 19, 1901.
No 6
Agriculture.
rT IS THE BEST METHOD OF CONDUCT
Vcr EXPERIMENTS TO DETERMINE
'the fertilizer requirements
OF different plants and
SOILS?
s of Director R. J. Redding, Georgia Ex
periment Station.
It is known to all intelligent farm-e-.i
that ordinary agricultural plants
&TC c, .mposed of certain organic and
in r -ainc elements, numbering four
teen in all- Ifc iS a ac tua all of
, lemeuts aro found in all agri-
- J plants, and also in the bodies
of animal-4. The relative amounts
of o.-.Ai element vary considerably in
dirt rvt 'lit plants, and, within narrow
h;:-t m plants of the same species,
cr cvin the same variety, when
cr .... unier different conditions of
, .:mate and culture.
' , iU,) well known that three of
t; elements, to wit, phosphorus,
p t:i-:um, and nitrogen, are all that
we vd concern ourselves about, bo
cav.-e of their comparative scarcity
in ti:e soil as compared with the re
mst'.ning eleven elements. These are
eft-. -v. called the valuable elements,"
a'.t i -uu-h the term "costly," or "ex-penr-ive"
would be more accurately
descriptive, since they are what the
fariu r pavs his money for when he
bvr. -s a iertilizer. Lime and carbon
rtrc jut as necessary to the growth
and development of a plant, or a
cr !, as are phosphorus or nitro-o.-n.
Indeed, were we to measure
the importance of any one element
m "1 tnt lire bv the relative amount
tuat enter into the composition of
plant", we w..uld at once place a
verv h r-f.mate on both lime and
carbon. B:;t tbc tact is that these
two arc found in -roat abundance in
nil ordinary soils, or, in the case of
carbon, in the air above and within
the soil.
The scientific agriculturist is well
:.v::.rc that an average soil contains
.-TV large .-tore of all the elements
: .--ary to the growth of crops and
: -rmation of plants. An acre of
u --;i-e soil, taken t the depth of 8
:r ':. contains about ',),'200 pounds of
it '-n, 4,'1 (i pounds of phosphoric
v : ur.il IVJju pounds of potash. It
..etc an easy matter for the
i- t ) find out its exact content
o ryo'iie of the element. It is
vasier to find out just what
:nt of each element is contained
:: . riv n plant or a given total crop
; ii - kind. In the case of plants
: ..r.r. t tt ll us the particular form
: c.bination in which all these
--lit.- i nter into the plant struc
- .v r is this particularly desir-
the plant, during its
; and development selects
: - 11 ts as it needs, and by an
- f its own combines them
. s-i.h forms as best meet
..r.ls of its own life and of
That is tj subsist upon it.
i :;' we we knew exactly the
... o mposition of a plant, or
. p. it would 1x3 no certain in-
0 : the amounts or propor-
he elements that should be
the form of a fertilizer,
o. I cw peas each contains a
i : outage of nitrogen ; yet we
' ;t is not necessary to apply
: 1 these crops.
analysis of the soil does not
v. al the exact forms and
a! combinations of the differ-
-nts. The very information
ars most desirable is unat-
- . In the case of plants the
may tell us some things that
n especial value in this con
.and which we do not care
to know. In the other
very things we are vtry
- to know lie cannot tell us.
..1 analysis, alas," does not tell
' , lecntage of the plant in a
.aal'i.rm that is immediately
-e to the crop. A soil may
1 i e very rich according to
. and yet yield very unsatis-
o. (.)S. On the other hand,
- may indicate a relatively
:.x ige of plant food present
.- -i , and yet it produces large
i -r.il not myself an analytical
( .Hid therefore do not feel in
r ee responsible for the balk
1 o .r t Hen Is of the retort and
waj muko at this point.
