HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



IWiswell the Druggist 



SI MainflStreet 



— THE KODAKfSTORE — 



VETERINARY REMEDIES 

 Daniels', Lesure's, Barber's 



STABLE DISINFECTANTS 



SAMUEL U. IKIWAKII WII.I.IA.M N, MOWAltl) 



D. F. Howard & Sons 



Wholesale and Retail Dealers in 



FLOUR, MEAL, GRAIN 

 FEED, PRESSED HAY 

 STRAW AND 



POULTRY SUPPLIES 



90 East Street, 



Ware, Mass. 



Klevator on H. A: A. IC. U. 

 Lone DistaiU'e T<!lepIioiie 



GAZETTE PRINTING CO. 

 MERCANTILE PRINTERS 

 NORTHAMPTON, MASS. 



SUMMER 



CLEARANCE SALE 



The time to Save Money on all kinds 

 of Clothing for Men or Boys 



COMK IN AND SliK US 



R. F. ARMSTRONG & SON'S 



80 MAIN STREET 

 gESS;iNORTHAMPTON, MASS. 



^^..■^^ 



.^imm 



iMriM^i^^M^MMMAM 



Fords orv 



Here is Henry Ford's world-wide yii't to civilization, which 

 lias won the all-England clianipionship prize at the demon- 

 stration given at Lincolnshire, England, JMay 9, 1918. It is 

 one of the principal factors in winning this great war in 

 helping in the production of food. Every farmer should own 

 one of these machines. 



For Circulars, Catalogs, Etc., Etc. 

 CHASE MOTOR SALES COMPANY 



Distributors for Western Massachusetts 



a03 MAIN SIKKKT NOKIH AMI'TON, MASS. 



USE OF SULPHUR AND 



SULPHATE OF LIME 



As a Fertilizer 



In the face of propaganda urging the 

 use of such substances as sulfur and 

 sulfate of lime or land plaster as fertili- 

 zers, because plants need sulfur as well 

 as phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium, it 

 is important that certain facts be kept 

 in mind that are not mentioned in the 

 sulfur propaganda. 



In our everyday practice we use con- 

 siderable sulfur in the form of sulfates 

 when we apply our common manures and 

 fertilizers. Farm manures contain sul- 

 fates which come partly from the digested 

 sulfur and sulfates of food and partly 

 from those constituents of the undigested 

 residues and litter. Since sulfates are 

 more soluble than phosphates, the former 

 leach away from the manure pile freely, 

 as manifested in analyses of well waters 

 contaminated by sewage, where sulfates 

 are a prominent and characteristic con- 

 stituent. 



Among the common chemical fertilizers 

 containing sulfur, we have sulfate of 

 ammonia, sulfate of potash and all the 

 di-ssolved phosphates, in which sulfuric 

 acid has been used to make the phosphoric 

 acid soluble. In 100 pounds sulfate of 

 ammonia there would be 57 pounds sul- 

 furic acid; in 100 pounds high-grade sul- 



fate of potash, 42 pounds sulfuric acid; 

 and in 100 pounds acid phosphate of 16 

 per cent grade, about 15 pounds sulfuric 

 acid combined with the lime which was 

 originally united to the phosphoric acid. 

 In 1,000 pounds of a fertilizer of 3-8-4 

 guarantee, there may be half the nitrogen 

 in sulfate of ammonia, the potash as sul- 

 fate and three-fourths of the phosphoric 

 acid from a dissolved phosphate. In 

 such case there would be found about 130 

 pounds sulfuric acid combined with the 

 ammonia, potash and lime of the in- 

 g}-edients. 



There is little use in heeding the prop- 

 aganda of the .sulfur and gypsum promo- 

 ters when one is using farm manures 

 and the usual forms of mixed fertilizers. 

 The use of farm manures alone might 

 possibly require the addition of gypsum 

 in order to replace the sulfates that might 

 have leached away if the manure were 

 exposed to the weather. It occurs to the 

 wi'iter that the old-time use of land 

 plaster (gypsum) and its apparent bene- 

 fit may have been due to the loss of 

 sulfates from the farm manures, which 

 in those days were usually left under the 

 eaves of the barns for months instead of 

 being housed in a basement or .shed. 



The value of .sulfur or gypsum as a 

 supplement to insoluble phosphates still 

 remains to be demonstrated as an eco- 

 nomical method of fertilization for our 

 ! farmers. 



