22 The Bulletin. 



II. SUMMARY OF EXPERIMENTAL WORK WITH COTTON, CORN 



AND PEAS. 



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 valley 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. Under 

 conditions prevailing last year (1909) the seed can be sold for 

 enough to purchase 100 per cent more fertilizer constituents in other 

 fertilizer materials than are removed by the seed and lint. Nine 

 hundred pounds cottonseed at present prices for fertilizer constitu- 

 ents are worth $7.20. Nine hundred pounds seed at 45 cents per 

 bushel would bring $13.50, and at 50 cents, $15, which is more 

 than double the fertilizing value of the seed. In other words, when 

 seed can be sold for 50 cents per bushel, twice the quantity of fer- 

 tilizing constituents which they contain can be purchased in other 

 fertilizer materials for what the seed will bring. 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 fertilized 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 fer- 

 tility 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 3^ to 

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



