27 



beginning of the experiment, the value of applications of 

 phosphate should become more marked in future as this 

 supply is exhausted. 



It would be safe to estimate the amount of phosphate 

 applied annually during the decade before the test be- 

 gan at 200 pounds per acre or less. Results on most 

 soils seem to indicate that phosphate is the most im- 

 portant single fertilizing material for cotton. 



Experiments conducted by J. D. Foster, 1 mile south 



OF Auburn^ Lee County. 



Light sandy loamy gray upland; snhsoil yellowish clay 



or loam, not compact. 



The experiments of 1899 and 1900 were conducted in 

 different parts of the same field, on identical soil. 



The field, on which the original growth was reported 

 as long-leaf pine, had -been in cultivation for a great 

 nianv vears. 



The crop preceding the experiment of 1899 was 

 corn, with drilled cowpeas between the rows. The peas 

 made only a moderate growth and were grazed in the 

 fall of 1898. 



The stand of cotton was uniform. In 1900 cotton was 

 planted May 25. The cotton experiment in 1900 occu- 

 pied the plots that had been used, in 1899 for a similar 

 fertilizer experiment with corn, (having no cowpeas be- 

 tween the rows.) Hence the results of the cotton ex- 

 periment of 1900 should show not only the immediate 

 effects of each fertilizer, but also the residual or second- 

 year effects, if there were any lasting benefit from com- 

 mercial fertilizers used on this light soil. 



