374 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Novkmbeb 20, 1915. 



iv'&rroM notes. .• 



COTTON. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolsti'lillolmo ami Holland. <>t 'Ln < i pool, 

 write as follows, underdate < Ictober L8, with reference 

 to tlic sales of Wesl [ndian Sea Island cotton: 



Since out lasl report about 400 bales ol West [ndian 

 Sea [s'and otton have been sold at firm prices; these include 

 Nevis 1 W. tn It 1 ,./., St. Kitts !•)(/. to I6d., Virgin Islands' 

 11-/, St. Martin ~14rf., Montserrat lid. to lad., Anguilla 

 ( New crop i 1 I :<■< . Antigua 1 Id. to I ■""'., and Stains 1<I. to 9d. 



Spinners are not purchasing for immediate requirements, 

 but for stock. The supply here is now very much reduced. 



The Report of Messrs. Henry W. Frost & Co., 

 on Sea [sland cotton in the Southern States for 

 the week ending < (ctober 30, is as follows: 



Islands. Th ■ sales are reported as 135 bales, but they 

 were chiefly made at the close of last week. The market has 

 been quiet this week, with only a moderate demand for 

 Fully Fine. There has been no inquiry as yet for the other 

 grades, nor for the planters' crop lots. With the receipts 

 to date oi onlj 600 bales, there is no accumulation of stock, 

 and factors are not pressing their moderate offerings for 

 sale, and are refusing to sell under: 



Extra Fine 29c. 18£rf., c.i.f. & 5 percent. 



Fully Fine -7c. = 17 J.'/.. ,, „ „ „ 



Fine 26c. = 17</., ,, „ ., ,, 



Florida* anil Georgia*. The market lias ruled very 

 steady throughout the week, with sufficient demand to take 

 all the offerings of all grades, which were put on the 

 Savannah market for sale, the buying being on account of 

 the Northern Mills. Towards the close of the week there 

 was a quieter feeling, the demand being principally for 

 Choice and Extra Choice. Throughout the interior there 

 was more disposition to sell, and some sales were made of 

 round lots, including all grades at a concession of about '.<• 

 However, the general buying Has been at our quotations, 

 and it is still difficult to secure even running lots of good 

 quality. Any lower quotations are based on the expect. item 

 of a lower market. We quote, viz.: 



Fancy ' to 26c..= 26|c. to 27|c. landed. 



Extra < 'la. ice 25c. 26|c. 



Choice 24c. = 2o|c. 



The exports from Savannah for the week were, to 

 Northern Mills 1,166 bales, Southern 100 bales, and from 

 Jacksonville to Northern Mills 805 bales. 



The United States Census Bureau reports cotton ginned 

 to October 18, as follows: 

 South i larolina 669 bales 



Georgia 26,757 ,, making a total of 40,257 bales. 



Florida 12,831 „ 



I year 30,078 bales, total crop r8,857 bales. 



1913 30,880 .. „ „ 85.544 „ 



1912 15,960 „ „ ., 'audit „ 



L911 40,303 ., „ „ 122,512,, 



THE PRACTICAL VALUE OF SOIL 

 ANALYSIS. 

 Inquiries are frequently received, it is said, in a leaflet 

 issued i'\ the English Board oi Agriculture, from farmers 

 ami gardeners who wish to be informed where they can 

 have soils analysed. In most cases the idea appears to 

 be entertained that having a soil analysed is a ready means 

 of determining its mammal requirements or oi obtaining an 

 indication of its fertility. A brief discussion as to how far 

 this view is correct may therefore serve a useful purpose. 



A complete snil analysis includes chemical, physical and 

 bacteriological investigations, ami may be accompanied by 

 general field observations for the purpose of ascertaining the 

 nature of the subsoil, the water-supply, and climatic and 

 other conditions important for the growth of plants. A full 

 investigation of this kind, however, is very laborious, and 

 in practice the analysis is usually less comprehensive, and 

 aims not SO much at giving a complete account of the snil as 

 at determining the amounts of certain substances present in 



the soil, which are known to have an important effect 'in 



crop production. 



Experience has shown that a soil analysis is of little 

 practical value when the interpretation is based on the results 

 obtained from an isolated imple of soil from a distrii 

 which the analyst has no intimate knowledge. In certain special 

 caves, e.g., where it is required to determine whether a soil is 



in need of liming, an analj • is may be of great assistance to the 



farmer, but even where tic investigation is a comprehensive 

 one, the analyst can only give a verj incomplete idea of the 

 general fertility of a particular field. It is difficult to place 

 an absolute value on the results, and the element ol 

 uncertainty enters too largely into the interpretation. The 

 difficulty will be appreciated if an attempt is made to obtain 

 information as to the best system of manuring. 



Theanalvsi can determine as accurately as need be the 

 percentages of nitrogen, phosphates and potash in the soil, 

 but it has been found that, even where external factors such 

 as climate, depth nt soil, etc., do not enter into the . 

 there is often little or lexion between these per- 

 centages and the soil's fertility or its manurial requirements. 

 Any ordinary soil contains much more i ital plant food of all 

 forms than a single crop of any kind can possibly require. 

 Most of this plant food, however, is in a condition in which 

 the planl cannot make immediate use ol it, and is only 

 gradually made available, tin rate varying in different cases. 



\- the plant can only make use of the free or available 

 food, it is clear that it is possible for one soil containing 

 quite small amounts of the manurial substances to produce 

 better crops than another soil containing large quantities, if 

 for any reason the fh-st soil gives up its material to the plant 



at a more rapid rate than the second. In fact, some soils 



contain large quantities of nitrogen and still respond most 

 readily to small dressings of manure containing available 

 nitrogen, because practically all that is already in the -oil is 

 unavailable and, as far as the plant is concerned, might 

 almost as well not be there at all. This also holds equally 

 for phosphatic compounds; a soil maj contain a good deal of 

 phosphate and yet respond to more. 



It is true that in the i i e oi phosphates and potash 

 a method has been devised ol roughly measuring the amount 



which may be regarded as il te oi prospective value 



to the plant, by ascertaining the quantity which is diss ,lved 

 out in a given time by a weal olution of citric acid. This 

 method gives results which in man] cases indicate fairly well 



whether a particular soil will res] d to an application of either 



of the two kinds of manure, md maj be used in comparing 



soils of the sai las-. At the same time there are n j cases 



where the results obtained are at variance with those obtained 



