The Bullf:tix 30 



field tests have shown applications of nitrogen in available form to give 

 splendid increases in yields of crops. 



The phosphoric acid contained in the Cecil Fine Sandy Loam, Con- 

 garee Silty Clay Loam, Mecklenburg Sandy Loam, and Iredell Fine 

 Sandy Loam types is sufficiently high to lead to the belief that when 

 these soils are handled in such a way as to embrace in them considerable 

 amounts of organic matter, the necessity for the use of applications of 

 materials carrying phosphoric acid will not be as pressing as it is at the 

 present time. Particularly is this so with the Cecil Fine Sandy Loam 

 type, which contains almost 0.2 per cent of phosphoric acid in the sur- 

 face soil. This is very high when compared with most other Piedmont 

 soils. In experiments in Mecklenburg County on the Iredell Loam type 

 of soil it has been found that applications of phosphoric acid do not 

 increase the yield at all. There is every reason to believe that the Ire- 

 dell Loam type of this county will show need for this constituent as the 

 quantity of phosphoric acid in the soil of this type in Cabarrus County, 

 on an average, is about one-seventh of the same type occurring in Meck- 

 lenburg County. As a matter of fact, the Iredell Loam of this county 

 is one of the very lowest in total content of phosphoric acid. 



Judging from the chemical analyses of the soils of different types 

 found in the county, as well as from such other information as we have 

 with reference to them, it is felt that in a general way nitrogen and 

 phosphoric acid are the two controlling plant-food constituents at the 

 present time in crop production, so far as soil fertility is concerned. 

 In a general way the field results, too, point in the same general direc- 

 tion as to the needs of the soils of the county. The incorporation of 

 organic matter is of the highest importance, as, generally speaking, the 

 percentage of this constituent in the soils is relatively low. When 

 leguminous crops and other cover crops are grown on the soils of the 

 county and plowed in to increase its organic-matter supply, it will be 

 found that in most cases a fairly liberal use of lime will be essential for 

 the best and most profitable returns. Our experiments generally, con- 

 ducted in the Piedmont section of the State, indicate that lime is essen- 

 tial to be added where a proper system of crop rotation is practiced and 

 organic matter is plowed into the soil. 



HOW TO SUPPLY PLANT-FOOD REQUIREMENTS 



IN'iTROGEN — Soils showing a need for applications of nitrogen or am- 

 monia, as they do in this county, can usually be considered as deficient 

 in organic matter, and when the organic matter is high in any soil it 

 may generally be inferred that such soil is relatively well provided with 

 nitrogen. 



Analyses and field results have shown that the soils of this county 

 are generally low in nitrogen. One of the main problems, therefore, 

 for the farmers will be to supply this constituent in fairly liberal quan- 

 tities to the soil and do it as cheaply as possible. The chief means 

 that must be used in supplying the nitrogen will be by the growing of 



