AGRKL DcPT,

Tpir^v'v^

Cotton

Culture

i — — • ""^^^—

A GUIDE FOR RAISING
PROFITABLE COTTON CROPS

4

^S

K
1

. ,

t •* *^ • i

• • T » *

• -' »

%

• . ' . J . > " < •»*•*»»*»•»*•

PUBLISHED BY

GERMAN KALI WORKS

i\

TICE: Every Farmer can obtain free of charge a
copy of one of the following books:

PRINCIPLES OF PROFITABLE FARMING
POTASH IN AGRICULTURE

FARMER'S GUIDE

FARMER'S NOTE BOOK

*TROPICAL PLANTING

STASSFURT INDUSTRY

TRUCK FARMING

PLANT FOOD

THE COW PEA

COTTON CULTURE

*TOBACCO CULTURE

STRAWBERRY CULTURE

ORANGE CULTURE

*FERTILIZING SUGAR CANE

*SUGAR CANE CULTURE

*FERTILIZING TOBACCO

*WHY THE FISH FAILED

VALUE OF SWAMP LANDS

*(Also supplied in Spanish Language)

State which of the above publications you desire and it
will be mailed to you free of charge.

ADDRESS

(iertnan lialt

NEW YORK BALTIMORE, MD. CHICAGO, ILL.

93 Nassau Street 1508 Continental Bldg. Monadnock Block

INTRODUCTION

The history of cotton culture is interesting. The cotton plant
has an ancient history, having been mentioned as being grown in
India more than 2,500 years ago. It was there used for the manu-
facture of clothing, which was said by the early Greek historian,
Herodotus, "to be of better quality and finer fiber than that of the
sheep." And in his account of the plant he used the very same term,
as is now applied to it by the Germans, namely, "tree wool."

The cotton plant was growing on the American continent at the
time of its discovery by Columbus, and cotton cloth has been found
in the ancient tombs of the Incas of Peru. The first efforts to grow
cotton in the United States were made in Virginia about the year
1621. In 1781 eight bags of cotton were shipped to England, and in
a few years the trade increased to 84,000 bales. In the year 1861
the exports were 1,841,000 bales, and yet, large as these figures ap-
peared, the exports kept growing in volume so that for the year
ending August 31, 1909, these amounted to 8,566,342 bales, the crop
in this country being 13,587,306 bales. The crop of the world for
the same period was over 18,000,000 bales of 500 pounds each. Of
the four great staples for clothing — cotton, silk, wool, and flax —
cotton has far outstripped all the others in consumption. Thus,
while fifty years ago only 2,500,000 bales were manufactured into
clothing material, the present high- water mark shows over 17,000,-
ooo bales thus used! And yet, as the editor, Mr. Edward Atkinson,
has stated, less than one-half of the people of the world are fully
supplied with cotton goods.

It is reasonable to assume that the demand will continue to in-
crease, and although there will be a natural increase in acreage and
production following high prices, it behooves the individual planter
to safeguard his own interests by increasing the yield on each acre
by intensive methods of culture.

3

274351

A, bud. B, blossom. C, boll or " square.

THE COTTON PLANT.

THE COTTON PLANT

SEED-COTTON is the fruit of a plant belonging to the
same botanical order as the mallow, hollyhock, and
okra. It belongs to the genus Gossypium, and the number
of species or types is variously stated to be from four to
forty-two. Agriculturally and commercially, cotton is
usually classified by "grade," according to quality, length
of fiber, etc., and the locality in which it is produced.

Two great classes are recognized: Oriental and Occi-
dental, or Eastern and Western. The chief distinguish-
ing feature between these two classes lies in the color of
the seed, the Eastern cotton having black seed, while
the Western varieties are green seeded. There are two
distinct types of North American cottons, (i) the famous
"Sea-Island" (black-seeded) or "long staple," and (2) the
"New Orleans" (green-seeded) or "short staple."

Sea-Island cotton seems to require the even moist
climate of low-lying districts, where frost is scarcely known.
As this fiber is produced in a limited area, its cultural
importance to the general cotton planter is not great.
The greater part of American cotton production belongs
to the "Upland." This "upland," or short staple cotton,
covering a vast proportion of the cotton area, is the cotton
of the planter, and the kind referred to in this book where
no other grade is specified.

5

COTTON CULTURE

With proper culture the cotton plant will grow from
four to six feet high, while under conditions particularly

Wild. Upland. Sea Island.

TYPES OF COTTON FIBERS.

Jndia.

Sea Island. American Upland

TYPES OF COTTON BOLLS.

favorable it will reach a height of eight feet or more. The
blossoms are white on the first day, become pink on the

COTTON CULTURE

second, and fall on the third, leaving the embryo "boll'*'
enveloped in the calyx. This boll or "square" is really
a seed pod in which the seeds develop surrounded by the
protecting filaments of fiber, which constitute the cotton of

commerce. On ripening, the boll

separates into three to five or
more cells, much as a chestnut
burr opens, the cotton fiber being
at first so compact as to preserve
the shape of the compartment it
had filled, but, soon drying, pro-
trudes from the pod in a fluffy
mass.

The cotton plant possesses a
well-developed tap root, extend-
ing, according to the vigor of the
plant and the character of the soil,
to a depth of three or more feet.
The lateral, or feeding roots, be-
gin usually within three inches of
the surface, and seldom extend
below a depth of nine inches.

Cotton fiber, when examined
under a microscope, resembles

a collapsed tube with corded edges twisted many
times throughout its length, and has the appearance of
an elongated cork-screw or carpenter's auger. These
convolutions or twists are less frequent as the fiber is less
matured, and are almost altogether absent in the imma-

8 COTTON CULTURE

ture fiber. In making thread, these "twists" interlace
with one another, which action assists in the formation of
a strong thread from comparatively so weak a fiber as
cotton. The average length of an ordinary cotton fiber in
the United States is one and one-tenth inches. Sea- Inland
cotton has a much longer fiber.

THE COTTON CLIMATE

In the United States , the thirty-seventh parallel of
latitude seems to mark the limits of economical cotton
culture, though in many places the line curves below that
latitude. A line drawn from Old Point Comfort, Vir-
ginia, through Cairo, Illinois, would cover practically the
same limits. Cotton is a plant which thrives in a very
warm or even hot atmosphere, providing the latter is
moist, and that severe drying winds are not prevalent.
Conditions are regarded unfavorable to cotton culture
where the winter and spring temperatures are low, as the
growing season is then liable to be too short. The time
from the planting of the seed to the bursting of the first
boll averages 130 days.

The first killing frost of autumn checks further growth
or development, and, according to its severity, destroys
the plant and all immature bolls. For economical culture,
the crop requires six or seven months of favorable grow-
ing weather. In the typical cotton climate, the mean
daily temperature increases from the time of seeding,

COTTON CULTURE 9

until about the first of August, after which time it falls
considerably, thus making two distinct periods in the
life of the plant.

During the first period of high and increasing tempera-
ture the plant should be in full growth, and by the first,
or middle of August, it should have stored up all the food
it needs. From this time on, a decreasing temperature
is favorable to the production of a maximum crop; for
this checks the further growth and induces the plant to
convert into fruit the food material it has accumulated.

Cotton thus requires an early start and a long season.
It is a semi-tropical plant, and must have semi-tropical
weather, long enough to mature its fruit.

COTTON SOILS

Cotton can be grown successfully on a great variety of
soils. In fact, cotton flourishes almost anywhere in the
Gulf States, whether the soil be sand, clay, sandy loam,
limestone, peaty or black prairie land.

On sandy uplands, the yield is generally small; on
clay soils, and with a wet season, the plant may attain
a large size, but gives little lint in proportion to leaf and
stalk. Rich bottom lands are apt to produce results
similar to those of clay soils in a wet season, and are
not ideal soils for cotton, but rather for corn and the
grasses; but with a favorable season they yield heavily.
The best type of soil for producing favorable results is
a light clay loam or medium heavy sandy loam with a
subsoil that is not too heavy and compact.

10 COTTON CULTURE

In the so-called "cotton belt" the presence of iron
causes many sands and clays to be colored a more or less
marked red, and farmers are accustomed to call them
"red" to distinguish them from "gray" soils. All things
considered, the red clay soil may be considered the more
favorable of the two, when sufficiently porous to be easily
freed of surface water — a condition usually indicated by
the presence of small quantities of fine red gravel. The
native forest growth of such soils is generally long-leafed
pine, with hickory, oak, and maple in the bottoms.

The amount and distribution of rainfall has much to
do with successful cotton culture, and this fact should
be kept in mind when selecting soils. On heavy clay
and rich bottom lands, the crop receiving too free a rain-
fall frequently becomes diseased or injured by insect
ravages, or is delayed in maturing by rank vegetative
growth until the appearance of frost. A good cotton
soil should maintain uniform conditions of moisture, as
sudden variations in the growing season affect the vitality
of the plant. Up to August, the soil should be continu-
ously moist, but not wet. A sandy soil is apt to be too
dry, and a heavy clay soil too wet. Excess of decaying
organic matter, or peat, indicates an excess of nitrogen,
as well as moisture, which tend to luxuriant growth of
"weed" at the expense of fruit and early maturity.

The young and tender cotton roots penetrate to a con-
siderable depth. If the soil is washed from around a well-
grown cotton stalk, a large number of fibrous roots will
be found on the laterals. The roots penetrate three and

COTTON CULTURE II

even four feet deep in a loamy soil, thus showing clearly
that the plant thrives best in a porous soil which is natu-
rally or artificially drained to a good depth. This is proved
by well grown plants making such root development and
also by the fact that such a root system enables the plant
to draw upon a larger water supply in case of drouth,
and to reach a larger source of fertilizer supply than
would be the case with a narrow or contracted root
development.

Physical difficulties in a soil may be at least partially
corrected as follows: (i) If the soil be heavy and wet
and thus cold in the spring, and inclined to bake during
a drouth, the remedy is ditching, or, better still, tile drain-
age. This should be followed by deep plowing and sub-
soiling in the fall, in order that the "freeze" may have
a beneficial effect. (2) The soil may be improved, if
too loose, by a leguminous crop such as cow-peas or clover,
whereby a large amount of organic matter is incorporated,
which checks the quick dissipation of water in soils which
are too porous. Lime, also, has a very powerful action
in opening compact soils, and in binding together those
which are too loose.

PREPARATION OF THE SOIL

Many large tracts of land, which the cotton planter is
called upon to cultivate, have never borne any crop but
their natural forest covering. It is always expensive to
clear the land. When the native growth of wood has a
commercial value, it is cut and sold for timber. The

12 COTTON CULTURE

cheapest plan of getting rid of the forest growth is about
as follows: The trees are girdled in autumn or winter,
followed by "firing" to kill undergrowth and remove
fallen timber. In many cases the plow can be put at
work without cutting out the larger timber, but then the
first plowing will be more or less imperfect, and the after
cultivation attended with considerable difficulty. In
about three years, however, the soil may be worked with
a fair amount of profit.

The great, if not sole obstacle, to the introduction of
improved agricultural machinery in cotton culture in the
South, is the presence of roots and stumps of trees. These
should be removed either by digging out or, in the case
of pine stumps, by burning. Dynamite is sometimes
used. Digging is too expensive for large tracts, but may
be practiced on small areas, when men and teams would
not be otherwise employed. The small Southern oaks,
which do not root deeply, are the trees most susceptible
to removal by this method. There are several kinds of
stump pullers which may be used effectively and the man-
ufacturers will gladly furnish full information as to their
use.

