90 The Bulletin. 



This compost will contain: phosphoric acid, 2.6 per cent; potash, 

 .9 per cent; ammonia, 1.1 per cent. One ton of it is worth between 

 800 and 900 pounds of the average fertilizer containing 8 per cent 

 available phosphoric acid, 2 per cent ammonia and 2 per cent potash, 

 and a good application for cotton wonld'be 600 to 1,200 pounds in 

 the drill, and for corn 400 to 800 pounds in the drill. 



Compost loith Cotton-seed Meal. — Cotton-seed meal may replace 

 the seed in the preceding compost. In fact, it is much better to use 

 some of the insoluble forms of nitrogen or ammonia in composts 

 rather than nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia, which are 

 already in easily soluble condition and ready to feed plants. Besides, 

 there is not the same danger of loss when materials like cotton seed, 

 cotton-seed meal, etc., are used as when nitrate of soda and sulphate 

 of ammonia are employed. The following compost Avith cotton-seed 

 meal is some richer than the one with seed given above : 



Acid phosphate 325 pounds 



Cotton-seed meal 200 pounds 



Kainit 100 pounds 



Barn-yard manure, etc 1,375 pounds 



2,000 pounds 



This mixture will contain: phosphoric acid, 2.8 per cent; potash, 

 1.0 per cent; ammonia, 1.2 per cent. One ton of this is equal in fer- 

 tilizing value to about one-half ton of a mixed fertilizer containing 8 

 per cent available phosphoric acid, 2 per cent ammonia and 2 per 

 cent potash. A good application of it for cotton would be 400 to 800 

 pounds in the drill, and for corn 300 to 600 pounds in the drill. 



Use Lime in the Compost. — Where lime is used at all in the mak- 

 ing of compost, it should not be put in contact with either the barn- 

 yard manure or acid phosphate, as it has an injurious action on both 

 of these, endangering the loss of ammonia from the manure .by set- 

 ting it free and enabling it to pass off in the air, and changing the 

 phosphoric acid of the acid phosphate into an insoluble form. Where 

 sour muck or black soil is used the lime mixed with these would cor- 

 rect their acidity or sourness and prove beneficial. 



V. Fertilizers for Tobacco. 



There are few products whose quality and quantity are more 

 affected by the kind of soil and fertilizer used than is tobacco. For 

 bright tobacco, the main kind grown in this State, the fine and deep 

 sandy loam with yellow-colored sandy clay subsoil is the type of land 

 most largely used and the one which grows tlie best grade of this 

 character of tobacco. Generally, the kind of soil that is suited to the 

 production of tobacco is better understood than the fertilizer that 

 should be used on it. Evidence of this is seen in the great variation 

 in the composition of fertilizers sold in the State, especially for use 

 on the tobacco crop. In 1901 there were registered with the Depart- 



