20 The Bulletin. 



It will be observed that during- the period covered by these tests 

 fertilizers of different compositions and quantities hastened the ma- 

 turity of this plant on all the farms. On the unfertilized plats 

 it was found that, without exception, the larger the yield the greater 

 the combined percentage of cotton open at the first two pickings; 

 while, between the two years, the larger the yield on the same soil at 

 the same farm, the smaller the percentage open at the first picking, 

 with the exception of Iredell, at which place larger yields for any 

 cause were invariably accompanied by greater per cent open at the 

 first picking. This divergence is, in all probability, due to the great 

 importance that attaches to early maturity at the Iredell farm, which 

 is located on a heavy clay soil just within the northern limit of the 

 growth of this plant and at which the earlier maturing varieties 

 have always produced larger yields. On the sandy soils of the Edge- 

 combe and Eed Springs farms a larger percentage of total crop was 

 picked at the end of the first two pickings from both fertilized and 

 unfertilized plats than was gathered by the same pickings from the 

 corresponding plats at the Iredell and Experiment Station farms, 

 which are of a red-clay character. With two exceptions occurring in 

 1904 in favor of high phosphoric acid (ISTPsIv) applications, heavy 

 [2^ (]^PK)] application plats at Red Springs, Iredell and Edge- 

 combe had a larger per cent of their total yield open at the end of the 

 second picking than any of the other plats ; while at the Experiment 

 Station farm the high phosphoric acid (ISTPoK) plat was in the lead. 

 The average per cent open at the first picking was highest at Edge- 

 combe and Red Springs as a result of high phosphoric acid (NP3K) 

 fertilization; while at Iredell and the Experiment Station heavy 

 [2^ (NPK) and 2 (NPK) respectively] applications were greatest. 



With two exceptions occurring in 1903, high nitrogen (NgPK) 

 applications at all the farms yielded a larger percentage of cotton 

 open at the first picking than high potash (ISTPKg) applications. 

 At the end of the second picking, as the average of two years' results, 

 high potash (ISTPK^) plats were highest at the Iredell and Edge- 

 combe farms, and high nitrogen (N3PK) plats highest at the Red 

 Springs and the Experiment Station farms. Also, high nitrogen 

 (N'^PK) applications have averaged a greater percentage of seed 

 cotton open at the end of the second picking at all the farms, except 

 Edgecombe, at which place both were the same, than those plats 

 receiving a normal (I^PK) application. 



From data contained in Table V, the following tentative deduc- 

 tions therefore may be made relative to the growth of cotton under' 

 the conditions that obtained during the conducting of experiments, 

 results of which are tabulated above: 



1. Fertilization with ordinary applications of commercial fertil- 

 izers hastens maturity. 