Removing stumps by the use of dynamite costs about five
cents per stump, and is a very simple operation. A small
cavity is made under the roots, the cartridge dropped in,
and the fuse ignited. There is no danger in the use of dy-
namite if properly handled, but it is always advisable first
to get instructions from an experienced person.

If cotton is to follow cotton, the old stalks should be

COTTON CULTURE 13

broken down as early as possible, so that they may have
time to decay in the soil. As the object is to get the soil
into such a condition that thorough plowing may be prac-
ticable, many rough-and-ready devices are used, but a well-
designed machine "stalk-chopper" is the most economical.

The old-fashioned way of plowing, still too much in
vogue, is by the use of a one-horse plow, shod with a turn
shovel. This crude implement has largely given way to
factory-made two-horse plows and these are being sub-
stituted, to an increasing extent, by the modern disk-
plow requiring two or three heavy mules, or horses. Such
a plow will turn and disintegrate the soil to the depth of
eight to twelve inches, or more, as may be desired. It
is a very effective implement.

Subsoiling is not now practiced to the same extent as
formerly and is of doubtful profit. If done it should be
confined to stiff clays and the work should be performed
in the fall or very early winter.

With heavy clay soils, and on land not subject to severe
washing, plow early in winter; with lighter soils, or soils
so situated as to be subject to washing, plow only shortly
before planting. To turn over a light soil in winter means
a considerable loss of fertilizer by the drainage of winter
rains. The general depth of plowing is about four inches;
it should not be less than six, and on heavy clay soils
eight inches is better. To increase the depth of a soil,
the plow should be set deeper very gradually. A gain
of one-half inch per annum is probably all that may be
safely attempted.

14 COTTON CULTURE

Bedding the Land. The foregoing suggestions in re-
gard to "preparation of the soil" refer only to the broad-
cast, preliminary breaking which will be necessary in
stiff soils or those covered with more or less trash, weeds,
grass, and the debris of the preceding crop.

If the soil does not crumble readily, and the surface is
rough and uneven, it should be harrowed once or twice
before the time for putting in manures and fertilizers.
From two to three weeks before planting time the land
should be laid off in rows varying from three feet wide,
on land capable of producing less than one bale of
cotton, to three and a half to four feet and upwards,
on land capable of producing from one to two bales
per acre.

The fertilizer, or manure, should be put in these furrows,
then the scooter-plow run in them to mix all together
and finally a broad list made by throwing two furrows,
back to back, on the center furrow. If these listing fur-
rows be made with a two-horse plow a very narrow balk
will be left to be split out just before, or immediately
after, planting the crop.

THE WASHING OF SOILS

To check the damage from washing as much as possible,
furrows and rows should run with the contour of the sur-
face around the hills, or at right angles to the line of the
greatest fall. The result is, that the furrow, or cotton,
row, crossing the line of the fall, offers an obstruction
to the flow of water down the hillside, and, by dimin-

COTTON CULTURE 15

ishing the flow of water, largely prevents damage by
washing.

The only effective check against washing of soils, es-
pecially subject to it, is terracing. This consists in laying
the slope off into slips parallel with the contour of the
elevation; that is, at right angles to the slope. By this
means, level steps independent of each other are made,
and the slopes between them are seeded to grass and thus
sod-protected. The foundation lines of the terrace may
be accurately laid off only by means of a regular terracing
level, preferably one with telescopic sights. Such an
instrument will cost from ten to twelve dollars. The
old-fashioned "rafter" level does fairly well for running
grade rows or grade ditches, but is not at all reliable
for locating a "dead-level" line, which is the essential
of the terracing system. The makers of the improved
levels usually supply a printed manual of instructions
for the guidance of beginners.

Each step thus made is plowed by itself, a side-hill 01
a reversible disk-plow being used, and the furrows are run
back and forth along the edge of the land instead of around
it, and are turned down hill. The steps gradually become
level. The practice of throwing up a considerable bank
or dam along the line of the terrace is not to be commended,
even though effective in preventing the water from escap-
ing, with destructive force, to the step below. It is better
to make the edge of the terrace perfectly level from end to
end, and without any bank or dam to pond up the water
along and above its course. The correct theory is to

l6 COTTON CULTURE

plow the successive steps, or inter-terraces deeply, so that
the soil will absorb any ordinary rainfall. In case of an
excessive downpour, the surplus water that might other-
wise form a pond will flow over the edge in a continuous
thin sheet, with little destructive force.

On very slight slopes, side-hill ditching, following the
contour of the slope, will serve to catch and remove the
flood of surface water. These ditches are easily thrown
up by the plow.

ROTATION OF CROPS

The chief object of a rotation of crops is to renovate
the soil; that is, to give it a change in cultural methods.
By such means various forms of insect ravages are checked,
the mechanical quality of the soil is improved, and its
natural fertility made more available. The rotation of
crops is not always advisable, nor always economical,
but as a general rule it is useful, inasmuch as it diversi-
fies the products of the farm. By including clover, or
other legumes, such as cow-peas, in the rotation, the fer-
tilizer bill for nitrogen can be cut down one-half, as these
leguminous plants take nitrogen from the atmosphere and
convert it into suitable plant food.

In a climate suitable for cotton culture, two hoed crops
should not follow each other. The soil under such cir-
cumstances becomes too much exposed to the sun and
washing rains. Thus, fertility in the shape of organic
matter is rapidly destroyed, or washed from the soil. If
the soil is very rich in organic matter, hoed crops may

COTTON CULTURE 17

follow each other in succession, but it is an unnecessary
waste of fertility, besides an injury to the physical condi-
tion of the soil.

The common practice in the South has been to grow
cotton continuously, with small tracts in corn for feeding
work-stock on the farm. Then the corn acreage is put into
cotton the following year. Under usual conditions it would
not be profitable to grow tracts of corn of such size that
the whole plantation would alternately be in corn or cot-
ton, or, each year half cotton and half corn. Corn is
rarely profitable as a sale crop in the South, hence good
planting would restrict the corn acreage to such tracts as
will about supply the needs of the farm or plantation.

It is entirely practicable to so diversify farm practice
as to provide for the home consumption of much larger
food crops. This necessitates the breeding and fattening
of beef cattle, the production of milk and butter, the breed-
ing of horses and mules, swine for pork and bacon, sheep
for mutton, and poultry and eggs for the table and for
market. Such a course would call for a larger production
of field crops for food purposes and at the same time
afford a wider field for rotation, a larger product of animal
manures, and the more rapid restoration and permanent
improvement of the soil.

Under such a system small grain and hay would become
a more valuable addition to food resources. The plan
would permit of a comparatively equal division of the
crop area on most farms between cotton, Indian corn,
small grain, cow-peas, etc.

1 8 COTTON CULTURE

A good rotation would be as follows:

ist year: Cotton, highly fertilized.

2d ye_tr: Corn and cow-peas, moderately fertilized.

3d year: Oats and wheat, highly fertilized and fol-
lowed immediately by cow-peas for hay, fertilized with
potash and phosphoric acid.

If desired, or more convenient, cotton might be followed
by oats, wheat, and other small grains (and cow-peas for
hay) and these last by corn the next year. So the rota-
tion would then read :

ist year: Cotton, highly fertilized.

2d year: Small grain sown in the previous fall, highly
fertilized, followed by cow-peas for hay in the spring.

3d year: Corn and cow-peas.

In the heart of the cotton belt, oats should be the prin-
cipal, if not the only, small grain, being sown in October
in "open furrows" and liberally fertilized, to be followed
immediately after harvest by cow-peas fertilized with acid
phosphate and potash and the vines made into hay.

On the northern edge of the cotton belt, and still further
north, wheat might be made the principal small grain
crop. Likewise, tobacco may be substituted, in whole
or in part, for the cotton in those sections where these
two crops compete with each other as money crops.

By the above-outlined system the larger part of the farm
would be pretty equally divided between three crops and
their incidental or "catch" crops. Other portions could
be devoted to various forage crops, fruit, truck, pasture, etc.

The effect of the plan would be to have one renovating

COTTON CULTURE 19

crop every third year — the small grain and cow-peas —
and a partial crop of cow-peas one of the remaining years
(with corn).

Moreover, the cotton fields that are to be planted to
corn the following year, may be sown down in September
or October to such legumes as crimson clover, bur clover,
or vetch, and fertilized with potash and phosphoric acid,
the crop to be turned under early in spring.

In sections where red clover succeeds well (limestone
regions), it may take a two years' place in the rotation
following cotton, intermitting corn, and itself followed
by small grain.

By adopting and faithfully following one of the above
systems, modified according to circumstances, it will be
easy to bring up, in three or four years, the productive
capacity of the soil from one-half bale of cotton, or twelve
bushels of corn, or twenty bushels of oats, per acre, to
double or even treble and quadruple these amounts.

A smaller area in cotton, which would be necessary
under such a plan, may be made to produce a larger num-
ber of bales at a smaller cost per pound, and therefore
yield a larger profit. A somewhat reduced area in corn
and a much increased area in small grain and legume
(cow-pea) hay, supplemented with suitable pasture, would
sustain and fatten for market the improved animals bred
for that purpose, and these would return to the soil a large
quantity of rich manures for the improvement and en-
richment thereof.

20 COTTON CULTURE

MANURING OR FERTILIZING

The proper selection and application of plant food,
called manures and fertilizers, is really the most im-
portant feature in making cotton at a profit. The
planter must always bear in mind that manures or fertil-
izers are useful in agriculture as plant food only to the
extent that they contain potash, phosphoric acid, and
nitrogen. Other substances are necessary, such as iron,
silica, lime, etc., but most soils contain such in ample
quantities, with perhaps the exception, occasionally, of
lime. The mechanical improvement of soils is quite a
distinct feature from the manuring or fertilizing of them.
Both lime and organic matter improve the mechanical
condition of soils, and potash salts (used in the form of
fertilizers) increase the power of soils to withstand drouth.

It is important at the outset for the planter to under-
stand fully just what work the three plant-food ingre-
dients are expected to do; for their work is precisely the
same, whether derived from farmyard manure or mineral
fertilizers. All three ingredients, potash, phosphoric
acid, and nitrogen, are absolutely necessary. If any one
of them is missing, plants will not thrive and grow. In
fact, each of these three fertilizing elements has its own
separate and individual function, and one cannot be sub-
stituted for the other.

All manures are valuable, almost solely for the potash,

COTTON CULTURE 21

phosphoric acid, and nitrogen they contain, and a short
account here of each may not be out of place.

Potash. Potash is essential to the formation and
transference of starch in plants. Starch is first formed
in the leaves of plants, after which it becomes soluble
enough in the plant cells to pass through the cell walls
gradually and later to be carried into the fruit, where it
accumulates and changes back into insoluble forms, thus
contributing to the formation of pulpy matter in the case
of fruits and of lint in the case of cotton. Not only has
this function of potash been well established, but it has
also been proved that no other element or substance can
take the place of potash in performing this work. Potash
is also important on account of its influence upon the
development of the woody parts of stems, roots, bark, and
branches.

Phosphoric Acid. Phosphoric acid is found in the
seeds of plants, and it has been discovered that plants
cannot come to maturity unless this element is present
in sufficient quantities. It hastens the maturity of plants
and tends to aid the plant in assimilating other fertilizer
ingredients. It also promotes the accumulation of al-
buminoids in the seeds.

