364] 



78 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GEORGIA. [3 



at the rate of 300 pounds per acre, 4,133,333 acres, or at 

 the rate of 500 pounds per acre, 2,480,000 acres. 



The area planted in corn, wheat, oats, rye, barley, rice, 

 cotton, tobacco, sugar cane, sorghum, sv/eet potatoes, 

 Irish potatoes, ground peas, and nineyards, in Georgia, 

 according to the returns of the tax receivers, in 1875, was 

 4, 494, 724 acres. 



By carefully husbanding home manures of every kind, 

 and composting them with superphosphate, containing a 

 small per cent, of potash, derived from kainit, or chloride 

 of potassium, enough manure may be composted on Geor- 

 gia farms, by a comparatively small outlay for potash and 

 phosphoric acid, to manure on the plan of plant fertiliza- 

 tion, nearly the whole cultivated crops of the State. 



This, if used in conjunction with pea vines turned under 

 in the fall, and lime and marl spread broadcast over the 

 land for soil fertilization, would very rapidly renovate the 

 worn lands of the State. 



For formulae for composting, see Appendix. 

 MECHANICAL AGENTS. 



Lime, marl and vegetable matter are the principal me- 

 chanical agents, and should invariably be used together, 

 since each materially increases the efficacy of the other. 



Lime acts mechanically upon stiff soils by loosening 

 them, rendering them more friable, and hence facilitates 

 the penetration of the roots of plants. It also stiffens 

 light soils by pulverizing the coarse particles, and thus ren- 

 dering them more compact. 



Vegetable matter turned into the soils, either green or 

 dry, has the following effects when reduced to the condi- 

 tion of humus 



1. Humus renders stiff soils friable and open. 



2. It absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, and thus 

 supplies plants with it. 



3. It retains the moisture longer than any other ingre- 

 dient of soils. 



I 



