4 The Bulletin. 



years in our testing of varieties of corn and cotton. Take, for example, 

 the results of our variety tests at the Edgecombe farm 3 during this time. 

 In comparative variety tests of corn, with the number of varieties in the 

 different tests varying from eight to thirty-six, we have found the differ- 

 ences between the one yielding the highest and the one the lowest amount 

 of shelled corn per acre in the individual test to range from 6.2 to 26.6 

 bushels. "With cotton the^range of difference in the different tests has 

 been all the way from 530 to 915 pounds of seed cotton per acre, when 

 from seven to twenty-six varieties were used in the different tests. It 

 must not be forgotten that the best distancing of any crop is principally 

 dependent upon soil fertility, while yield of variety is governed largely 

 by soil fertility and adaptability and by the rigidity with which selection 

 of seed of desirable characteristics has been made. 



LOCATION AND CHARACTER OF SOILS OF TEST FARMS. 



Edgecombe Farm. — This farm is located in Edgecombe County, about 

 midway between the towns of Tarboro and Rocky Mount, and about two 

 miles from Kingsboro, a station on the Atlantic Coast Line Eailway. 

 The soil of this farm consists, principally, of sandy loam, with moder- 

 ately fine sand, underlain by a rather tenacious sandy clay subsoil at a 

 depth, generally, of from 8 to 12 inches. The subsoil is a moderately 

 good sandy clay, such as is found under the larger portion of the "lands 

 of the eastern part of the State. This type of soil responds very rapidly 

 in remunerative crops to proper fertilization and cultivation, and repre- 

 sents a large and important part of the coastal plain formation, which 

 comprises something like forty per cent of the total area of the State. 

 The types of soil on this farm are designated by the Bureau of Soils of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture as Norfolk sandy loam and 

 Norfolk fine sandy loam. 



Red Springs Farm. — This farm is located in the coastal plain region, 

 about one mile east of the corporate limits of the town of Red Springs, 

 in Robeson County. The soil is a rather deep phase of Norfolk sandy 

 loam, a gray medium sandy loam underlain at from 12 to 15 inches by a 

 yellow sandy clay subsoil. This type of soil is found in considerable 

 areas in the middle-eastern and southeastern portions of the State, and 

 being of a dry nature and warming up early in the spring, it is especially 

 adapted to the growth of truck and other crops where early maturity is 

 an important consideration. Although this soil is not as strong as that 

 found on the Edgecombe farm, it will produce good yields under liberal 

 fertilization and proper cultivation and rotation of crops. 



Iredell Farm. — This farm, located in the Piedmont section of the State, 

 lies about one and one-half miles northwest of the corporate limits of 

 Statesville, and is bisected by the Statesville and Western Division of the 

 Southern Railway. The soils consist of Cecil clay and Cecil sandy loam, 

 which are the predominant types throughout the Piedmont Plateau. The 

 surface soil of the Cecil sandy loam is a grayish brown sandy loam, while 

 that of the Cecil clay is a deep red tenacious clay. Both are underlain 

 by a heavy red clay subsoil. These soils are naturally strong and are 

 susceptible of high productivity under judicious fertilization and proper 

 cultural management. They are especially adapted to the growth of 

 grains, grasses and clover. 