Nitrogen. The influence of nitrogen in its various
forms upon plant growth is shown by some very striking
effects. The growth of stems and leaves is greatly pro-
moted, while that of buds and flowers is retarded. Ordi-
narily, plants, after a certain period of growth, cease to
produce new branches and foliage, increasing those already

Incomplete Fertilizer (Phosphate and Nitrogen). Yield, 1780 Ibs. Seed Cotton.

EXPERIMENT BY W. S. MURPHY, WILDERSVILLE, TENX.

Completely Fertilized (Potash, Phosphate, and Nitrogen).
Yield, 2040 Ibs. Seed Cotton per acre.

EXPERIMENT BY W. S. MURPHY, WILDERSVILLE, TENN.

COTTON CULTURE 23

formed very much more slowly, and commence, instead,
to produce flowers and fruit. If a plant is provided with
as much available nitrogen as it can use just at the time
it begins to flower, the formation of flowers may be checked,
while the activity of growth is transferred back to and
renewed in stems and leaves, which take on a new vigor,
and increase at the expense of fruit.

In the cultivation of cotton, the apparent action of nitro-
gen is principally to create a luxuriant foliage ; that of potash
to give strength to the framework of the plant and espe-
cially to develop the production of lint, while phosphoric
acid regulates the maturity of the plant and develops the
production of seeds.

LOSS OF FERTILIZER CONSTITUENTS
FROM THE SOIL

Potash. It has been found by experience that potash
does not wash through the soil to an appreciable extent,
because it forms certain combinations in the soil which
are not readily soluble in water, but which are, neverthe-
less, available as plant food. It may, therefore, be ap-
plied to the soil at the convenience of the farmer a month
or more in advance of planting the crop.

Phosphoric Acid. Phosphoric acid also tends to form
combinations in the soil which prevent leaching, never-
theless a loss occurs through the fact that it reverts into
compounds which are less soluble and less available to
the plant.

COTTOX CULTURE

Nitrogen. So long as the soil is covered with vegeta-
tion the loss of nitrogen will be reduced to a minimum.
On very light sandy soils, however, soluble forms of nitro-
gen, such as nitrate of soda or sulfate of ammonia, may

Not Fertilized. Yield. 1209 Ibs. Seed Cotton per acre.

EXPERIMENT BY T. C. WILLOUGHBY, FLORENCE, S. C.

be washed from the soil. Care should therefore be used
in applying them at intervals in two or more applica-
tions.

FERTILIZERS FOR COTTON

The cotton plant is a heavy feeder, demanding a soil
well stored with readily available plant food. All forms
of plant food must be soluble before they can accomplish

Completely Fertilized: 1500 Ibs. per acre of a mixture containing 2 % Nitrogen,
6 % Phosphoric acid, and 8 % Potash. Yield, 2178 Ibs. Seed Cotton per acre.

EXPERIMENT BY T. C. WILLOUGHBY, FLORENCE, S. C.

Incompletely Fertilized: 1020 Ibs. per acre of a mixture containing 8% Phosphoric
acid and 3 % Nitrogen. No Potash. Yield, 1962 Ibe. Seed Cotton per acre.

EXPERIMENT BY T. C. WILLOUGHBY, FLORENCE, S. C.
25

26 COTTON CULTURE

any useful purpose. The roots are the organs of food
absorption, more especially the fibrous roots, which branch
off on all sides and do not seek low levels.

The object of fertilizing is to make good the losses of
potash, phosphoric acids, and nitrogen taken up by pre-
vious crops, or losses by leaching, washing, etc., and to
induce a larger production than before. The mere analy-
sis of a soil forms no reliable guide to its effectiveness.
A soil may contain large stores of potash, phosphoric
acid, and nitrogen, and still fail to grow remunerative
crops, simply because 4hese natural supplies are in such a
form as to remain insoluble, and thus resist all efforts of
the plant to make use of them.

As a general rule, with but few exceptions, all fertilizers
for cotton should contain the three essential ingredients —
potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen, in proper propor-
tions. The exceptions are:

(1) When the soil to be planted is ''new ground" or
"fresh" from the forest.

(2) When planting onflow, moist, dark-colored bottom
lands.

In each of the above cases there is usually present in
the soil a good supply of nitrogen, as evidenced by the
"weed" growing too luxuriantly and bearing its crop of
fruit too late to mature. Therefore, a fertilizer contain-
ing a very small percentage of nitrogen, or none at all,
would be required.

In all cases, the larger the amount of fertilizer to be ap-
plied per acre, the more important it will be to properly

COTTON CULTURE 27

proportion, or "balance," the three essential ingredients.
If there be present in the soil enough phosphoric acid and
nitrogen to produce three hundred pounds of lint per
acre, but only enough potash to produce one hundred
pounds, the crop cannot exceed the one hundred pounds.
A chain is no stronger than its weakest link.

FERTILIZER FORMULAS FOR COTTON

It was once supposed that a careful analysis of a given
soil would indicate correctly the character and composi-
tion of the fertilizer proper for such soil. But this sup-
position has not been realized, except to a very limited
extent, in cases of peculiar soils and it is no longer relied
on. It is conceded that actual field tests are reliable
when properly planned and carried out. Many hundreds
and perhaps thousands of such experiments .were made
at Experiment Stations of the Southern States in order
to determine these questions and the results are not as
divergent as might be expected from the fact that the
Stations are located on soils of varying character and
formation.

There is more promise of a needed guide in the knowl-
edge of the chemical composition of the crop to be cul-
tivated. We know that any given crop removes from
the soil certain quantities of potash, phosphoric acid, and
nitrogen; therefore, it seems reasonable to conclude that
the return of these quantities of fertilizer ingredients to
the soil will restore its normal fertility.

The following chemical analysis of a cotton plant is

28

COTTON CULTURE

taken from official sources and is thoroughly reliable.
It is based on the growth of one hundred pounds of lint
showing the amounts, of plant-food elements removed
from the soil.

Potash.

Phosphoric
Acid.

Nitrogen.

Roots (83 Ibs )

I 06

O 43

o 76

Steins (219 Ibs.)

•? OQ

I . 2Q

3 . 20

Leaves (102 Ibs )

34.6

2 28

6 16

Bolls (135 Ibs )

2 44

I . 3O

•2 . A-I

Seed (218 Ibs.)

2 . <c t;

2 . 77

6.82

Lint (100 Ibs )

46

IO

-)A

. j^2

Total Crop (947 Ibs.)

13.06

8.17

20. 71

It is evident from this analysis that a crop of 100 pounds
of lint will remove from the soil 13.06 pounds of potash,
8.17 pounds of phosphoric acid, and 20.7 pounds of nitro-
gen. . Yet the proportions found by analysis are not
found to give the best results in actual practice; because
account must be taken of the great losses that occur through
heavy washing rains which remove plant food from the
soil; also, that nitrogen is sometimes lost by the action
of bacteria, as may be noticed in the decomposing manure
pile, while phosphoric acid is likely to become "unavail-
able" in the soil through its tendency to take insoluble
forms when brought into contact with lime and other
materials existing in the natural soil. For this reason it
is well to use more fertilizer than just what is shown to be
needed by the chemical analysis of the crop.

COTTON CULTURE 29

After all, since not much reliance can be placed on the
analysis of the soil and since the analysis of the crop cannot
be relied upon implicitly, the actual soil-fertilizer test in
the field is the best and most reliable guide to the compo-
sition of a fertilizer for certain crops and for certain soils.
We must ask the soil, and also the crop to be grown upon
it, what plant food ingredients and in what proportions
they will give the best results. This question, answered
by the soil and the crops themselves, serves admirably as
a guide in computing a fertilizer formula for a particular
crop on all soils of similar character and condition.

Bulletin No. 33 of the office of Experiment Stations, of
the United States Department of Agriculture, recommends
for cotton approximately seven hundred pounds per acre
of a fertilizer having the following composition:

Potash 3 per cent.

Available phosphoric acid 9

Nitrogen 3 " "

The Georgia Experiment Station, perhaps the most
prolific in experiments of this character, recommends the
following percentage formula for cotton on the average
worn uplands of middle Georgia:

Potash 3 per cent.

Available phosphoric acid 10

Nitrogen 3 " "

or potash i part, phosphoric acid 3^ parts, and nitrogen
i part.

A standard mixture of fertilizer materials which will

30 COTTON CULTURE

supply the three valuable ingredients in this latter pro-
portion is as follows :

Muriate of potash 70 Ibs.

Acid phosphate (14 per cent) 833 "

Cotton-seed meal 333

Nitrate of soda 100 "

Total i,336

or, if one should prefer that the formula add up to one ton,
then mix as follows :

Muriate of potash 105 Ibs.

Acid phosphate (14 per cent) 1,245

Cotton-seed meal 500 "

Nitrate of soda 150 "

Total 2,000

These formulas are practical summaries of many com-
binations of fertilizer which have been fairly successful
in actual field tests and are general formulas suggested for
average conditions as nearly as can be determined. How-
ever, soils differ widely in different sections of the country,
and a more detailed study of the treatment of soils is
given below. The nature of the soil is not the only point
to be noted in compounding a fertilizer. The previous
cropping of the soil and its physical character are very
important matters. If a rotation is practiced, it has a
very considerable bearing on the fertilizer.

Light, sandy soils, those of the long-leaf ed-pine type,
are usually very deficient in potash as well as nitrogen,
and especially when worn and old. Therefore, the for-

COTTON CULTURE 31

mulas should be so modified as to carry relatively more
potash and more nitrogen. This may be done by increasing
the quantity of muriate of potash by fifty per cent or even
more in some cases, and the cotton-seed meal by twenty-
five to fifty per cent, but on light sandy soils that have
been brought up by rotation of crops, green manuring
and the use of horse and cattle manure, the nitrogen car-
rying ingredients, may be proportionately diminished by
from twenty-five to fifty per cent. Therefore, for light
sandy soils, the following formula is recommended:

Muriate of potash 102 Ibs.

Acid phosphate (14 per cent) 642 "

Cotton-seed meal 636 "

Dry sand or earth filler 120

Total i ,500

This mixture would analyze about four per cent potash,
seven per cent phosphoric acid, and three per cent nitrogen.

In case it should be desired to mix a ton of the above
mixture, the following quantities should be used:

Muriate of potash 136 Ibs.

Acid phosphate (14 per cent) 847 "

Cotton-seed meal 857 "

Dry sand or earth filler 160 "

Total 2,000

As the soils tone up from "light sandy" to those of the
same type but of darker color and more loamy character,
such as may be described as "sandy loams," "medium
loams," and to the still higher type of "clay soils," the
formula should more and more approximate to the stand-

32 COTTON CULTURE

ard of three per cent potash, ten per cent available phos-
phoric acid, and three per cent nitrogen.

Where the soil has been improved by rotation and reno-
vating crops, the nitrogen may be reduced in amount,
until at last but little of this ingredient will be required
except a small amount of nitrate of soda (twenty-five to
thirty pounds per acre), in the furrow with the seed for
the purpose of giving the young plants a vigorous start.

WHEN. AND HOW TO APPLY FERTILIZERS

When the drill is used, distribute the fertilizer in a deep
furrow, and mix it by running a scooter furrow through
it. In very large applications, it will be a good practice
to divide the quantity between the center furrow and the
two listing furrows. The simplest method is to open a
furrow and sow the fertilizer through the drill, covering
with a harrow or bedding it on with a turn plow. If the
weather is windy, it will be found advantageous to drop
the fertilizer through a long tin tube and thus prevent it
from scattering.