Again : We know just how many
pounds of phosphorus, potassium,
calcium, magnesium, nitrogen, etc.,
are required in the production of a
crop of 40 bushels of corn, or 25
bushels of wheat, or 1,000 pounds of
tobacco, or 1 bale of cotton. If we
have an acre of land capable, with
out other aid than good tillage, of
producing one-half of either of the
above specified amounts, and we de
sired to add a fertilizer sufficient to
produce the other half of the same
crop, it does not seem, at first blush,
a difficult problem. It appears
reasonable that we should add as
much of the different elements as
are indicated in the analysis of the
crop to be increased. If we want to
to produce 20 bushels more of corn,
why not add in the fertilizer as much
phosphoric acid, potash and nitrogen
as are known to be present in 20
bushels of corn? But the theory,
although plausible and popular, is
not sustained by practical experience.
The following table, No. 1, is intended
to show the amounts of the three
elements required for the production
of 25 bushels of corn, or 1,500 pounds
of seed cotton, counting the entire
crop in each case, plants and all ;
and also, the amounts actually re
moved from the soil to the barn in
the 25 bushels of shelled corn, in the
one case, and the 1,000 pounds of
cotton seed and 500 pounds of lint in
the other :
-'
8 -
' M O x
3 3 2.
sr. 3 . t1 :r. x
a : : 2
O
i
o
Q
o
a
o
o
O
3
O
o
o
-t
h3
ts
r-
K
O
Phos. A.
Potash.
o
- o
c
M W H H -
yz cc cc tr
GC OC ZC
tc J -J IC IC x
Nitrogen.
o
B
c
o o
' o
B
tw O
Phos. A.
o tc p v c
O Q M H CC JJt .1
Potash.
to r-
tO CC tO ww
iu C f -1 S
Nitrogen.
O
It appears from the above table
that for every pound of phosphoric
acid required to actually produce a
crop of 25 bushels of corn there are
also required 2.33 pounds of potash
and 2 pounds of nitrogen. On the
other hand, it is shown by the re
sults of field experiments that a
compounded fertilizer giving best
results when appiied to corn must
contain for every pound of phos
phoric acid only 0.2 of a pound of
lotash and 0.5 of a pound of nitro
gen. This, it would seem, indicates
that phosphoric acid is relatively in
deficient supply in the soil. It also
indicates that nitrogen, as well as
potash, is relatively abundant in the
soil, or is drawn from the air.
Again : The table shows that in
producing a yield of 1,500 pounds of
seed cotton, or 500 pounds of lint
and 1,000 pounds of seed, there are
required by tho whole plant, includ
ing the seed and lint, 1.9 pounds of
potash and 2 1 pounds of nitrogen
for every pound of phosphoric acid.
So there is no great difference be
tween the relative composition of 25
bushels of corn, stalks and all, and
1,500 pounds of seed cotton, stalks
and all.
But our carefully conducted field
fertilizer experiments show that tho
best comp'iuud.ertilizer for a cotton
crop should coiltain 0.3 of a pound of
potash and 0 3 of a pound of nitro
gen for each pound of phosphoric
acid required.
Comparing tho requirements in an
applied fertilizer for corn and one
for cotton it is apparent that while
tho relative amount of potash found
in the crop of corn is greater than
the relative amount of potash found
in the cotton crop, yet a fertilizer
for corn requires a less relative
amount of potash than one intended
for cotton. It is also true that a
relatively, as well as absolutely,
larger amount of nitrogen is found
in the 1,500 pound cotton crop. But
in the fertilizer formulas found to be
best suited for these crops respect
ively, the relative proportion of
nitrogen is nearly twice as great for
corn as for cotton.
These facts indicate that there is
a difference between the appropriat
ing and assimilating powers of dif
ferent plants, and it has not been
made to appear that there is any
relation between this difference and
the composition of the respective
plants. In the cases of corn and
cotton it is suggested that the former
is a grosser feeder, and may be able
to utilize the potash found in the
soil to a larger degree than can the
cotton. It may also be true that the
corn plant has less appropriating
power over the nitrogen compounds
in the soil and air than is exercised
by the cotton plant. At any rate,
whatever may be the true explana
tion, we are confronted by facts,
and theories may well stand aside
when determining practical methods,
and await laboratory research and
demonstration.
