S B 3D? 5M2 WORKS AGRIC. DIP i FERTILIZING FERTILIZING TOBACCO. PUBLISHED BY GERMAN KALI WORKS, IV New York, N. Y. Baltimore, Md. Chicago, III. NOTICE. Every farmer can obtain, free of charge, a copy of the following agricultural books: FARMERS' GUIDE POTASH IN AGRICULTURE PRINCIPLES OF PROFITABLE FARMING TRUCK FARMING PLANT FOOD THE COW PEA COTTON CULTURE SUGAR CANE CULTURE SUGAR BEET CULTURE ,fl ^ TOBACCO CULTURE TROPICAL PLANTING VALUE OF SWAMP LAND STRAWBERRY CULTURE ORANGE CULTURE WHY.THE FISH FAILED " % * V* • V*; • * * ** * -, '. State whi eft 6£ the. 'above -mentioned publications you desire, and it will be' mailed tOiyou free of charge. ADDRESS: GERMAN KALI WORKS. NEW YORK, N. Y. BALTIMORE, MD. CHICAGO, ILL, HAVANA, CUBA 93 Nassau St. Continental Bldg. 562 Monadnock Blk. Empedrado, 30 Fertilizing Tobacco. TOBACCO is a rank, rapid growing, and heavy-feeding plant, and requires liberal supplies of plant food. Th* careful experiments of Dr. Goessman, of the Massachusetts (U. S. A.) Experiment Station, and of Prof. Stockbridge, of the Florida Experiment Station, furnis-h information of great practical value to the planter. As a result of these investigations, the quantities of Phosphoric Acid, Nitrogen and Potash per acre, suggested by these two authorities, are as follows: PHOSPHORIC ACID NITROGEN POTASH. Dr. Goessman, 60 Ibs. 100 Ibs. 300 Ibs. Prof. Stockbridge, 73 Ibs. 180 Ibs. 300 Ibs. Average per acre, 67 Ibs. 140 Ibs. 300 Ibs. A mixture of 600 Ibs. of high-grade Sulphate of Potash, (96$), 850 Ibs. of Nitrate of Soda and 550 Ibs. of Acid Phos- phate (12$) would just about furnish the amounts of Phosphoric Acid, Nitrogen and Potash mentioned above. The plant food found by chemical analysis in the tobacco plant, furnishes a fair guide in determining the kind and amount of fertilizer to use. Of course, not only the leaf, but the whole plant must be accounted for in figuring out the actual plant food taken up. While the leaf is the object of tobacco growing, the leaf cannot be 274392 4 FERTILIZING TOBACCO grown without the stalk, roots ,etc, The analyses of the whole plant made by Prof. Stockbridge indicate the follow- ing plant food requirements. He found the average Florida tobacco plant to contain: PHOSPHORIC ACID NITROGEN POTASH 0.99 per cent. 2.58 per cent 4.34 per cent. This indicates that the crop requires its plant food in the proportion of 260 Ibs. of Nitrogen and 440 Ibs. of Potash for every 100 Ibs. of Phosphoric Acid actually taken up by the plant. As Phosphoric Acid is apt to change into insoluble forms in the soil, allowance must be made for such losses in making up special fertilizers. Again, many soils accumulate supplies of Nitrogen through the growth of legumes in rotation, and a too free supply of Nitrogen in the fertilizer, may prove very undesirable by inducing a too rank growth of leaf. For these reasons, many experi- enced tobacco growers use a higher proportion of Phos- phoric Acid, and a lower proportion of Nitrogen than the chemical composition of the crop would seem to require. Prof. Stockbridge's recommendation for fertilizer appli- cation is based on these conditions, and his formula sup- plies the necessary plant foods, (as shown by the analyses) which will be removed from an acre of land by a fair crop of tobacco. The conclusions of accepted authorities may be thus stated; The demands of the crop for Phosphoric Acid are FERTILIZING TOBACCO. 5 small, for Nitrogen they are large, but the greatest demand is for Potash, in fact, greater than that of any other cultivated plant. The general rule for practice for tobacco planters to follow may be stated thus: Nitrogen 4 to 6 parts, Potash 8 to 15 parts, and Phosphoric Acid i to 3 parts. This may be more concisely expressed as follows: Ammonia, . . . 4 to 5 per cent. Potash, . . . 