74 The Bulletin. 



materials on and about the farm, and which go to waste, or partial 

 waste, in far too many instances. 



Compost with Cotton Seed. — Frequently cotton seed are used as a 

 fertilizer. One difficulty in the way of their use is the killing of the 

 germs of the seed so as to prevent them from sprouting and growing. 

 A common custom is to pile the seed in the field early in the spring 

 and allow them to become wet and afterwards heat. They are then 

 put in the drill as other fertilizers, or sometimes broadcast. They are 

 also killed by composting, and the following compost with cotton seed 

 is a well-balanced and rich one for general farm crops : 



Acid phosphate 300 pounds 



Cotton seed, 13% bushels 400 pounds 



Kainit J5 pounds 



Barnyard manure, etc 1,22d pounds 



2,000 pounds 



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 would be 600 to 1,200 pounds in the drill, and for 

 corn 400 to 800 pounds in the drill. 



Compost with 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 with cotton-seed meal is some richer 

 than the one with seed given above : 



Acid phosphate 325 pounds 



Cotton-seed meal 200 pounds 



Kainit 10 .° Pounds 



Barnyard 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 equalin 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 making 

 of compost, it should not be put in contact with either the barnyard 

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

 these, endangering the loss of ammonia from the manure by setting 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 correct their 

 acidity or sourness and prove beneficial. 