A remarkable fact, a paradox it
may be called, will appear on a little
further examination of Table 1 : Ten
years of field experimentation on the
varying soils of the Georgia Experi
ment Station Farm have enabled me
to reach what I consider a very close
approximation to the relative com
position of a fertilizer that gives the
best results when applied to cotton
in amounts varying from 400 to 800
pounds per acre. The formula may
be thus stated :
Acid phosphate (14 per cent.
available) 1,000 lbs
Muriate of potash (50 per
cent. KO) 75 lbs
Cotton meal 700 lbs
Applying about 550 pounds of the
formula to an acre capable of pro
ducing 1,500 pounds of seed c )tton
would ordinarily cause an increased
yield of 00 pounds of seed cotton.
Fifteen hundred pounds o seed
cotton require, xHloslmoric acm "12
pounds, potash 80 pounds, nitrogen
87 pounds.
Apply 550 pounds of formula, phos
phoric acid 50 pounds, potash 15
pounds, nitrogen 15 pounds.
Resulting 500 pounds increase seed
cotton, phosphoric acid 14 pounds,
potash 27 pounds, nitrogen 29 pounds.
You see we have applied 50 pounds
of phosphoric acid and received in
the increased yield only 14 pounds.
What has become of the 36 pounds?
We applied 15 pounds each of potash
and nitrogen and recovered in the
increased yield 27 and 29 pounds re
spectively. Where did these come
from? The necessity of addingmore
plant food than is required by a defi
nite increase in the crop is well
recognized by agricultural writers.
Prof. Ville's theory on this point is
based on the following propositions :
"(1) Give tho earth more phosphates,
more potash and lime, than the har
vests have taken from it. (2) Give
it 50 per cent, of the nitrogen they
contain." He probably means that
tbe applied fertilizer should contain
more phosphates (phosphoric acid),
more potash, and more lime, than
the expected increased yield would
require, and one-half as much nitro
jren.
These facts, the result of direct
experiments point to the conclusion
that the only reliable and practicable
method of ascertaining the fertilizer
needs of the soil with reference to
the production of any particular crop
is to apply to the soil different pro
portions of tho valuable elements
and note carefully the results. This
method is in common use at the sev
eral experiment stations, and by a
few intelligent lay experimenters
throughout the country. To ask the
soil wht it requires is the only way
to secure a reliable answer. It is
practicable for any intelligent farmer
to ask the question in this way. It
is the natural way. It can be asked
of any soil and with regard to any
crop.
The objection to this method is
the length of time we must wait for
the answer. A one-year experiment
gi'-es significant and helpful results.
Two years may confirm or modify
the conclusions of the first year.
ive years are still better. Indeed,
the intelligent user of fertilizers
should be a constant experimenter.
In every field that he cultivates
there should be one or more experi
mental plats or sets of test rows, as
checks upon his general work. The
soil of every field on a given farm
will be found to vary more or less in
the requirements. It will vary with
reference to the same crop in differ
ent years. This year a soil planted
in corn may utilize a greater or a
smaller percentage of potash, or
nitrogen, or phosphoric acid than it
will probably use next year. It is
only by a long course of careful ex
perimentation whereby we may get
a general average of results and in
dications, that we can solve the
question, or rather approach the
solution for it is a question that
will never be definitely and accurate
ly solved. I would say that five
years of repeated experiments with
the same crop on the same soil should
give fairly satisfactory results, which
may serve as a guide in the formu
lation of fertilizers for the main crop
on the same character of soil.
HAKRY FARMER'S TALKS.
XVIII.
Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
It is said that the heaviest tax
that farmers pay is the road tax.
Very few realize what a bad road
will cost unless they try a good road
awhile. Harry Farmer sometime
ago noticed the work done on a red
clay hill and decided to notice it at
times when it was impassable, but it
did not get impassable as of old.
Here is the way the new overseer
4 'fixed that awful bad place :" boxes
were made out 2x12 plank nailed to
gether and ditches cut across the
r d about 15 yards apart and these
boxes placed in the ditches and cov
ered with G to 12 inches of dirt. I
mention the idea because it is some
thing new and a success. It is on
the plan of tile draining hill sides
excepting that the ditches are not
cut so deep.