The best method of applying fertilizer is by the use of
a machine distributor, drawn by a horse. There are sev-
eral very good ones on the market, and they are great
labor savers as they open the furrow, sow the fertilizer, and
cover it up all in one operation. The plan is to apply
about six inches deep through the drill and cover up so
that the seed will lie about two inches above the fertilizer.
The seed should not come in contact with the fertilizer, par-

COTTON CULTURE

33

ticularly when cotton-seed meal is the nitrogenous in-
gredient.

In applying fertilizers, bulk is often desirable, but it
should always be borne in mind that, in purchasing, the
object should be to secure as much potash, phosphoric
acid, and nitrogen, in an available form, as possible for a

Unfertilized. Complete Fertilizer. Incomplete Fertilizer.

627 Ibs. Seed Cotton per acre. (Potash as Kainit.) (No potash.)

1356 Ibs. Seed Cotton per acre. 981 Ibs. Seed Cotton.

FERTILIZER TEST BY J. M. CRUTCHFIELD, CULLMAN, ALA.

dollar, instead of as many pounds as possible of fertilizer,
regardless of the amount of this plant food. Thus, it is
more economical to purchase one ton of high-grade ferti-
lizer than three tons of a low-grade fertilizer, for the reason
that one ton of the former contains the same amount of

34 COTTON CULTURE

plant food as is contained in three tons of the latter; while,
in making the latter, three times as many packages are
required, three times as much freight must be paid, and
the labor involved in handling is about three times as
great.

Fertilizers should be finely ground and dry. When
damp, they clog the drills and may start decomposition

Fertilized with Acid Phosphate and Cotton-Seed Meal (No Potash).
Yield, 1 230 Ibs. Seed Cotton per acre.

EXPERIMENT BY J. W. TREADWELL, TALLADEGA SPRINGS, ALA.

too soon, so that, in many forms of organic matter, loss
of ammonia results.

Concentrated fertilizer chemicals may be increased in
bulk by mixing with dry earth or sand, and such mixing

COTTON CULTURE 35

will make an equable distribution easier. Materials, not
readily soluble in water, such as stable manure, cotton
seed, bone meal, etc., should be applied to the soil some
time before planting, say not less than two weeks; pot-
ash and acid phosphate should also be applied early.
Potash may be applied to advantage several weeks before
planting time and without danger of loss, except in the case

Completely Fertilized. Kainit, Phosphate, and Cotton-Seed Meal.
Yield, 1992 Ibs. Seed Cotton per acre.

FERTILIZER TEST BY J. W. TREADWELL, TALLADEGA SPRINGS, ALA.

of very light sandy soils which contain little organic matter.
If application of the fertilizer has been delayed until the
crop has commenced to grow, care should be taken that
it does not come in actual contact with the foliage.

36 COTTON CULTURE

On soils of loose texture and small retentive power, it
is best to apply at time of planting and to use, for the most
part, fertilizers containing nitrogen in a form which is
not too easily soluble, in order to make losses occasioned
by heavy rains as small as possible. Animal and vege-
table ingredients are especially suited for such cases.

Fertilizers containing ammonia compounds should not
be mixed with wood ashes, lime, or Thomas slag (odorless
phosphate), since some of the ammonia is likely, under
such conditions, to be liberated and lost; nor should these
substances be mixed with acid phosphate, because they
render the phosphoric acid less available.

Intel-cultural Fertilizing. The application of fertiliz-
ers during the growing period of the crop is quite
plausible in theory, but its wisdon is not confirmed in
actual practice. This is especially true in regard to phos-
phates and potash salts. These do not leach out of the
soil to any considerable extent and they require consider-
able time to get into condition to be effective. It is per-
missible and advisable to make one or more intercultural
applications of readily soluble nitrogenous ingredients such
as nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia, especially in
case the fertilizer applied at the usual time (before planting)
was deficient in nitrogen. For this purpose, nitrate of
soda is probably the most desirable. A small quantity,
say twenty-five or thirty pounds per acre, applied to the
furrows with the planting of seed, or scattered along on
the surface immediately above the covered seed, increases
the strength and vigor of the young cotton plants.

COTTON CULTURE 37

Experience seems to indicate that these intercultural
applications of nitrate of soda should not be deferred until
a later period than about the time the blooms commence
to appear and never in larger quantities than one hundred
pounds per acre at any one time.

FERTILIZING MATERIALS FROM THE FARM

In order to use farmyard manure to the. best advantage
on the average soil, it must be supplemented with commer-
cial fertilizers containing available phosphoric acid and
potash. As a general rule, with every ton of stable manure
applied, there should be from fifty to one hundred pounds
of acid phosphate and from twenty-five to fifty pounds
of high-grade muriate of potash or sulfate of potash.

In rotted manure the fertilizer constituents are, as a
rule, more readily available for the use of plants. Rotted
manure is less bulky and more easily distributed than
fresh manure. It is also less likely to promote the too-
rapid growth of stems and leaves as in the case of fresh
manure. For the improvement of the mechanical con-
dition of a soil, the best results will be obtained by using
rotted manure on light soils. It must, however, be re-
membered that on such soils there is more or less danger
that some portion of the valuable fertilizing constituents
may be leached out and lost. On this account it has been
found advisable to apply such manure to light soils only
a short time before it is needed by the crop, and the spring
is usually the right time to apply such rotted manure.
In warm, moist climates, it matters less whether the manure

38 COTTON CULTURE

is applied in a fresh or rotted condition. In cold, dry
climates, however, the use of decomposed manure is much
preferable.

The following three methods of applying manure on the
field are in common practice, viz.:

Applying in Heaps. By this method the manure is
distributed in heaps over the field and permitted to stand
some time before being spread. This method is objec-
tionable for several reasons. The labor of handling is
increased; there is danger of loss from decomposition and
leaching; the manure is not uniformly distributed, the
spots immediately beneath the heaps being more thor-
oughly manured on account of the leaching. Storing
manure in very large heaps is less objectionable, provided
the heap is carefully covered with earth, kept moist, and
not allowed to stand too long.

Applying Broadcast or in the Rows. When the crop is
one that is grown in rows, as is the case with cotton,
also corn, drilled peas, sugar cane, sorghum, etc., the fer-
tilizer should be deposited underneath the rows and bedded
on, although where large amounts are to be applied, it is
safer to broadcast the excess above the ordinary amounts
supplied in the rows, in just the same manner as with crops
which grow broadcast; as, for instance, the smaller grains
(not planted in drill), cow-peas, grasses, etc. Repeated ex-
periments at the Georgia Experiment Station have resulted
in securing double the increased yield of cotton where one
thousand pounds of concentrated fertilizers were applied
in the cotton rows as compared with the increased yield

COTTON CULTURE 39

from the same amount applied broadcast over the same
surface and plowed in, etc. The fertilizer should be ap-
plied deep enough to avoid the drying-out effect of a severe
drouth, and no definite rules can be laid down as to the
exact depth to which fertilizers should be applied since
this will depend upon the depth of the soil and local con-
ditions as to drainage, etc.

NATURE OF FARM-MADE MANURES

Stable and farmyard manure consists of the solid and
liquid excrements of animals fed on the farm, the excre-
ments being usually mixed with straw and waste products
of the farm.

Horse manure is difficult to mix thoroughly with litter
on account of its dryness. It is called a "hot" manure.
On account of its loose texture it easily undergoes decom-
position or fermentation, producing a high degree of heat.
Horse manure is very liable to lose more or less of its
nitrogen by the escape of ammonia.

Sheep manure is quite dry, and is commonly the richest
of farm-produced manures. Like horse manure, it under-
goes fermentation easily, and is classed as a "hot" manure.
It is also very liable to lose ammonia.

Pig manure varies greatly in composition, but is gen-
erally rich as compared with other farm-produced ferti-
lizer materials, yet contains considerable water. In
decomposing, it produces but little heat, and is therefore
called a "cold" manure.

Cow manure contains, as a rule, less fertilizing mate-

COTTON CULTURE

rials than any of the above-mentioned manures. It has
a large percentage of water, and, in decomposing, generates
but little heat.

Poultry manure contains a comparatively large amount
of all the different forms of plant food, being especially
rich in ammonia and phosphates. It undergoes fermen-
tation readily, and loses ammonia unless properly treated
with absorbents or preservatives.

AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF THE MOST IMPORTANT
FARM MANURES.

Manures.

Potash.

Phosphoric
Acid.

Nitrogen.

Lime.

(K20)

(P206)

N1

CaO

Cow manure (fresh) . . .

o . 40

o . 16

o-34

0.31

Horse " "

0-53

0.28

0.58

0. 21

Sheep

o . 67

0.23

0.83

0-33

Hog " M ...

o .60

o . 19

0-45

0.08

Hen dung " ...

0.85

0-54

1.63

0.24

Mixed stable manure

0.63

o. 26

o . 50

o. 70

As a rule, manure produced from working or fattening
animals contains from ninety to ninety-five per cent of
the fertilizing constituents contained in the food of these
animals. Manure made from cows in milk, and from
young growing animals contains from seventy-five to
eighty-five per cent of the fertilizing constituents contained
in the food. In the case of animals which are neither
increasing in weight, nor giving milk, the amount of fer-
tilizing materials in the manure will be nearly equal to
that contained in the food eaten. The foregoing state-

COTTON CULTURE 4J

ments presuppose that all the dung and urine are saved,
a supposition which is not often true, considering the
manner in which stable manure is commonly treated.

Perhaps the element of manures least understood is
the humic matter, of which ordinary manure contains
from six to ten per cent. The litter used in bedding stock
furnishes much of this, the quantity depending upon the
nature of the material used.

PROPER CARE OF FARM-MADE MANURES

Farm-made manures suffer loss from leaching or wash-
ing away of the soluble fertilizing ingredients and from
chemical decomposition. Losses from leaching may be
checked by building a covered manure shed, and by the
use of ample supplies of bedding material. If plenty of
bedding material is used, it will absorb the liquid portions
of the manure, and thus, in a large measure, prevent the
loss of large amounts of plant food contained in the urine.
In disposing of stable manure the modern method is to
be preferred, as it not only saves much labor of handling,
but there is less loss of valuable nitrogen from over-heat-
ing (fire-f anging) . It consists in hauling the green or
partly-rotted manure directly to the field, spreading it
and plowing it under. This method does not entirely
obviate the necessity of storing the manure as it comes from
the stalls under a shed, where it may be occasionally wet-
ted with water to prevent over-heating. Kainit, or acid
phosphate, may be sprinkled over the manure in the stalls,

42 COTTON CULTURE

or under the manure shed, in order to "fix" the ammonia
and prevent its escape in the form of gas.

PLANTING THE SEED

Width of Rows and Spacing. It has already been
elsewhere suggested that the width of cotton rows should
not be greater than three to three and a half feet on soil
capable of producing one bale or less per acre. As the
soil increases in natural productive capacity, or is im-
proved artificially so as to produce a crop of two bales
per acre, the rows should be proportionately wider. On
the ordinary worn uplands of the South, not capable of
a yield exceeding one-half bale per acre, three feet be-
tween rows is wide enough. With a possible yield
of one to one and a half bales, the width should be three
and a half to four feet. On rich low grounds and on the
rich black soils of the Gulf States, greater width may be
found desirable or necessary.

