An investigation of the amount of exchangeable potassium found in the surface and subsoils of a 33-year rotation experiment at Blacksburg, Virginia, was made. The rotation is located on Dunmore silt loam, Which is rated as a relatively fertile soil in Virginia. There are indications that sheet erosion has removed considerable amounts of the surface soil from the steeper slopes of the first nine treatments, and it is evident that an accumulation of this material has occurred on the four lower plots. It is believed by the writer, and others familiar with these plots, that.this erosion occurred prior to the beginning of the rotation in 1909. Composite soil samples were taken from each of the 8 treatments in each of the 4 series of this rotation and resulted in a total of thirty-two fertilized subplot samples, and a corresponding thirty-two unfertilized subplot samples were collected and analyzed for exchangeable potassium. Similar analyses were ma.de on the thirty-two subsoils of both the fertilized and the unfertilized treatments. The resulting data from the surface and subsoils were then statistically analyzed and the following conclusion drawn:
1. The applications of both muriate of potash and manure significantly increased the amount of exchangeable potassium found in both the surface and subsoils.
2. The surface soils are significantly higher in exchangeable potassium than the subsoils.
3. Exchangeable potassium may be leached from the surface horizon to the subsoil when applied in a complete fertilizer in excess of plant needs.
4. Manure applications which contained considerably less potassium than the potassium added to the soils in the muriate applications, resulted in larger amounts of exchangeable potassium in the surface soils, a 30 per cent increase in crop yields, and significantly less exchangeable potassium leached to the subsoils.
5. The difference in exchangeable potassium between the fertilized subplots receiving muriate of potash. and the unfertilized subplots. resulted in an increase in the amount of potassium found in the surface soils which was equivalent to 996 pounds of 50 per cent potash fertilizer, and this figure would represent an amount equivalent to 15 per cent of the total muriate added to the surface soils.
6. The difference in exchangeable potassium found in the subsoil between the fertilized and unfertilized plots represents an equivalent of approximately 9 per cent of the total potash added.
7. Significantly larger amounts of exchangeable potassium were leached to the subsoil from plots, receiving muriate of potash than soils which received manurial treatments. Greater utilization of the applied potassium is indicated by the manurial applications.
8. A chemical analysis should be made of the manure which is applied to this experiment in order to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the yields, and physical and chemical properties of these soils. / M.S.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/106248 |
| Date | January 1947 |
| Creators | Smith, George Kinnear |
| Contributors | Agronomy |
| Publisher | Virginia Polytechnic Institute |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Text |
| Format | 72 leaves, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | OCLC# 29869487 |
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