If you want a nice crop of Irish po
tatoes, be sure to stir the top soil
after every rain so that no hard
crust can form. It will pay well for
the labor required.
Do not be in a hurry to clean out
ditches. The work can be done hot
ter after tho water has run off.
Now is a good time to prepare the
land for sweet potatoes. Break the
land and apply manure and fertilizers
so that when the time comes to set
tho slips or plants everything will
be ready. This is always a busy
time, and much of the work can be
done beforehand.
If you want a heavy crop of beans
use manures that contain large
quantities of potash. Phosphate
should be avoided, as it hastens the
crop too much. We want them to
grow all the summer until late in
the fall. With snaps for early use,
phosphates can be used advantag
eously. Feed cattle with dry feed when
they are turned out to graze on
young grass, decreasing the dry feed
a little each day and they will not
be injured.
Place a box of salt where cattle
can get it when they want it. Rock
or coarse salt is best.
The custom of "cow penning"
land is dying out. The manure made
under shelter and carted to the field
when wanted is a much better plan.
Hogs like to have a shelter during
the stormy days in early spring.
The old idea that a hen had to sit
on the ground in order to keep the
eggs moist and make good hatches is
not; correct. We have seen better
hatches ten or twelve feet from the
ground than on the ground.
The coop for young chickens
should be high enough so in a heavy
rain the water will not rise up under
the biddies to soak them.
Harry Farmer.
Columbus Co., N. C.
The Michigan Supreme Court has
unanimously sustained the constitu
tionality of the law taxing inheritances.
i i - - .
THE HESSIAN FLY.
Some Facts Regarding the Life-history of the
Insect and Some Suggestions for Avoiding
Loss From its Attaoks.
Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
A reader of The Progressive Far
mer has written to the writer asking
him to give an account of the Hes
sian Fly, which he reports as having
destroyed about one half of his wheat
on a field sowed in the middle of Oc
tober, last.
The Hessian fly, (Cecidomyia de
structor), is a small fly of smoky
brown color, somewhat like a mos
quito in general appearance. It is
the worst insect enemy to wheat, its
nearest rival being the chinch bug,
which is not nearly so destructive in
this State. The Hessian fly occurs
in damaging numbers from eastern
South Dakota to eastern Texas in
the West, and from southeastern
Maine to northern Georgia in the
East. The area here roughly indi
cated includes the western part of
North Carolina, approximately that
part which would be west of a line
drawn from Henderson in the north
through Hamlet in the south.
There are two destructive broods
each year, one in the fall, and the
other in the spring. The adult
female fly lays her eggs on the lower
leaves of the wheat, and the maggots
which hatch from the eggs descend
beneath the leaf sheaths and work
around the stalks, where they feed
on the juices of the injured tissue of
the plant. This so much weakens
the plant that when it starts to grow
in the spring, it breaks near the
ground, and is thus destroyed. The
eggs deposited by the brood of flies
which appears in the fall, hatch into
maggots which attain full growth by
the time the winter sets in. They
now transform to the pupa state, in
which no food is taken. At this
time the insect is incased in a hard,
dry skin of brown color, and in this
stage it is often called the 4 flax
seed" on account of its size and ap
pearance. This stage is passed
through under the leaf sheaths
around the joints or nodes of the
stalk. This is sometimes mistaken
for the egg stage of the insect. There
may be several of these "flax seeds"
around one stalk, and my corre
spondent sent some that contained as
many as six or eight. It is in this
state that the winter is passed, and
the flies are developed and emerge
in the spring.
Insects do not grow after the adult
stage is reached, and with the Hes
sian fly, the main purpose of life,
after the adult stage is attained, is
to provide for the perpetuation of
the species. In accomplishing this
object it seems to be very success
ful. The maggots from the spring
brood are full grown by harvest, and
are in the "flax seed" stage at the
time' that the wheat is cut, and as
this stage is passed near the ground,
they are left in the stubble. Some
flies may be found at almost any
time through the summer but the
main part of the brood does not
emerge till fall, when the flies lay
their eggs on the growing wheat.
Three remedies may be considered :
First, burn stubble immediately
after harvest.
Second, plow the stubble under
immediately after harvest.