Spacing in the Rows. Experiments repeated through
a period of five years at the Georgia Experiment Station
show that the best results in cotton production are secured
by spacing the plants as nearly "on a square" as other
considerations will permit. With plants in three-foot
rows and two feet apart the yield was always larger than
when they were in four-foot rows by one and a half feet
in the row ; and the yield of the last was greater than when
the rows were five feet and the plants fourteen and four-
tenths inches. The lowest yield was where the rows were

COTTON CULTURE 43

six feet wide ana' the plants one foot apart. In all these
cases the space assigned to each plant was exactly equal,
being six square feet. It was also noticeable that the per-
centage of a full stand was higher in proportion as the
plants were more nearly "on a square. "

From other carefully conducted experiments it is safe
to conclude that, with one plant to every four square feet,
the yield will be greater than from any larger plant area,
and that the four square feet should approximate a square
shape as closely as consideration of increased cost of cul-
tivation may permit. With rows three feet wide this
area of four square feet would be secured by having one
plant every sixteen inches.

It should be borne in mind that the soil upon which
the experiments were performed was typical middle- Geor-
gia "upland," brought up from a worn, almost-exhausted,
condition to a yield of one to one and a quarter bales of
cotton per acre with the aid of judicious fertilization and
rotation. On similar soils not so improved, but capable
of a yield of one-half bale per acre (aided by fertilizers),
the rows should be three feet wide and the plants spaced
at ten to twelve inches in the rows. It is well to bear in
mind that an imperfect stand, either from frequent missing
places, or from too wide spacing, is one of the commonest
faults of upland-cotton culture and probably causes a greater
loss than does any defect of cultivation.

Varieties. There is practically "no end" to the num-
ber of so-called varieties of cotton, very few of which possess
any distinctive and peculiar characteristics. King's Im-

44 COTTON CULTURE

proved, a very early variety, is probably the most distinct
and persistent type in common cultivation, and is the parent
of dozens of other sub-varieties differing, chiefly or entirely,
only in name. The early varieties, of which King is the
type, are to be recommended for planting in high latitudes
and altitudes, or "fresh" lands, low-lying bottoms, or
whenever late planting is necessary.

Experiments at the stations show that in the heart of
the cotton belt a medium or even a rather late variety,
under ordinary conditions, will give better results three
years in four than will the very early variety.

The ideal variety is the one that has a strong, vigorous
stalk, medium to large bolls, and that continues to grow
and bear until late in the fall. It is advised that every
farmer should be guided by the variety tests at the several
stations. It may be well to add that for several years
past, there has been an increasing demand for upland long
staple from mills engaged in producing certain grades
of goods requiring a longer fiber than is afforded by the
common upland short staples, and it may prove a wise
thing to meet this demand. It is unfortunately true, how-
ever, that the upland long staple varieties are much less
productive in pounds of seed cotton and particularly in
the percentage yield of lint. To prove equally profitable,
the upland long staple should command a price from
twenty-five to fifty per cent higher than the short staples.

Selection of Seed. Every intelligent cotton grower
should devote much care to the annual selection of seed,
with the view to maintaining and increasing the product-

COTTON CULTURE 45

iveness and other desirable qualities. The following on
this subject is taken from Bulletin No. 75 of the Georgia
Experiment Station (1906):

"In the early fall every farmer should make careful
selections of the best bolls from the plants he judges to
be the best. The seed cotton from each of these bolls
should be placed in a separate package, and given a num-
ber to correspond with the plant which produced it. The
total product of each plant should likewise be separately
preserved, noting the number of bolls as well as the total
weight, and finding out the percentage yield of lint. Hav-
ing now all the facts attainable in regard to each plant,
it will be easy to determine approximately which is the
best plant, and to plant the seed from the reserved first-
selected bolls under the most favorable conditions. The
operation should be repeated every year, using the main
product of the best stalks to plant a seed patch, and the
seeds from the few selected first-choice bolls to plant the
next breeding patch."

The possibilities of the improvement of our varieties
of cotton are very large. There is no known reason why
the size of bolls, the percentage yield of lint, the length,
fineness, and strength of the fibers may not be greatly
increased by careful selection and cross-breeding. Why
not increase the size of the bolls to " 16 to i " or until each
boll shall yield one ounce of seed cotton? Why not in-
crease the percentage yield of lint until it shall average
fifty per cent or higher?

Possibly, if all the money and energy that have been

46 COTTON CULTURE

expended to invent a cotton harvester had been expended
in diligent efforts to increase the size of the bolls, the
problem of harvesting the cotton crop would have been
solved. With bolls weighing one ounce, a smart laborer
might "pick," in the ordinary way, one thousand to fifteen
hundred pounds of seed cotton in a day.

Method of Planting. (The Seed Bed.) Under the
head of "Bedding the Land," the method of making this
final preparation for the reception of the seed has been
given. It is important that the seed be deposited in a
fresh, smooth, moist bed, which may be secured by har-
rowing down (if necessary) and boarding off the beds,
using for this purpose a two by ten-inch board, five to six
feet long, a pair of shafts attached, and, drawn by one
horse, striking off two rows at the same time. This should
be done immediately in advance of the planting machine.
This machine should be adjusted so that the seed will be
about one inch below the surface when the latter is pressed
down, or one and one-half inches if a ridge of loose soil is
left by the coverer. At this time, in order to give the
young plants a good start, the twenty-five to thirty pounds
of nitrate of soda per acre may be applied, either in the
furrows with the seed (if the machine will do it) or on
top of the covered seed by hand.

Time for Planting. Cotton planters may have many
local rules to determine the proper time for planting.
The blooming of the dogwood is one of these rules, and
another is, "ninety days from when the 'katydid' is first
heard." Neither of these is at all reliable as a guide to

COTTON CULTURE 47

planting. The best rule is to plant at or about the date
which long experience has proved the most satisfactory,
provided only, that the soil shall be in workable condition, or
not "too wet to plow." This date will, of course, depend
upon the latitude and altitude, varying from March ist
in southern Texas and Florida to May 2oth in upper North
Carolina, southwest Virginia, southern Missouri and
Kentucky.

CULTIVATION

The first step after planting may be to run over the
field with either an ordinary smoothing harrow with the
teeth slanting backward, or the more modern weeder —
a very effective implement — running directly across the
rows or diagonally. If the seeds come up promptly before
a rainfall, the work may well be deferred until afterward.
But if a heavy rainfall shall occur before the seeds germi-
nate the work of the harrow or weeder will be very effect-
ive in preventing or destroying the crust that usually forms
after such a rain and which might prevent the tender
plant from coming to the surface. At the same time,
sprouting seeds of grass and weeds will be destroyed even
before they appear. This surface harrowing may be re^
peated two or more times, before the use of any other
cultivating implements will be necessary.

" Chopping Out " should commence when the seed
leaves are fully expanded and the third and fourth leaves
have commenced to enlarge. It should be done rapidly,

48 COTTON CULTURE

striking but one blow in the same place and reducing the
plants to bunches, ten to fifteen inches apart, of two to four
plants. The "hands" should be able to cover two to
three acres where rows are three and one-half feet apart.
The cultivator should follow rather closely after this
chopping, and the final work of "putting to a stand"
should be commenced within a few days after the chopping
has been finished. At this juncture the presence of "the
boss" or some reliable representative is absolutely neces-
sary in order to see that the work is properly done and the
stand preserved. If this be properly performed, and the
plowmen do their duty afterward, very little further
work with hand hoes will be necessary. The further
work of cultivation should be done with shallow running
sweeps, scrapes, or, better still, regular cultivators running
once or twice to the row, every week or ten days, the main
purpose being to keep the surface to the depth of one or
two inches, as nearly as may be, in a loose and open con-
dition.

The effect of this layer of loose pulverized soil is
to prevent undue evaporation and loss of moisture from
the soil, as well as to destroy grass. As a rule, all horse-
implement cultivation should cease when the cotton plants
have expanded laterally until the limbs nearly meet in
the middle, which is by July ist to August ist, depending
upon the location of the plantation. Continuing the cul-
tivation too long tends to produce "weed" at the expense
of lint.

During the first period of the development of the cot-

COTTON CULTURE 49

ton plant, from middle spring to middle summer, it makes
the growth of stalk and leaf, and gathers nourishment for
the future elaboration of seed and lint. This is the fruit-
ing season. The energies of the plant are now directed
toward making use of the materials it has already accu-
mulated, and the growth of foliage diminishes. The
planters assist the plant by reducing its supply of
water, through promoting surface evaporation; the soil
remains undisturbed, and gradually dries. It is pre-
cisely reversing the process desired in the earlier stage
of growth.

The practice of sowing crimson clover between rows
(about fifteen pounds per acre), immediately after the
last working, is growing in favor. The effect of this is to
cover the ground with a mat of vegetation which checks
winter washing. It also makes a valuable green manure
for turning under. Crimson clover is an annual, and for
forage purposes requires re-seeding each year.

HARVESTING AND MARKETING

Picking. The ripening of cotton naturally depends on
the climate or location. The first bolls open about May
1 5th in southern Texas; June 25th in middle Texas;
July ist in southern Louisiana; July loth in middle Louisi-
ana; July 1 5th in southern Georgia and pine-hill section
of South Carolina; August ist in northwestern Louisiana,
southern Arkansas, and coast of North Carolina; Sep-
tember ist in the Piedmont region, North Carolina, and the

50 COTTON CULTURE

red loam prairies of Texas; and September i5th in north-
ern Arkansas.

Picking commences about July loth in southern Texas;
August ist in southern Louisiana and central Texas;
August 1 5th in the pine hills of South Carolina and coast
of Georgia and South Carolina, and Mississippi uplands;
August 25th in northwestern Louisiana and Mississippi
bottoms; September ist in northern Texas, coast of North
Carolina, and northwest Georgia; and October ist in north-
western Texas and northern Arkansas.

The cotton field is usually picked over three times; in
the Gulf States the first picking takes place in August
and September, the second in October, and the third in
November and December. In Georgia, North and South
Carolina, Texas, and Arkansas, the first picking usually
takes place in September, the second in October, and the
third in November. As cotton gins badly when wet,
picking is not commenced in the morning until after the
dew is off the bolls, nor should it commence soon after
a rain.

Picking has thus far been entirely a hand process. No
satisfactory picking machine has yet been widely adopted.
The price paid for picking ranges from thirty to fifty cents
per hundred pounds. A fairly expert picker should har-
vest three hundred pounds per day, but in practice the
average is little over one hundred pounds. The planter
should prepare beforehand for harvesting his crop, as the
cotton must be picked as soon as properly opened, to
prevent losses from soiling, falling out, etc. Cotton left

COTTON CULTURE 51

in the field for a fuller opening than an average of two
hundred pounds per acre is liable to serious damage, and,
in case of storms, to almost total loss.

Ginning. The removal of the seed from the lint, gin-
ning, is now generally done by public steam gins. The
charge is very low, and it is cheaper than home-ginning.
Some of the large plantations have their own gins. Pack-
ing or baling follows the ginning, and the modern cylin-
drical bale closed in cotton duck, sewed instead of iron-tied,
is an improvement on the old style badly-made burlap
bale. In the matter of ginning and baling, the planter
is generally at the mercy of his local steam gin. If it is
a modern plant, he is very fortunate; if not, the only
remedy is to endeavor to have a modern plant established.

