| Show find phosphorus test worth while reveals great variation in in the makeup of soils to grow Leg legumes unies by ru linsley Lna 7 soils bolh este specialist university of at vv szn lc vast changes now being made la in cropping systems on farms will be less risky it if farmers test their soils soil tor for available phosphorus as well as aa tor for limestone before seeding legumes and other crops tests made on thousands of acres of 0 farm arm land throughout the state have shown that soils vary tremendously la in their available phosphorus contents content as well as a in acidity consequently thero then Is s a great variation in the ability of soils to produce legumes since these crops have definite phosphorus ru requirements as well as certain lime needs heeds it has been estimated that some acres of illinois land to Is being taken out of grain production and that a large proportion of this acreage Is being seeded to legumes the only sound basis for making such adjustments just ments Is to use the phosphorus test along alone with the soil acidity 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 gutted to grow a certain kind of 0 legume and 3 whether any phosphorus or limestone need be applied for the successful growing of legumes the test described was developed tour four years ago by the experiment station of the agricultural college and it Is coming into new prominence now because of the widespread shifts in production all that Is 13 required tor for makin making ing the test Is the phosphorus testing solution and a tin rod together with a set of vials with corks and a rack to hold them A small sample of the soil ts Is shaken up in a vial ot of the solution and if the soil Is low in available phosphorus 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 phosphorus present |