Third, delay sowing as late as pos
sible in the fall.
By either the first or second meth
ods with the third, the best results
will be obtained. The object of
burning or plowing is to kill those
insects that are in the "flax feed"
stage in the stubble, and the object
of late planting is to have the wheat
come up after the fall brood of flies
is gone, thus dodging them.
The name of Hessian fly was ap
plied to this species alter its appear
ance in New York in 1778, presuma-4
bly for the reason that it wa3 sup
posed to have been brought to this
country in straw furnished to the
Hessian troops, during the war of
the Revolution.
The writer will be pleased to learn
from the readers of The Progressive
Farmer of any outbreaks of injurious
insects.
Franklin Sherman, Jr.
Entomologist Dep't of Agriculture,
Raleigh, N. C.
PUZZLING FARM PROBLEMS.
Scarcity of Labor and Other Discouraging
Conditions to Face.
Correspondence of The Progressive Fanner.
Thenseason for active farm opera
tions is at hand. The winter has
generally been favorable for farm
ing, and for the number of laborers
much has been done.
Labor is scarce. The young white
men of the county have quit the
farm. They are going to school,
travelling as agents for nurseries,
clerking, or have gone to the fac
tories. The negroes who went North
last summer returned last December,
but so far as I know not one of them
has offered to do a day's work for
hire since their return. They all
contemplate going North in April,
and all the bucks who are not tied
down with families, and can raise
the means, intend to go with them.
So labor for the farm is scarce and
the prospect is that it will yet be
scarcer for many years to come. For
no negro who goes to town for a
year or gets to teaching or preach
ing ever after thinks of offering
himself for hire on the farm. Our
only dependence for labor is the
cropper with children, old men, and
girls.
Our tenant system is wretched and
the landlord is to be blamed ; the
most of them have suffered their
tenants to work their own stock and
to cultivate the land in whatever
way they chose for so long that it
is imp jssible to control them. If
you undertake to do so, the cropper
asserts his independence and leaves.
Your neighbors take him in and ask
no questions. Most of the negroes
when they go to farming, pick up
tools, chains, harness, etc., wherever
they can find them ; attend sales,
buy an old plow for 25 cents or a
shovel. Then they buy a broncho,
or old worn-out mule from some of
our many horse dealers (who takes a
mortgage on the horse, also on the
cow, hogs, household goods and
whatever else is in sight). He is
then fixed for-farming.
If it is wheat sowing time, he often
throws the corn or tobacco rows
down with two furrows, then plows
up the corn stalks or tobacco stubble
with a third furrow. The wheat is
then sown broadcast and brushed in.
The corn land is often piepared by
breaking it by turning furrows fif
teen inches apart or turning two
furrows upon the unbroken ground ;
sometimes the middle is broken.
Tiiis ridge is opened and the corn
planted. Six weeks after planting
the corn is barred off ; from two to
three weeks afterward two furrows
are turned to the corn ; sometime
after, from one to three weeks, the
middle is thrown out. This is tho
furrow working requiring for the
whole crop from beginning to end
only eleven furrows.
I do not say that all croppers work
their crop.s in this way, but many do
this way in our sandy lands in Ala
mance, Orange, Caswell and Person.
They generally work their tobacco
much better. Farming in our section
is conducted generally in a haphaz
ard way. I took the census in Pleas
ant Grove township. Nearly every
larmer in reply as to the number of
acres sown or planted in any given
crop invariably answered "about so
many," or "about so much." While
I met with many hard-working
thrifty farmers who are making a
good living, I found very few who
have improved their lands and sur
roundings. Bat little clover, pea
vines, or hay from the natural
grass harvested. In some of the
fine tobacco lands I found the timber
nearly all cleared away. Some land
holders with no timber, others worth
not enough to repair their barns,
burn their plant beds, or cure their
crops of tobacco. The township
has fallen off in population nearly
300 within the last ten years. This
is, I admit, a gloomy picture, but it
is not overdrawn. I have not the
blues to-day ; what I have written is
truth unvarnished.
B. F. White.
Alamance Co., N. C.
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.. 1