Marketing. The cotton crop is seldom marketed by
the planter direct. The custom is to haul it to the nearest
market town, where the bales are consigned to a factor,
or commission man, who furnishes storage and insurance,
samples each bale and sells its contents, making a fixed
charge for his services. By this system, the cotton passes
through several hands, each of which makes a handsome
profit. It is wrong in principle, and the remedy lies in
a thorough organization of planters. Under present con-
ditions, it is generally more profitable to sell direct from
the gin, and save cost of storage, insurance, and loss from
shrinkage.

52 COTTON CULTURE

DISEASES OF COTTON

In the treatment of cotton diseases an ounce of pre-
vention is worth many pounds of cure.

YELLOW-LEAF BLIGHT

This is also known as the "Mosaic disease." The later
stages of this disease are commonly known as "black
rust." The leaves take a yellowish color, followed gen-
erally by an attack of fungus, which forms brownish spots,
finally becoming black. If dry weather continues for a
long period, the leaves curl and fall.

Remedy. The disease is probably due to lack of proper
nutrition. The preventive is liberal fertilizing. Experi-
ments conducted by Prof. George F. Atkinson, showed a
considerable reduction of the disease from the use of kainit
applied as a fertilizer. Professor Atkinson also conducted
experiments at Auburn, Alabama, which confirmed the
view that liberal fertilizing with mixtures containing kainit
is an effective preventive. The action of the kainit in
conserving soil moisture is believed to have no little weight
in protecting the plant from the blight.

RED-LEAF BLIGHT

On this subject the following is quoted from "The
Cotton Plant": "The foliage of cotton frequently pre-
sents a red coloration, which is of the same nature as that
displayed in 'autumn leaves.' It is especially common on

KAIN1T AS A PREVENTIVE OF COTTON RUST

No Fertilizer. Badly Rusted.

TEST BY L. S. WHITE, SUMMIT, Miss.

Fertilized with 165 Ibs. Kainit per acre. Free from rust.

TEST BY L. S. WHITE, SUMMIT, Miss.

53

54 COTTON CULTURE

what are known as ' uplands,' where the soil is worn and poor.
When it occurs early in the season, the cotton sometimes
makes but little progress before the leaves turn red, growth
ceases, and early maturity sets in, and the leaves drop,
while the plant bears from one to two or several bolls."

Remedy. The same authority says: "It results from
an impoverished condition of the soil, showing a lack es-
pecially of potash and nitrogen, and probably also of
phosphoric acid. This can be remedied by proper ferti-
lizing and cultivation."

SHEDDING OF BOLLS

This is the most serious of cotton diseases. It occurs
most frequently in extreme wet or dry weather, or during
a change from one extreme to another. It may develop
under normal conditions, especially if the cotton plants
are very thick, or the variety is one which develops a very
large amount of fruit in proportion to the leaf surface.

Remedy. The authorities give no definite remedy.
The disease seems to be influenced by the power of the
plant to assimilate nourishment. It is quite probable that
this disease, like the yellow and red leaf blight, is a result
of imperfect fertilization. Thorough tillage should have
much influence in checking the disease, from its value in
preventing irregularities in soil water.

FRENCHING

The first sign of the disease is usually a light yellowing
of the lower leaves at the edge, or more commonly between

COTTON CULTURE 55

the forks of the main ribs of the leaf. The yellowing is
sometimes nearly white, and is the result of a failing nu-
trition of the leaf. At an early stage of the disease the
leaves begin to brown at the point at which the yellowing
first appeared; then they die and fall. In sandy land the
disease makes rapid progress; very few of the leaves may
show the color, but on a hot or dry day, they suddenly wilt.
Remedy. The authorities give no specific remedy. It
is a fungus disease, and may be checked by liberal ferti-
lization accompanied by clean and thorough cultivation.
If very severe, a rotation must be practiced to free the soil
of infection.

SORE SHIN

This is also known as "Damping off," and "Seeding
rot." It is a fungus disease, favored by excessive rainy
weather during the early stages of growth. It appears
in large plants which have been injured by bruising through
careless use of cultivators, etc. The best checks are drain-
age and cultivation. Care in working the soil will pro-
tect the larger plants.

ANTHRACNOSE

This disease attacks principally the bolls, but also in-
fects stems and leaves. The accompanying cut indicates
the nature of the diseased bolls. The disease origi-
nates in minute spots of a dull reddish color wMch
soon give place to a blackening of the tissue as the
spot enlarges.

COTTON CULTURE

Remedy. The remedy so far as is known is confined
to preventing the spread of the disease. Treating seed,
which may be infected, with hot water or corrosive subli-
mate solution may prove useful. Never use seed from cot-

Photo by Wilmon Newell.*

COTTON BOLLS AFFECTED WITH ANTHRACNOSE.

ton in an infected field. Improving the vitality of the
plant by rational fertilization and cultivation is the
best preventive.

ROOT ROT OF COTTON

The first indication is the sudden wilting of one or more
plants, usually first noticed late in June or early in July. The
fungus derives its nourishment from the living substance of

* Courtesy Georgia State Board of Entomology.

COTTON CULTURE

57

the root, and the result is the death of the plant from
starvation and lack of proper water supply. Examination
of the plant shows a mat of fungus adhering to the roots.
Wet weather is favorable to its development.

Remedy. There is no remedy, but the same preventive
measures may be em-
ployed as are used with
the other fungus dis-
eases, namely, liberal
fertilization, with thor-
ough drainage and till-
age. Infected plants
should be pulled up and
burned. Green manur-
ing, or the use of farm-
yard manures, should be
suspended. Rotation of
crops is advisable, with
corn, sorghum, millet,
wheat, oats, and other
members of the grass
family. On infected soil

cotton should not be planted oftener than every third
or fourth year, until the disease is eradicated.

COTTON-LEAF BLIGHT

This is a very common disease of the cotton plant. The
accompanying illustration shows the nature of the disease.

BLACK ROOT DISEASE OR COTTON
WILT.*

* Courtesy Georgia State Board of Entomology.

58 COTTON CULTURE

It usually attacks only the older leaves, or those which have
been weakened from other causes. The disease shows in
rounded, irregular spots on the leaf, which have a dull
reddish border surrounding a whitish or brownish inte-
rior. As the spots become old, the central portion fre-
quently breaks out, leaving the leaves with a perforated
and ragged appearance.

Remedy. The trouble is starvation and bad soil con-
ditions; the remedy is obvious. Kainit is claimed to be
an almost perfect specific for the disease.

COTTON-BOLL ROT

This disease affects the boll, seed, and lint. It appears
to originate within the boll and is not perceptible until the
contents of the boll have become decayed. The disease
is chiefly confined to the middle and top crop.

Remedy. The remedy, as with all diseases of this kind,
is liberal manuring and a rotation of crops. The disease
resembles Frenching in many characteristics.

ROOT GALLS

This is a disease caused by a nematode whichTliving in
the tissues, causes abnormal growth, termed "galls." The
injuries caused by the distortion of the roots so drain the
vitality of the plant that putrefaction takes place. The
plant becomes vitiated, and falls an easy prey to many
diseases.

Remedy. Rotation of crops is effective. Kainit ap-
plied in liberal quantities is an aid in checking the disease.

COTTON CULTURE

59

INJURIOUS INSECTS

It is stated on good authority that the average loss to
cotton growers from the ravages of a single species of
insect is estimated to amount to $15,000,000 annually.

A, showing damage by cotton- boll worm. B, cotton-boll worm.

COTTON-BOLL WORM.

The fight against these insects must be carried on in a
vigorous manner. The remedies should be studied care-
fully, and the application carried out to the smallest detail.

THE COTTON WORM

This is also known as the cotton caterpillar. The insect
is too familiar to cotton growers to require description.

6o

COTTON CULTURE

It attracts attention chiefly from the ragged condition
of the leaves.

Remedies. The most effective method of treating
plants is to dust those infected with dry Paris green.
Spraying with liquid insecticides is also effectual.

COTTON-BOLL WORM

The cotton-boll worm, the corne-ar worm, and the to-
mato-fruit worm are all of the same family. The following

A, adult stage. B, pupa stage. C, larvae stage.

THE BOLL WEEVIL (ENLARGED).

illustration shows the larvae stage of the boll worm. Full-
grown worms may be found in almost every intermediate
stage of color, from light green and dark brown to rose.
They may be striped and spotted, or they may possess
dark stripes or black spots.

Remedy. Plant a few rows of cow-peas as a trap crop,

COTTON CULTURE

6l

bordering the cotton. They are to be planted late, so
that blooming will not occur until the destructive brood
appears, usually in August. A portion of the row should
be sprayed over every night with a mixture of four ounces
of beer and two ounces of potassium cyanide. Trap crops
have been found the most effective means of fighting the
worm. Plant five rows of early maturing sweet corn to
every twenty-five rows of cotton. The silk ends of this
corn should be cut off and destroyed by burning, and the
corn plants removed. Three rows of dent corn are planted
so that the silking period will
occur about July ist, or a little
later. These rows are to be al-
lowed to mature, as they will at-
tract the moth from the cotton,
and the worms will be destroyed
by parasites.

MEXICAN COTTON-BOLL
WEEVIL

THE BOLL WEEVIL
AT WORK.

This is a small grayish weevil
measuring a little less than a
quarter of an inch in length. It is found in the cotton
fields throughout the season, puncturing and laying its
eggs in the squares and bolls. The squares attacked
usually drop, but the bolls either 'dry or rot.

The boll weevil is the most destructive insect enemy known
to the cotton plant. Its ravages at present are confined
to the Western part of the cotton-growing area, but it is

62 COTTON CULTURE

presumed that, within a few years, the insect will spread
over the whole cotton-growing territory.

Remedies. The best remedies are the destruction of
the insects where possible and bringing the cotton to an
early maturity, so that a large part of the crop may be
harvested before the weevils have greatly multiplied.

The cotton stalks should be burned and in the fall all
rubbish and fallen squares should be picked and destroyed
as fast as practicable.

For planting, early varieties should be chosen, and it
is very important to hasten the process of maturing the
cotton by the liberal use of fertilizers.

MINOR INJURIOUS INSECTS

Cut Worms. Cotton is sometimes injured by cut worms,
particularly if a clover sod has been turned under for the
crop. The worms may be destroyed by making bundles
of green grass, turnip or cabbage leaves, thoroughly dust-
ing them with Paris green, and distributing the bundles
over the cotton field in the evening. Grass may be thor-
oughly sprayed with any powerful insecticide, cut and
spread over the cotton field in small heaps.

Leaf -Feeding Caterpillars. Spray with Paris green,
or dust it on dry. This remedy applies to all caterpillars
of the leaf-feeding hatiit. Grasshoppers of the same habit
are trapped by attracting them to small patches of sweet-
ened bran, poisoned with arsenic.

COTTON CULTURE 63

COTTON PLANTERS MUST USE
CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS

There is no doubt that cotton planters must use chemi-
cal fertilizers if they want to raise good, paying crops.
The plain question may be and is often asked: Does it
pay to use chemical fertilizers? Our answer to this ques-
tion is summed up in one word: "Yes!" The time has
now come when the great majority of planters in the cotton
belt must use chemical fertilizers if they hope to succeed
and make any profit. In fact the most successful cotton
planters to-day are those who buy and use the most
fertilizers.

