The Bulletin. 25 



principal crops, for as yet n very much smaller area is plantofl to oats and 

 wheat combiuod than to corn, and it is still smaller in comparison with the 

 area devoted to cotton. Of course, reference is here made only to the dis- 

 tinctively cotlon-producinj,' sections. Includini;. then, these thrtfo crops— small 

 grain, corn and cotton — what is called a '•three-year shift" will he in order, 

 and the followinjij succession is recommended : 



First Year — Small grain, chiefly oats sown in the fall on the "ojten furrow" 

 system. The oats should he liberally fertilized, and after harvesting the crop 

 the land should he sown in cow-peas, to be also lllK-rally fertilized, and the 

 vines converted into hay. 



Second Year— Cotton to be liberally fertilized with a properly bal:inced fer- 

 tilizer, and followed in the fall by a cover crop of vetch, crimson clover, rye 

 or other suitable winter-growing crop. 



Tltird Year — Corn to be only moderately fertilized on hill uplands, and cow- 

 peas to be sown interculturaily. either when the i)lants are about knee-high 

 or at the lay-by plowing. The corn should be cut and shocked and the stover 

 shredded. The peas should be either gathered for seed or pastured off when 

 practicable. This completes the "three-year shift," the terms of which may be 

 modified or varied according to circumstances and locality. 



SOIL AND PREPARATION FOR COTTON. 



Of course, in a regular system of rotation the character of the soil best 

 suited to each crop cannot receive much consideration. Fortunately, the three 

 crops^not including wheat — are practically interchangeable, so far as the 

 character of the soil is concerned. Any may be successfully produced on a soil 

 that may be better adapted to one of the others. It may be well to say, how- 

 ever, that the gray, gravelly soils — those that are 'underlaid by yellowish 

 clay — are better suited to cotton than to either corn or the small grains. 



In the rotation above suggested cotton will be generally planted on the fields 

 that were in small grain and cow-peas the preceding year. The first step in 

 the preparation of these fields for cotton will be to turn over the stubble with 

 a two-horse plow, or a disk plow, to the depth of eight to ten inches. This 

 should be done immediately after the first killing frost, or early in November, 

 the effect being to facilitate the decay of all vegetable matter left on the sur- 

 face by the preceding pea crop. At this time rye may \}e seeded on the broken 

 surface as a cover crop, to take up the unassimilated plant food left in the 

 soil and to prevent undue washing during the winter. This cover crop will 

 need to be turned under not later than March 15th to April 1st, in order to get 

 the soil in the best condition for the coming crop of cotton. 



SUBSOILING. 



As a rule, subsoiling in the South has not been found a profitable operation. 

 It is a popular fad with some writers, one of the hand-overs from a former 

 generation. Moderately deep plowing and thorough disintegration of the soil 

 is to be insisted on, say to a depth varying, according to the depth of the soil, 

 from five to ten inches. The shallower depth applies to thin soils of light 

 character and underlaid by poor sand or clay. This latter variety should be 

 plowed an inch or so deeper every year, throwing up a small portion of the 

 clay and incorporating the same with the soil, until a plowed depth of eight 

 or ten inches shall be reached. 



FERTILIZERS AND THEIR APPLICATION. 



The most important point to be considered is to secure the proper ingre- 

 dients at the lowest cash prices for mixing at home, according to approved 

 formulas. The ready-mixed commercial fertilizers sold throughout the South 

 are generally of good quality ; but they are often badly balanced, and there- 

 fore not suited in their composition to the crops to which they may be applied. 

 Cotton requires, for best economic results, a different fertilizer from one that 

 is best adapted to corn or to oats. This fact is too often ignored, or very 



