VOL. LXIV
INDIANAPOLIS, MARCH 27, 1909.
NO.  12
The Value   of Swamp Lands.
BY H. S. Chamberlain.
Muck soil, llie product of well drained
swamp land, is now recognized as one of
the most valuable assets in modern agriculture; because chemical science has
taken hold of the black soil —
problem and has effectively solved it. Formerly only half way results iu crop
production could be obtained from reclaimed swamp
areas, for the reason that
the real nature of the ss.il
was not unslerstood. Recent research and experiments have definitely
shown what must be done
to make such soils produce
good crops regularly.
Since muck soils are the
result of sedimentation from
streams flowing into ancient
lakes, and subsequent deposits made by the growth
and decay or aquatic njants
and water-loving shrubs, it
is readily seen that a great
deal of fertility abounds iu
the formation. All the
snil essentials, potash, phosphates, and nitrogen were
triginally contained in this
sedimentary deposit; the
potash usually iu the form
of carbonate, and of ready
solubility in water, the phosphates generally as the eal-
cicum compounds, and nitrogen as nitrates and humus.
The potash being very easily dissolved in water quickly disappears, sinking into
the strata underlying the
muck measures. A small
amount, of course, is held
in the upper masses of the
soil by adhesion to the soil
granules. The other essentials to    fertility, with    the      	
exception of the nitrates,
are insoluble in water and hence are left
in the place where they were first deposit
od. Any one dealing with black muck
soil has doubtless noticed that, although
the first crops grown on lately tamed
swamp land are quite good, subsequent
attempts to produce grains, cereals, or
vegetables are dreary failures. The
reason for this is, that what little potash was retained by the soil has been ap-
I ropriated by the first crop and the supply of this important ingredient has been
exhausted from the upper areas of the
ground. The greater quantities of the
potash have either sunken to a depth below the reach of the plant roots or have
been carried a-way by the underground
s( reams.
The application of fertilizers high in
potash or of the commercial muriate or
sulphate of potassium will restore the
productivity in a most remarkable manner. This has been tried in recent years
with astonishing success, in the case of
''sin. wheat, celery and potatoes. There
is no need of using fertilizers to furnish
phosphorus or nitrogen to muck soil as
there is an inexhaustible supply of these
two elements held ready and available for
plant use. The black appearance of the
soil is due primarily to the presence of
decayed vegetation and the nitrogen holding humus  resulting therefrom.
The farmer having a swamp, possible
t.t good drainage, has a tract of land
possessing great promise of substantial
crop returns. The reclaimed swamp lands
•if Summit and Stark counties, in northeastern Ohio, are the most valuable and
productive of any found in the Buckeye
State.        From almost valueless marshes.
applied with a drill to swamp land before
cropping should suffice for several successive yields. Kainit possessing from
12 to 30 per cent of potash, may be also
applied to the land by machinery at tho
rate of frdm 300 to 500 pounds per acre,
if the soil is pretty well run down. Tobacco stems should be given quite gener-
A  Team  of  Imported   Percheron   Mares.
through drainage, proper tillage and
judicious use of right kinds of fertilizers,
these tracts of land have been made invaluable for the growing of celery, onions,
corn and potatoes.
Since well drained swamp soil under tillage soou ceases to produce satisfactory
crops and since this effect is due almost
entirely to the lack of potash, it is up to
the farmer to supply this deficiency if he
would bring the land into continual productiveness. Potash may be appled in
several ways and forms, as: (1) wood
ashes, (2) coal ashes and cinders, (3) muriate or sulfate of potash, (4) kainit, a
mineral containing potash along with
other salts, (5) tobacco stems and ashes
(.f cotton seed hull. Owing to the scarcity
qf wood ashes this method Of supplying
potash to muck soil is almost precluded.
Though when a farmer lives near a coal
mine or manufacturing plants, coal ashes
s.nd cinders may be obtained free of
charge, in fact most manufacturers are
glad to get nd of them. Because of the
low content in potash, it is necessary to
scatter from three to five tons of these
nshes and cinders on every acre of muck
land. The muriate or sulfate of potash
may be purchased from almost any reliable dealer in fertilizer. When pure
it should contain at least 50 per cent potash.        Prom 200 to 400 pounds per acre,
smsly to the land as the potash occurs in
tlieni in quantities of only 3 to 5 per cent.
I'he ash from cotton seed hull has a potash value of from 7 to 9 per cent and consequently should be applied so as to give
the land from 75 to 1.00 pounds per acre.
Any of these fertilizers when applied carefully and well worked into the soil, will
effect a ivouderful change for better crop
j ielsls.
News From Arkansas.
Editors Indiana  Farmer:
We have things going down here. Gardens are all made; potatoes planted and
coming through the ground, and two
patches of corn in; spring oats doing well.
An oil company has opened up here and
leased   quite  a   lot   of  land. We  are
near the now famous Caddo Oil Field,
r>nd there is good indications of oil in this
immediate vicinity. A number of Indiana men have been here prospecting this
year, and some of them have bought
land.
Many inquiries have come to us from
folks back in our old Hoosier home, regarding Arkansas. Well, we can certainly say it is all o. k.; and all we need
U more people.
W. W. Isenhower.
Arkansas.
The Kherson'[Oats.
Editors Indiana  Farmer:
In 1897 the Nebraska Experiment Station through one of its representatives secured a small sample of oats from that
part  of   Russia   called   Kherson. This
seed was sown on the Station farm where
it has since been compared with all lead-
      ing    varieties    and   it    has
proved to be the heaviest
producer and oue of the two
earliest maturing varieties
grown. During recent years
seed has been distributed
throughout the state and
farmers who have been enn-
ducting cooperative experiments are practically unanimous in the assertion that it
is a much heavier yielding
variety thau any other
grown in the state.
Knowing its popularity in
Nebraska, the writer, who
formerly lived in Addison,
Lenawee County, Michigan,
which is in the southern
tier of counties iu that state,
where conditions are verisimilar to those in Indiana,
sent sufficient seed to that
locality to give this new
variety a fair trial. A Hi-
acre field was sown early iu
May after other ssats bail
sprouted and the Kherson
was cut and put in the
shock before the early sown
oats were ripe. They were
not affected by the blight
which did great injury to
other oats that year, which
may have had something to
do with their yielding more
bvshels to the acre than
other well-known varieties.
Last season a much larger
acreage was seeded and another field of heavy weighing oats was secured.
Oue grower of that town
makes the following obser
vations, after the two sea-
sous' experience with these oats, this being the farthest east these oats have been
grown on an extensive scale: "The Kherson oats give n very satisfactory yield on
southern Michigan soil, fully as high as
ether well-known varieties and during one
season the yield was heavier. They ripen
from 10 to 14 days earlier than other
varieties, which early maturity coupled
with the fact that they are light in straw,
makes the Kherson a most excellent oats
for a eover crop in securing a good stand
oC clover. Its light but stiff straw makes
it especially well adapted for black humus
soil where it does not lodge as do other
varieties. The kernels are of small size
but more numerous in the head. They
weigh more to the bushel, because of
theirthin hull and are therefore much better a.lapted  for feeding swine."
H. R. S.
A company of farmers, stockraisers and
alfalfa farmers in Boone County Neb.,
have recently organized a stock company
and built an alfalfa meal mill, at Albion,
Neb. Alfalfa meal is coming into general
use in many sections as one of the best
and cheapest feeds for dairy cows, horses
hogs and poultry. It is well that such
companies as the one referred to are being organized to meet the demand that is
sure to come.