The best answer as to the value of chemical fertilizers
for cotton may be found in a bulletin issued by the United
States Department of Agriculture (Misc. Series, No. 13,
Division of Statistics). This bulletin contains the results
of tests in ordinary field practice by 1,495 planters. The
results are summarized as follows:

"It appears that there were twenty-one planters who
spent less than $i each per acre for fertilizers, and that
their average profit was $4.62 per acre. The planters
who spent from $i to $1.99 per acre had an average profit
of $5.09 per acre; those who spent from $2 to $2.99 per acre
had an average profit of $5.34; those who spent from $3
to $3.99 per acre had an average profit of $5.91; those
who spent from $4 to $4.99 per acre had an average profit
of $7.96; those who spent from $5 to $5.99 per acre had a
profit of $8.76; while the planters whose fertilizers cost

64 COTTON CULTURE

them $6 per acre and over had an average net profit of
$12.51 per acre.

"It will thus be noticed that the increase of expense
for fertilizer in cotton raising apparently leads to increased
profits; and further, that so far as these results disclose,
the point of diminishing returns was not reached in the
total for the five States (South Carolina, Georgia, Florida,
North Carolina, and Alabama) that are included, and
where it was reached, apparently, in any State, the result
is probably a chance one due to the small number of returns.

"The planters who lost did so because of more or less
crop failure due principally to drought, in which case, as
is well known, the full value and effect of manures or
fertilizers can not be shown; there is, however, little
actual loss, as the plant food is largely retained in the soil
for the next season's crop. Had these crops been raised
under normal conditions, losses would have been gains,
although not necessarily equivalent ones."

Additional official evidence is furnished from testimony
obtained by a Congressional Committee (Agriculture and
Forestry) appointed to examine into the conditions of
cotton planting. A report was made to this Committee
from Beaufort County, N. C., stating that about ten per
cent of the land in that district would produce five hundred
pounds of lint cotton per acre if fertilized. From Barn-
well County, S. C., an answer to the Committee's circular
letter states: "There is from thirty per cent to fifty per
cent profit in the use of fertilizers, depending on the grade
and the land. Without fertilizers we would have to quit
planting cotton."

COTTON CULTURE 6$

COST OF MAKING COTTON

The cost of producing a pound of cotton depends on so
many contingencies that all calculations are more or less
misleading and of little service to the practical farmer or
to the student of agriculture.

The actual fixed expenses vary considerably in different
farms and under different managements. They may vary
from $12 to $20 per acre. At any given figure for fixed
expenses the cost per pound of cotton will vary inversely
as the yield per acre. Practically, it costs as much to cul-
tivate a poor acre as it does to cultivate a rich acre, the
difference being in rental value. It costs some farmers
fifteen cents per pound of lint; others, twelve, eight, and
so on down to five cents. At the lower figure (five cents) ,
naturally rich, highly improved, and liberally fertilized land
would be required, also, the best seed and the most skillful
cultivation.

Possibly the average cost of producing lint (at present,
1909), is around eight cents per pound.

It is quite certain that the use of a well-balanced fer-
tilizer is an indispensable aid in producing cotton on ordi-
nary soils at .a low cost. Eight hundred pounds, or about
$10 worth, of a properly balanced high-grade fertilizer
may, under favorable conditions, cause an increase of
eight hundred pounds of seed cotton or two hundred and
sixty pounds of lint, worth (at ten cents) $26.60, and five
hundred and thirty-four pounds of seed, worth (at eighty
cents per cwt.) $4.27, making a total of $30.87. Even in

66 COTTON CULTURE

an average year the increased yield may be as much as
$20 for each $10 worth of fertilizer, or one hundred per
cent profit. At the present (1910) high prices of cotton
the average profits are much larger.

GENERAL REMARKS ON FER-
TILIZERS

As several crops of different kinds may be grown in
rotation with cotton, it may be useful to give a general
review of the best fertilizer practice. All the crops mak-
ing part of a rotation must be fertilized, except when a
cow-pea, clover, or other leguminous crop is raised. While
nitrogen may be secured indirectly as a part of a rotation
system through a special property of leguminous crops,
potash and phosphoric acid must always be applied direct.
It is well known that different crops need different quan-
tities of potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen compounds.
If we cannot depend upon the soil to furnish any consid-
erable quantity of plant food, then the farmer must use,
at least, the amounts of fertilizing materials' removed by
each crop. In the following table we give the number
of pounds of potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen used by
different kinds of crops grown on one acre of land.

COTTON CULTURE

67

TA.BLE GIVING THE AMOUNTS OF FERTILIZING INGREDI-
ENTS (POTASH, PHOSPHORIC ACID, AND NITROGEN) CON-
TAINED IN THE CROP FOR ONE ACRE.

Crop.

Yield.

Straw, Etc.

Potash.

Phosphoric
Acid.

Nitrogen.

Beans

•?o bu

2 700 Ibs.

7Q Ibs

•20 Ibs

7? Ibs

Cabbage ....

30 tons

2 7O "

70 "

108 "

Clover * green

15 tons

140 "

1 2O "

Clover, dry . .

2 "

88 "

18 '

81 "

Corn

70 bu.

6 ooo Ibs.

e r "

48 "

82 "

Mixed hay

s OOO "

77 "

18 "

7O ' '

Oats.

60 bu.

-2 2OO "

62 "

2 2

c r "

Onions

45,000 Ibs.

72 "

-2J "

71 "

Peas
Potatoes
Timothy

30 bu.

200 "

3,000 Ibs.
1,500 '

4. OOO "

52
74

QA "

33

21

2-2 "

107
46 "

88 "

Tobacco ....

i 600 Ibs.

I 400 "

Tomatoes ....

10 tons

stems

200 "
CA "

16 "
20

75 "

32 "

Turnips

700 bu.

5 tons

i so '

52 "

79

* Crimson clover.

APPENDIX

DESCRIPTION OF FERTILIZER MATERIALS

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of fertilizers:
those which are in themselves a direct source of plant food,
and those which by their action tend to make plant-food
fertilizers more available. While crops may be grown
without the use of fertilizers of the second class, no crop
can live without the fertilizers of the first class, even though
ample applications be made of the former.

68 COTTON CULTURE

Fertilizers of the second class comprise lime, gypsum
(plaster), and common salt, and are sometimes called
"stimulant fertilizers.'' They tend to make rapidly avail-
able the stores of potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen
naturally present in the soil. When stimulant fertilizers
are used exclusively for a term of years, the soil each year
loses potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen, which are not
replaced. The inevitable result of such treatment must

No Fertilizer. Yield, 540 Ibs. Seed Cotton per acre.

RESULTS OF FERTILIZER TEST BY C. L. FREELING, BEEBE» ARK.

naturally be the exhaustion of these important food con-
stituents from the soil.

True fertilizers contain forms of plant food, which con-
tribute directly to the growth and substance of plants.
Such materials may contain potash, or phosphoric acid
compounds or nitrogenous substances; or any two, or all

69

Fertilized with Potash, Phosphate, and Nitrogen.

RESULTS OF FERTILIZER TEST BY C. L. FREELING, BEEBE, ARK.

Fertilized with Phosphate and Nitrogen. (No Potash.)
Yield, 885 Ibs. Seed Cotton per acre.

RESULTS OF FERTILIZER TEST BY C. L. FREELING, BEEBE, ARK.

70 COTTON CULTURE

three of these forms of plant food. The tables given at
the end of this chapter show the composition of the most
commonly used fertilizers.

MATERIALS SUPPLYING POTASH

Kainit is the most common product of the German
potash mines. It is a mixture of several different com-
pounds, containing twelve to thirteen per cent of actual
potash, together with about thirty-five per cent of common
salt, also magnesia salts.

Muriate of Potash, also a product of the Stassfurt
mines, is the main source of supply for potash for commer-
cial fertilizers in our market, and contains from fifty to
fifty-three per cent of actual potash.

Sulfate of Potash is a product of the German mines
and as found in the market contains from forty-eight to
fifty-one per cent of actual potash.

Sulfate of Potash Magnesia is known also as double
manure salt, or low-grade sulfate of potash. This ma-
terial contains twenty-six to twenty-eight per cent of
actual potash and thirty-two to thirty-six per cent of
sulfate of magnesia.

Wood Ashes contain a small amount of potash, which is
present chiefly in the form of carbonate.

MATERIALS SUPPLYING PHOSPHORIC ACID

Bones consist chiefly of phosphate of lime, which con-
stitutes from one-half to three-fifths of the weight of the
bone. The remaining portion is a soft, flesh-like sub-

COTTON CULTURE 7 I

stance commonly called gelatine. It is distributed through-
out the entire mass of bone, and is rich in nitrogen. When
bones are burned, the nitrogenous matter is driven off
and only the mineral portion of phosphate of lime remains.
Bones, such as are used in making commercial fertilizers,
contain four to five per cent of nitrogen and from twenty
to twenty-five per cent of phosphoric acid. About two-
thirds of the latter is insoluble and approximately one-
third available.

Bone Products are valuable fertilizers, as they supply
phosphoric acid, and generally nitrogen also. The most
common forms are bone-black, bone meal, and bone tankage.
Bone-black is a by-product of sugar refining, and contains
from thirty to thirty-five per cent insoluble phosphoric
acid. Dissolved bone-black contains sixteen to seventeen
per cent available phosphoric acid. Bone meal is simply
ground bones, steamed or raw. It contains two and one-
half to five per cent of nitrogen and twenty to twenty- five
per cent of phosphoric acid. Bone tankage is a very irreg-
ular product, but follows bone meal closely in composition.
It is a by-product of the smaller packing houses.

Phosphate Rock is a mineral phosphate, found in
various States. In a raw condition it contains from
twenty-five to thirty-five per cent phosphoric acid, all of
which is insoluble and not available for plant food. The
mineral has to be treated with sulfuric acid, before the
phosphoric acid can be liberated.

Acid Phosphates are known under several different
names, such as superphosphates, dissolved bone, dissolved

72 COTTON CULTURE

rock, dissolved bone-black, etc. Acid phosphates are
formed by treating some form of insoluble phosphate, as
rock phosphate, bone, bone-ash, etc., with sulfuric acid.
By this treatment there are formed soluble phosphates
of lime and gypsum (sulfate of lime) in nearly equal
proportions.

MATERIALS SUPPLYING NITROGEN

Nitrate of Soda, known as "Chili saltpeter," is found
in large deposits which have been formed in the rainless
regions of Chili and Peru.

Sulfate of Ammonia is formed from waste materials
produced in the manufacture of gas or coke.

Whole Cotton Seed is rather slow in becoming avail-
able as a fertilizer. By rotting to "kill" the seed it is
made more effective. The common practice is to pile in
large heaps and leave standing for several months. This
not only kills the seed, but also prevents the injurious
action sometimes observed from using raw seed as manure.
But a farmer cannot afford to use sound cotton seed as a
fertilizer. The seed should be exchanged for cotton-seed
meal.

Cotton- Seed Meal is the product formed by removing
the oil from cotton seed by pressure, after which the ma-
terial is dried and ground. The hulls of the cotton seed
also possess some fertilizing value.

Tobacco Stems are the refuse from tobacco factories.

Dried Blood consists of blood obtained from slaugh-
tering animals. It is prepared for market by coagulating,

COTTON CULTURE 73

drying and grinding. The color varies from red to
black.

Dried Fish Scrap consists of the meat and bone of
fish after the oil has been pressed out; it is dried artifi-
cially and ground for market.

