The Bulletin. 61 



II. VARIETIES, CULTURE, AND FERTILIZATION OF COTTON ON 

 PIEDMONT RED CLAY LOAM, RED CLAY AND VALLEY SOILS. 



Seven years' fertilizer and variety experiments have been con- 

 ducted on the red clay loam soil of the Iredell Test Farm. On basis 

 of these results and other information which we have, the suggestions 

 below are given for the culture and fertilization of cotton on the red 

 clay loams, red clays, and vaUey soils of the Piedmont, and the 

 varieties of cotton which are best suited to them. 



Cotton is not a hard or exhaustive crop on the soil, when the soil 

 and crop are handled with care and intelligence. A bale of cotton 

 (900 pounds of seed and 500 pounds of lint) removes from the soil 

 in round numbers : 



30 pounds Nitrogen, 



12 pounds Phosphoric Acid, and 



13 pounds Potash; 



worth at present prices of fertilizer ingredients $7.20. Only 48 

 cents worth of this is carried away in the lint. The seed can be 

 sold for enough to return in commercial fertilizer considerably 

 more plant food than the lint and seed took from the soil. The 

 stalks, leaves, and bolls, which should never be burned or otherwise 

 removed, and 95 per cent of which have come from the air, add 

 vegetable matter or humus to the soil. If the land is liberally ferti- 

 lized in the right way and protected from surface washing, it should 

 continue to produce large and profitable crops of cotton from year 

 to year, and with a good rotation and proper fertilization will 

 increase in fertility and productiveness. None of our staple crops 

 are as easy on the soil as cotton when handled in the way indicated 

 above. 



Preparation and Cultivation. — The land should be thoroughly 

 and well prepared by breaking in the fall or early spring to a depth 

 of 6 or 8 inches, and the soil may be gradually deepened beyond this 

 to advantage. Before planting, cut up well with a disk harrow to 

 get rid of clods and to make a good seedbed and run off rows 31/2 to 

 4 feet apart and on very fertile land 41^ feet. As a rule, the ferti- 

 lizer should be put in the drill before planting and the cotton planted 

 on a level or just above the level, according to the season and drainage 

 condition of the land. Weeders and light harrows may be run 

 across the rows two or three times before and after the cotton is up 

 and before cultivation with cultivators and hoeing begins. When 

 the crop is well up and danger of frost is over, hoe and thin to a 



