122 The Bulletin. 



In order to get the maximum returns there are two more fundamentals 

 which must be considered : first, plenty of the right kind of humus ; second, 

 liberal application of fertilizers. 



It is well known that the finest crops of tobacco are always grown on virgin 

 soil. There must be some other cause for this than mere plant food, since you 

 can add all the plant food you want to a sand hill, and you will get no crop ; 

 but by the addition of plenty of humus, then you are almost assured of a 

 crop. Consequently, I believe our greatest amount of progress in growing 

 tobacco within the next few years will be by the addition of plenty of humus. 

 There are several ways in which this can be done. One very largely practiced, 

 I'm sorry to say, is to let laud rest a few years, grow up in weeds, broomsedge, 

 etc., and unfortunately some tenant will come along and set fire to this, de- 

 stroying what nature has done to recuperate the wornout soil. However, if 

 matches nor fire were available in such a field, no doubt an excellent crop of 

 tobacco could be grown on such a field if it were plowed under long enough 

 for it to rot thoroughly before planting time. Peas and clovers can be used 

 successfully, provided they are turned under and another crop come between 

 them and tobacco. Rye and oats may be used successfully to precede the 

 tobacco crop, provided they are turned under at least three or four weeks 

 before planting, otherwise they decay slowly and may cause the tobacco to 

 grow off slowly. Particularly is this true of rye when it is allowed to stand 

 too long. So the ideal condition for tobacco is a deep soil, well filled with 

 humus, approaching as nearly as possible the same condition that exists in 

 virgin soil. 



Now we come to the fertilizer question, one about which every farmer should 

 concern himself, as there are from twelve to fifteen million dollars spent yearly 

 in North Carolina for commercial fertilizers. 



Of the three elements — phosphorus, nitrogen, and potash — tobacco requires 

 more potash. In order to grow 1,000 pounds of tobacco it requires from 70 

 to 90 pounds potash. GO to 75 pounds nitrogen, and 50 to 60 pounds phosphorus. 

 At the same time a very large percentage of tobacco growers use 8-2-2 and 

 8-3-3 fertilizer, irrespective of the requirements of the crop. And so far as the 

 farmer knows, the nitrogen in this ready-mixed fertilizer may be obtained 

 from some slowly nitrifying source, which may be the cause of a considerable 

 loss to the farmer, and he never be able to locate the trouble. The potash 

 may be and most likely is in the form of the muriate, while it is generally 

 recognized that the sulphate is the most desirable form for tobacco. 



In a series of experiments conducted in this State and several of the other 

 tobacco States, dried blood has been found to give excellent results as the 

 source of nitrogen. It may be and frequently is desirable to get a part of your 

 nitrogen, say from one-third to one-half, from nitrate of soda, the phosphorus 

 from acid phosphate, and potash from sulphate of potash. 



The following mixture has been found to give very good results : 



575 pounds dried blood. 

 1,125 pounds 16% acid phosphate. 

 300 pounds sulphate potash. 



2.000 pounds. 



"Use from 800 to 1,000 pounds per acre. Nearer the piedmont section it 

 might be entirely safe to reduce the potash and increase both the other in- 

 gredients slightly. In quite a number of experiments this has given better 

 results, both as to weight and quality, side by side with the 8-3-3 fertilizers. 



To sum up, I should like to urge upon every tobacco grower in North Caro- 

 lina not to increase his acreage in tobacco, but break and prepare his land well, 

 fertilize liberally, and he can certainly make more tobacco on considerably less 

 acreage than has been done. 