Meat Scrap or Tankage, etc., is slaughter-house refuse,
dried and ground.

Nitrogenous Guanos are formed in dry regions. The
Peruvian guano is rich in nitrogen, containing seven per
cent or more, and usually contains seven to twelve per cent
phosphoric acid and about one per cent of potash.

There are several inferior sources of nitrogen, such as
hair, hoof-meal, or horn-dust, leather scrap or meal, etc.
While all these materials contain much nitrogen, they de-
cay so slowly in the soil that they have a very uncertain
fertilizer value.

TERMS USED IN STATING FERTILIZER ANALYSES

Fertilizer dealers and the Experiment Station Bulle-
tins treat the different forms of fertilizer materials sep-
arately, and it is important that the farmer should be
familiar with these trade names and understand what
they mean.

The following list contains most of the terms used in
stating fertilizer analyses:

Potash is expressed as: (a) Potash, (6) Potash (actual),
(c) Potash S. (or Sul.), (d) Potash (soluble), (e) Potash
as Sulfate, (/) Potash equal (or equivalent) to Sulfate
of Potash, (g) Sulfate of Potash, (h) Potassium Oxide.

74 COTTON CULTURE

Phosphoric Acid is expressed as: (a) Phosphoric Acid,
(6) Soluble Phosphoric Acid, (c) Reverted Phosphoric
Acid, (d) Available Phosphoric Acid, (e) Soluble and
Available Phosphoric Acid, (/) Insoluble Phosphoric Acid,
(g) Total Phosphoric Acid, (h) Phosphoric Acid equal (or
equivalent) to Bone Phosphate of Lime.

Nitrogen is expressed as: (a) Nitrogen, (6) Ammonia,
(c) Nitrogen equal (or equivalent) to ammonia.

POTASH

(a) Potash, as used in connection with fertilizers, al-
ways means a compound containing potassium and oxygen,
known chemically as potassium oxide. Potash is never
found as such in fertilizers, but chemists, when expressing
the results of analyses, use this form as a convenient stand-
ard for reference. Fertilizers generally contain potash in
such forms as sulfate of potash, muriate of potash, or
carbonate of potash. Instead of stating .the amount of
sulfate, muriate, or carbonate of potash present in a fer-
tilizer, in giving the results of analyses, its equivalent
amount is stated only in the form of actual potash.

(b) Potash actual is simply another name for potash,
as distinct from sulfate, muriate, etc.

(c) Potash S. (or Sul.), means sulfate of potash. This
is quite often used by manufacturers in giving guarantees.

(d) Potash soluble represents the amount of potash
that dissolves in water and is available for the use of plants.
The different forms of potash commonly used in ferti-
lizers are readily soluble in water.

COTTON CULTURE 75

(e) Potash as Sulfate means simply sulfate of potash.
(/) Potash Equal (or equivalent) to Sulfate of Potash

is an expression which means simply sulfate of potash.

(g) Sulfate of Potash signifies that this compound
is actually present in the fertilizer, and that there is no
muriate present.

(h) Potassium Oxide means the same as potash, or
actual potash.

PHOSPHORIC ACID

(a) Phosphoric Acid, as used in connection with fer-
tilizers, is a compound containing phosphorus and oxygen,
which in fertilizers is never found by itself, but in combi-
nation with lime. Phosphoric acid stands for a certain
amount ot phosphate of lime. We may say roughly that
one part of phosphoric acid is equivalent to about two
parts of phosphate of lime.

(6) Soluble Phosphoric Acid represents the amount of phos-
phate of lime that dissolves easily in water. It is formed
by treating with sulfuric acid some form of insoluble
lime phosphate, such as bones, phosphate rock, etc. The
phosphate thus formed is readily soluble in water.

(c) Reverted Phosphoric Acid is formed from solu-
ble phosphoric acid under certain conditions into which
we need not inquire here. Suffice it to say that the solu-
ble compound of phosphoric acid often changes to some
extent, on standing, into a form which, while less soluble,
is still quite readily available as plant food.

(d) Available Phosphoric Acid includes both the solu-

76 COTTON CULTURE

ble and reverted forms of phosphoric acid, because both
forms are available for the use of plants.

(e) Soluble and Available Phosphoric Acid is an expres-
sion which means the same as available.

(/) Insoluble Phosphoric Acid represents the form of
phosphoric acid in raw phosphate of lime, and which is of
least value for agricultural purposes.

(g) Total Phosphoric Acid represents all of the phos-
phoric acid compounds without regard to the forms in
which they exist. The total phosphoric acid is, therefore,
the sum of the soluble, reverted, and insoluble forms; or,
to state it in another way, the sum of the available and
insoluble forms.

(h) Phosphoric Acid equal (or equivalent) to Bone Phos-
phate of Lime is an expression which usually means
nothing more or less than insoluble phosphoric acid.

NITROGEN (AMMONIA)

(a) Nitrogen is a gas and, in this form, cannot be used
in fertilizers. Therefore, whenever we speak of nitrogen
in fertilizers we do not mean that nitrogen exists in them
as simple nitrogen. The nitrogen in fertilizers is always
combined with other elements, and may be present in one
or more different forms: (ist) in the form of nitrates, as
nitrate of soda; (26.) in the form of ammonia compounds,
as sulfate of ammonia; and (3d) in the form of organic
matter, animal or vegetable, as dried blood, meat, tobacco
stems, etc. Chemical analysis according to official methods

COTTON CULTURE 77

does not attempt to ascertain and state in which form or
forms the nitrogen is present in a fertilizer.

When, therefore, nitrogen is expressed in an analysis
or guarantee as "ammonia," it refers to the entire amount
of nitrogen, without regard to the particular form or forms
in which it is present.

(6) Ammonia consists of nitrogen combined with hydro-
gen. A pound of nitrogen will form more than a pound
of ammonia, because the ammonia formed from a pound
of nitrogen will contain that pound of nitrogen plus the
necessary amount of hydrogen added to form ammonia.
The chemical relations of nitrogen and ammonia are such
that fourteen pounds of nitrogen will unite with exactly
three pounds of hydrogen, and will, therefore, produce
seventeen pounds of ammonia; or one pound of nitrogen
will make 1.214 pounds of ammonia.

(c) Nitrogen equal (or equivalent) to Ammonia is a form
of expression which simply means that the nitrogen is
stated not as nitrogen but as ammonia.

It would be better on every account if all guarantees
stated simply nitrogen and never mentioned ammonia at
all. As a matter of fact, compounds of ammonia are quite
uncommon in commercial fertilizers, because nitrogen in
this form is the most expensive and, therefore, least used.
Strictly speaking, the term ammonia should never be used
except when sulfate of ammonia or some similar com-
pound is present in the fertilizer.

The following table gives the composition of the most
commonly known fertilizer materials:

COTTON CULTURE

Ml

t^» CO ^

CS r«-

5 co

ON co *^

5 CM r^

0

J3 EO!

\O ^ c'

5 VO M

T> M CS

H ir

N

0* ^

CS Ci-

5 <N

co c/

5 t-t

.a a*

lO

0

vO

t^ X

LO

lull

o<>«

H

: 5

• o

S 3

\O *^"

1

04

H

^

M

^

W

.a ^

!>. VO U-

•> M ON

ON ON v

> QS LT

(^

|s|S

<N M f

o o o

5 co M
O O

CO M C*

o o o

5 M C4

c c

0

8<£ fe

^0 CO cr

1 0 "fr

Tt ^- CM

»^ 0

10

£

<N M T*

5 CM M

CO M C<

-1

Jy^V^

O c>

oM "

.

*~|

4J ^

if

IO,

C C+3

, •;..-,

\f

TnJ C O

||J

•'.

! !

!

3

O

w.s^1

'

'• '-

;

1 • • **

if

>

O <J

*j <3

;

: 3
\f

' s

S*

<N

O -4^

|

2 .§

•

£ «

5

OJ

Carolina phospha
Carolina acid phc

a lonrl -rr>r>V

a pebble phosphal
a acid phosphate

ssee phosphate . .
ssee acid phospha

k1o/->V Ccr.p.nt'l

p. y^^^x^^y . .

black (dissolved)

mpa1

(dissolved)

1 1 l

o o ^

Cfl C/3 &

2 12 r2
5 ^o ^

0) 0)

g § I

0 0} C

; <u a

H C C

3 o C

5 PQ 2

i ^ :

H C

) O

3 22

COTTON CULTURE

i\l

J ' , ' ' '

: '/' - \\\

1 §

10 <N rf O

M M

00

•; "::'"^i

•s^fe

PS

: a a a a
'. "">

ro w M OO

vO

1 ^ c
w - « ^

pi

] ]

00

10

^

M M M IO

IO to to IO

to

10 *?

"S'"+j

ON \O l-~ -*t to t^ M

ro

ON ^- *^ •*

Q^ o c

M CS M M M H

M

IP

•Isjj

O O O O O O O

3

3333

cr^On

IO IO

to

IO tO

W.H

<2 ? ? M ? ° ^

M

OO ^O ^O W

c +>

O W ^ M M O ON

M

10

M M M M M

M

O O O O O O O

+J 4J +J ^_> +J ^j ^j

3

C O O O

24i

IO

to

10

to ON C* O M to r--

ON

\O ^ *o oj

: : :;; : • '-'i- ~' :'• :" :'

'• '.'.'.'.'. \

<D /--. I !

• :/':--> : !-

'S -d a) ' •
. .2 vJ o3 bo

: § ^ ^ ^ : :

1 1 ;| | 1 : :

o ^ v~*' ^^ ^ ! I

t/3 t|_| T^ r^ OJ

«^000^ : . • . 1-:
0 jj ,2 0 | ^ ^

« Is ^ -° a Sf> SP

•H r-i __l__i TO C3

1111 § 3 *

g 5 Q Q 8 H H

OH
§
1
1

Q

Cotton-seed meal
Cotton seed ....
Castor pomace .
Tobacco stems .

79

80

'C0TTON CULTURE

*. I :• :,«*:

', . • v io 10

CO H W N IO

•

o *»

rj- CO •* *

*

'o y

3 3 333:

;

tu

C/D

81

CO IO I

'.

^*

io O H o O *

*

H

Tfr CO Tf

. .P

.$2 Cti

IO

go|

'. I ! I w

M

PH

"o. °

o

O

0

Jrsffe

M

H

C/3

PH<!

0

^rt

10

Pti

"C'G-M

4J 0 C

* I I I I

*

CO

0
CO

g|8

: : : : :

|

B

a)

w.c^

.

•

^?

Q

Sc

.

.

CO

w

C/2

i

'

3

^

II

'

*

S

10

o

^

I ; co

s

jl

10 «

3

H

i_5 g

00 H

IO

04

! o H I o

10

CO

^

CO

(X

10

W

S)

lo|

rj- M o O) o OO

IO IO CO M CJ

«

oo

H

§3S

4J -M 4-> -*J

3

3

cti

&c

00 00 t^ W

M

10

PH
fe

! I

|

o

to . ^ *v

*

fc

e : e ^

x-v

o

o

o

GQ

2

T^H ' ^H" ^

•« ^ ; w »^

1 !; 1 1

g, a, : P, ^ w

<j_i r3 i»

^
o

CT3

C/3
0)

1

O

^ ^ • "S S ^

i

CO

^ if I'i -a § -S

'Ct2*H«+2<u c c °

1 1M Is t2 s 1

o3

•d

8

rt

1

274351

'ERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY