The Bulletin. 



I. FERTILIZER EXPERIMENTS WITH COTTON ON THE SANDY 

 LOAM SOILS OF THE COASTAL PLAIN 



Tliis is the fourth of a series of Bulletins giving the results of experi- 

 ments to determine the fertilizer or plant food needs of different soil 

 types of the State. The three previous reports issued as the June, 

 August and September (1910) Bulletins of this Department, gave — 



1. Eesults of Fertilizer and Variety Experiments with Cow Peas on 

 Piedmont Red Clay Loam Soil (June). 



2. Results of Fertilizer Experiments with Cotton on Piedmont Red 

 Clay Loam Soil ; and Varieties, Culture and Fertilization of Cotton on 

 Piedmont Red Clay Loam, Red Clay and Valley Soils (August). 



3. Results of Fertilizer Experiments with Corn on Piedmont Red 

 Clay Loam ; and Variety Culture and Fertilization of Corn on Pied- 

 mont Red Clay Loam, Red Clay, and Valley Soils (September). 



More attention is now being paid to the production of cotton than 

 ever before in the history of the State and fertilizers are used more 

 generally and in larger amounts on this crop than in former years. 



Work Repoeted. 



Cotton is our leading money crop. More commercial fertilizer is 

 used in fertilizing and growing this crop than any other. It responds 

 readily and profitably to proper fertilization. Some ten years ago 

 systematic experiments were begun to determine the fertilizer or plant- 

 food requirements for the most economical production of cotton on our 

 different cotton soils. 



On the following pages are recorded the results of seven years' ferti- 

 lizer and variety tests of cotton on the Edgecombe Test Farm of this 

 Department, extending through the years 1903-1909 inclusive. The 

 work is being continued to collect further data, when cotton is grown 

 as it has been in the work here recorded, as well as in rotations with 

 other staple crops and soil-improving crops. 



Location of Fakm and Character of Soil. 



The Edgecombe Test Farm is located near the center of Edgecombe 

 County, on the main road between Tarboro and Rocky Mount, approx- 

 imately eight miles from either place. It is two miles south of Kings- 

 boro Station. 



The main upland soil of this farm is representative of much of the 

 Coastal Plain Section of the State. It consists of a dark gray sandy 

 to fine sandy loam, eight to twelve inches deep, underlain by a yellow 

 sandy clay subsoil. The surface soil is light in texture, and is com- 

 monly very deficient in organic matter. It classifies as Norfolk sandy 

 to fine sandy loam. Like most of the sandy soil of the Coastal Plain, 

 the sand content is mostly silica (quartz sand) which contains no im- 

 portant plant food. The chemical analysis of this type of land shows 

 it to be universally deficient in nitrogen and phosphoric acid, and in 