8 to 9 per cent. Available Phosphoric Acid, 2 to 4 per cent. Commercial fertilizers are valuable as plant food onl) to the extent that they contain Nitrogen, Potash and avail- able Phosphoric Acid, provided always that proper propor- tions of these ingredients are used. An excessive amount of any one of these three plant foods in a fertilizer will not make up the loss caused by the lack of either of the other. The sources from which the different forms of plant food are obtained is of the utmost importance in affecting the results. In selecting Potash, Sulphate of Potash should always be applied; that grade known as 96$ Sulphate of Potash would be the best suited for the purpose. The forms of Potash such as Muriate of Potash and Kainit, both of which contain large quantities of chlorine, should never be used for tobacco, as they exert an injurious influ- ence on the burning quality of the leaf. To make a fertilizer of the composition recommended, 6 FERTILIZING TOBACCO. t that is, 5$ of Ammonia, 9$ Potash and 4$ Available Phos- phoric Acid, which is a well balanced mixture for tobacco, the following materials can be used to make a ton. Cotton Seed Meal, . . noolbs. Sulphate of Potash (96$), 350 Ibs. Acid Phosphate, . . 550 Ibs. 2000 Ibs. As to the amount of the above mixture to be applied per acre, this varies in different countries. On an average, though, from 1000 to 1500 Ibs. per acre could be used to advantage. In Connecticut, the tobacco planters as a rule, use as much as 3000 Ibs. per acre of a fertilizer of even higher grade than that above recommended. A little experi- menting on the part of each planter, however, will soon indicate the amount which can be used with the greatest profit. TOHACCO UNFERTILIZED. EXPERIMENT FARM, SOUTHERN PINES, N. C. TOBACCO. FERTILIZED WITH POTASH, PHOSPHORIC ACID AND NITROGEN (COMPLETE FERTILIZER)— EXPERIMENT FARM, SOUTHERN PINES, N. c. FERTILIZING TOBACCO. Composition of Fertilizer Haterials Used as Sources of Nitrogen. Nitrogen. Per Cent. Equivalent in Ammonia. Per Cent. Potash (K20.) Per Ct. Phosphoric Acid Total. Per Cent. Nitrate of Soda 1 5 to 1 6 18 to ig-£ Sulphate of Ammonia '. JO 22 23 " 26 Dried -Blood (high grade) . . 12 I2\ I4i " I7i Dried- Blood (low grade). IO II 12 " 14! ^ to z Concentrated Tankage II 14^ i3i " 15 I "2 Tankage 5 6 6 " 7i II " 14. Tankage 74 Q 9 " ii 8A " ioA Dried Fish Scrap ' . qi ii ITi " i3i 6 " 8 Cotton Seed Meal Castor Pomace 6* 7i 5 6 8" 9 6 " 7| Itf l£ 2% 2% Tobacco Stems 2 3 24- " 4 5 to 8 about i% Composition of Fertilizer flaterials Used as Sources of Phosphoric Acid. Nitro- gen. Per Ct. Equiv- alent in Ammo- nia. Per Ct. Potash (K20.) Per Ct. Phosphoric Acid. Total. Per Ct. Available Per Ct. Insoluble Per Ct. So. Carol'a Phos. Rock So. Carolina Acid Phosphate 26 to 27 13 " 16 33 " 35 26 " 32 14 " 19 34 " 39 14 " 19 32 "35 17 " 19 20 " 25 15 " 17 10 " 15 12 tO 15 26 to 27 I " 3 33 " 35 26 " 32 i " 3 34 " 39 i " 3 32 " 35 I " 2 15 " 17 2 " 3 2 " 7 Florida Land Rock . . Florida Pebble Phos- phate [3 to i 6 13 to 16 Florida Acid Phos- phate Tennessee Phosphate Tennessee Acid Phos- phate Bone-Black (spent). . . Bone Black(dissolved) i 6 to 17 5 " 8 13 " 15 8 Bone-Meal 2ito4i 2 "3 6 " 10 3 to 5^ 2*"34 7i"i2 Bone (dissolved) Peruvian Guano rito4 FERTILIZING TOBACCO. Composition of Fertilizer flaterials Used as Sources of Potash. Pure Potash (K,0.) PerCt. Lime Per Ct. Nitro- gen Per Ct. Ammonia PerCt Phosp'ric Acid, Total, Per Cent. Chlorine Per Cent. Muriate of Potash .... 50 AC. tO 4.8 Sulphate of Potash (high grade) coto^5 Q 3toi4 16 to 17 Wood - Ashes ( un- leached) 2 "8 3oto55 I tO 2 Wood- Ashes (leached I "2 35 "40 I tO l£ Tobacco Stems 5 "8 •3.5 2 to 3 2i tO -U Average Composition of the Host Important Farm Manures. FARM MANURES. Nitrogen Per Ct. Equivalent in Ammonia Per Ct. Potash (K,0) Per Ct. Phos- phoric Acid Total Per Ct, Lime (CaO) Per Ct. Cow-Manure (fresh).. . 0-34 0.41 0.40 o. 16 0.31 Horse-Manure (fresh). . 0.58 0.70 0-53 0.28 O. 21 Sheep-Manure (fresh) . 0.83 I.OO o 67 0.23 o-33 Hog-Manure (fresh). .. 0-45 0.54 0.60 o..9 0.08 Hen-Dung (fresh) 1.63 1.98 0.85 1-54 o 24 Mixed Stable Manure. . 0.50 0.60 0.63 0.26 0.70 'iv Yott UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY BERKELEY Return to desk from which borrowed. This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. OCT 2 1*51 LD 21-95m-U.'50(2877sl6)476 YB 47464 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY