Show find phosphorus test worth while reveals great variation in the makeup of soils to grow legumes by rif rm linsley bolla soils ex ten nion specialist university of illinois service vast changes now being made in cropping systems on farms will be less risky if farmers test their soils for available phosphorus as well as for limestone before seed ng legumes and other crops tests made on thousands of acres of farm land throughout the state have shown that soils vary tremendously in their available phosphorus pho chorus content as well as in acidity consequently there Is a great variation in the aall ity of soils to produce legumes since these crops have definite phosphorus requirements as well as certain lime needs it has been estimated that some som e 1600 acres of illinois land Is being taken out of grain production and that a large proportion of this acreage Is being seeded to legumes the th e only sound basis for making such ad just ments Is to use the phosphorus test along with the soil acidity y test these two tests together will show 1 what legume Is best adapted to a given piece of land 2 what land might be best suited to grow a certain bind kind of legume and 3 whether any phosphorus phopho rus or limestone need be applied for the successful growing of legumes the test described was developed four years ago by the experiment sta tion of the agricultural college and it Is coming into new pro prominence Il nence now because of the widespread shifts in production all that Is required for making the test Is the phosphorus testing solution and a tin rod toge together er w with a set e of vials with corks and a rack to hold them A small sample of the soil soll Is shaken up in a vial of the solution and it if the soil Is low in available chorus the solution remains uncolored As the phosphorus content of the soil increases the color of the solution changes to blue of different shades depending upon the amount of chorus present |