y 
'Uhe  RURAL  N 
Phosphates  :  Their  Origin  and  Use 
Part  VI. 
“Reverted  Phosphates."  —  We  have 
now  seen  what  is  meant  by  “superphos¬ 
phates” — that  is  the  combination  in  which 
the  phosphorus  is  “available"  or  soluble, 
so  that  plants  can  absorb  it.  This  whole 
thing  depends  on  the  “affinity”  of  phos¬ 
phorus  for  lime,  and  here  comes  one  of 
the  most  interesting  things  about  it.  Na¬ 
ture  locks  the  lime  and  phosphorus  to¬ 
gether  out  of  the  reach  of  plants.  Man 
comes  with  sulphuric  acid  and  pries  them 
apart  into  a  suiter  phosphate.  When  this 
is  put  into  the  soil,  nature,  never  discour¬ 
aged,  begins  at  once  to  tie  up  the  phos¬ 
phorus  once  more.  The  lime,  iron  or 
aluminum  in  the  soil  will  quieklj  unite 
with  the  phosphorus  if  they  get  a  chance. 
It  is  more  desirable  that  lime  should  do 
this,  as  the  lime  combinations  are  more 
available  than  those  made  with  iron.  As 
we  have  seen,  the  sulphuric  acid  takes 
away  two  parts  of  limo  and  leaves  one 
part  each  of  lime  and  phosphorus.  This 
makes  a  soluble  combination.  In  a  soil 
where  lime  abounds  that  element  quickly 
attacks  the  superphosphate  anti  makes 
what  is  called  “revetted"  phosphate.  That 
is,  instead  of  having  one  part  each  of  the 
two  elements,  the  “reverted"  form  has 
two  parts  of  lime  to  one  of  phosphoric- 
acid.  The  insoluble  form  bad  three  parts 
of  lime  and  the  superphosphate  one  part. 
Therefore,  as  you  can  imagine,  the  “re¬ 
verted”  form  is  less  soluble  than  the  su¬ 
perphosphate  but  more  so  than  the  plain 
bone.  While  the  superphosphate  is  sol¬ 
uble  one  part  to  200  of  water,  the  “re¬ 
verted”  form  will  dissilve  in  about  7,000 
parts  of  water.  It  is,  therefore,  an  avail¬ 
able  fertilizer,  though  securely  held  so 
that  iron  or  other  elements  will  not  lock 
the  phosphorus  up  out  of  use.  Thus  when 
you  hear  of  “reverted”  phosphates  you 
will  know  what  the  term  means. 
M  hy  T  se  Lime? — Ntiturally  a  farmer 
will  ask  this  question.  If  all  this  expense 
for  sulphuric  acid  is  needed  to  get  the 
lime  away  from  the  phosphorus  and  this 
lime  goes  right  back  the  moment  it  gets 
the  chance — why  use  lime?  We  are 
obliged  to  use  the  lime  in  order  to  lit  the 
soil  for  most  crops.  Unless  we  did  so  the 
soil  would  grow  more  and  more  acid,  until 
the  clover  and  most  other  .crops  would 
not  grow.  Then,  While  it  is  true  that 
lime  will  combine  with  the  soluble  phos¬ 
phorus,  it  is  a  safer  companion  than  other 
things  it  might  meet  in  the  soil.  For 
example,  if  iron  got  hold  of  the  phos¬ 
phorus  first  an  insoluble  combination 
would  be  made  which  would  require  a 
fiercer  treatment  than  that  of  the  acid  to 
break  loose,  as  we  shall  see  when  we 
come  to  basic  slag.  The  lime  holds  the 
phosphorus  safely,  making  it  less  avail¬ 
able,  it  is  true,  but  still  giving  the  plants 
a  chance  to  eat  it.  So...  'eero  ago  we 
were  taught  never  to  use  Hr..e  along  with 
acid  phosphate.  Now  the  chemists  ac¬ 
tually  advise  its  use.  particularly  on 
soils  which  are  known  to  be  rich  in  iron 
or  aluminum.  The  theory  of  this  is  that 
if  the  limo  is  not  present  the  phosphorus 
will  be  promptly  tied  up  into  unavailable 
forms.  If  the  lime  is  in  the  soil  the  phos¬ 
phorus  will  take  this  “reverted”  form, 
and  while  less  available  than  the  super¬ 
phosphate,  will  not  be  put  completely  out 
of  business  by  the  iron. 
Acid  On  the  Farm. — Now  and  then 
we  find  some  one  advising  farmers  to  buy 
sulphuric  acid  and  make  superphosphate 
on  the  farm.  If  is  bad  advice.  The  acid 
is  too  dangerous  to  handle,  except  in  a 
factory  where  every  appliance  is  at  hand. 
The  spatter  of  a  single  drop  in  the.  eye 
would  probably  destroy  sight.  I  have 
seen  men  marked  with  dreadful  scars  as 
a  result  of  acid  burning.  In  the  early 
days  making  superphosphates  was  a  very 
E  W-YO  R  K  E  R 
crude  business.  There  was  a  lead-lined 
vat  or  tank.  The  broken  bones  were  put 
in  and  acid  and  water  poured  over  them 
— the  mass  being  raked  oi>  stirred  during 
the  process.  This  made  a  pretty  crude 
Stuff,  and  there  were  many  accidents. 
Some  farmers  may  think  they  are  so 
smart  and  careful  that,  the  acid  would  be 
safe  with  them.  Our  advice  is,  let  the 
stuff  alone  and  leave  it  to  the  manufac¬ 
turers. 
Iron  Phosphates.  —  We  know  now 
that  all  our  phosphate  deposits  are  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  come  out  of  the  soil  through 
plants  and  animals — all  practically  pass¬ 
ing  through  bone.  There  are  two  forms 
found  in  basic  slag  and  rock  which  ought 
to  be  understood.  As  we  have  seen  one 
theory  is  that  great  deposits  of  lime  were 
formed  in  certain  places.  Water,  con¬ 
taining  carbonic  acid,  leached  through, 
dissolving  out  small  quantities  of  phos¬ 
phorus.  These  waters  rushed  off  through 
tunnels  or  along  ledges  in  the  soil  and 
passed  over  or  through  deposits  of  iron 
or  lime.  It  is  the  tendency  of  lime  to 
combine  chemically  with  those  elements, 
and  so,  naturally,  deposits  of  lime  and 
iron  phosphate  were  formed  at  those 
places.  Thus  a  mine  containing  iron  ore 
might  come  to  carry  large  quai. '  ’ties  of 
iron  phosphate.  This,  mixed  all  through 
the  ore,  was  a  detriment  to  the  iron,  and 
for  many  years  mines  containing  much  of 
this  phosphate  were  not  largely  used,  be¬ 
cause  it  cost  too  much  to  work  out  the 
phosphorus  from  its  tight  grip  upon  the 
iron.  Finally  processes  were  worked  out 
for  using  our  old  friend  lime  to  pull  phos¬ 
phorus  away  from  the  irou.  This  gave 
a  better  iron  and  the  increased  demand 
for  phosphorus  as  a  fertilizer  made  the 
process  pay.  This  made  it  possible  to 
put  on  the  market  a  new  fertilizer — basic 
slag,  which  we  will  describe  next. 
327 
tilizers  are  exceedingly  high.  It  occurred 
to  me  that  good  results  could  be  obtained 
for  fruit  trees  and  ornamental  shrubbery 
by  the  use  of  commercial  concentrated 
lye,  properly  diluted  with  water  and 
poured  around  the  roots  of  the  trees,  etc.; 
that  is,  poured  on  the  surface  of  the 
ground  and  not  dug  in  and  applied  among 
the  roots.  I  remember,  in  some  country 
districts  I  have  been  in,  I  have  seen  good 
growth  of  plum,  apple  and  cherry  trees 
growing  m  the  rear  yards  of  residences, 
where  the  soapsuds  had  been  constantly 
poured  around  the  trees.  My  trees  are 
young,  last  season  being  the  first  bearing 
year.  I  have  given  them  good  attention 
by  fertilizing  and  spraying,  and  have  used 
muriate  of  potash  with  acid  phosphate 
and  nitrate  of  soda.  ur  c.  I. 
Newport  News,  Va. 
Be  sure  that  you  use  a  potash  lye. 
Some  of  the  lyes,  even  when  marked  “pot¬ 
ash,”  consist  of  caustic  soda  and  would 
he  of  little  benefit  as  a  fertilizer.  Old- 
fashioned  soft  soap  made  by  leaching 
wood  ashes  would  carry  some  potash  to 
the  soil,  but  a  soda  Soap  would  disappoint 
you.  For  a  few  trees  in  a  garden  the  pofc 
ash  lye  would  answer,  but  it  would  be 
quite  expensive.  A  better  way  to  use  it 
would  be  to  dissolve  the  lye  in  water  and 
then  sprinkle  the  liquid  over  sifted  coal 
ashes  or  sand.  When  this  is  dry  use  it 
as  you  would  a  fertilizer. 
Lye  Substituted  for  Potash 
As  you  know,  on  account  of  the  con¬ 
ditions  in  Europe  this  year,  it  is  impos¬ 
sible  to  get  any  potash,  and  all  other  fer- 
Handling  Pigeon  Manure 
I  have  about  25  tons  of  pigeon  manure; 
it  is  stored  out  doors.  I  am  going  to 
buy  three  tons  of  acid  phosphate  and 
mix  it  with  the  manure  and  compact  it, 
I  would  like  to  know  of  the  two  evils, 
which  is  the  worse — leave  it  in  the  pile 
or  spread  it  in  the  peach  orchard  now? 
Will  much  of  the  fertilizer  he  lost  if 
spread  on  the  ground  now?  It  is  heat¬ 
ing  in  the  pile,  and  how  about  hen 
manure  with  the  same  treatment?  I 
have  a  cover  crop  of  rye  in  the  orchard 
n°W.  E.  L.  L. 
New  Jersey. 
In  such  a  case  we  should  spread  the 
manure  at  once.  It  will  lose  less  am¬ 
monia  when  spread  out  than  in  this 
heating  pile.  Unless  such  manure  can 
be  kept  fully  dry  it  is  probably  better 
to  spread  during  the  Winter.  Hen 
manure  should  have  the  same  treatment. 
Ross’  Eureka  Ensilage  Corn 
Grows  tallest,  has  most  leaves,  greatest  number  of  ears.  The  four  heaviest  acres  of  this  corn  in  one 
year  gave  a  total  yield  of  200  tons  and  96  lbs.,  an  average  of  50  tons  and  24  lbs.  per  acre.  This  is  not 
much  above  the  average  yield  for  Ross’  Eureka  Corn  if  it  is  planted  under  favorable  conditions. 
You  do  not  need  to  plant  your  whole  farm  when  you  can  fill  a  200-ton  silo  from  4  to  6  acres  with  Ross’ 
Eureka.  I  he  best  money  you  can  spend  on  the  farm  is  for  good  seed.  Poor  seed  is  dear  at  any  price, 
but  good  seed  is  always  worth  what  yon  pay  lor  it.  Ask  yourself  what  corn  i§  worth  per  bushel  that  will 
produce  70  tons  and  800  lbs.  per  acre  over  ordinary  corn.  We  are  not  asking  you  to  experiment  We 
are  only  asking  you  to  buy  seed  corn  from  us  that  thousands  of  successful  farmers  have  bought  from 
ua  and  planted  on  their  own  farms,  year  after  year,  and  have  found  it  to  be  the  cheapest  and  best  corn 
they  can  buy.  We  grow  other  varieties  of  corn,  such  as  Learning,  White  Cap,  Yellow  Dent,  Mastodon, 
Kjng  of  the  Earnest,  Pride  of  the  North  and  Sanford  White.  We  will  gladly  give  you.  any  time. 
Do  not  buy  any 
corn  without 
this  trade  mark. 
