The Bulletin 45 



case the land is very poor, so that the young plants do not start off Avell, 

 a sufficient amount of cotton-seed meal, dried blood, or other nitrogen- 

 furnishing material, may be added Avhich will supply nitrogen to give 

 1 to 2 per cent in the mixture. When 300 to 500 pounds of 16 per cent 

 acid phosphate is used 50 to 75 pounds of cotton-seed meal, or its equiva- 

 lent in nitrogen content of blood or other nitrogen carrier, may usually 

 be used to good advantage. If nitrogen is needed later, as is indicated 

 by small, slow growth, and pale, sickly appearance of the plants, a top 

 dressing of 50 to 75 pounds of nitrate of soda per acre may be applied 

 with profit. 



When potash is as high in jn-ice as it is at this time, the most profit- 

 able application for Iredell loam (blackjack), Congaree fine sandy loam, 

 Mecklenburg clay loam, and Mecklenburg loam will be for cotton 300 

 to 500 pounds of a material like cotton-seed meal ; for corn, small grains 

 and grasses 200 to 300 pounds, and for legumes 60 to 100 pounds per 

 acre. Other suitable nitrogenous materials may be substituted for the 

 meal in the proportions given above if desirable to do so. 



When potash is the normal price it will usually pay to use some- 

 thing like 2 to 4 per cent in the mixture for corn, cotton, small grains, 

 and grasses, and 3 to 4 per cent for leguminous crops. 



As the amount of organic matter turned back into the soil increases, 

 the amount of cotton-seed meal or other nitrogenous material in the 

 above mixtures may be reduced. In fact, when the supply has become 

 liberal in the soil it may be possible to entirely leave out of the mixture 

 any nitrogen-carrying material. It should be the aim of the farmers 

 of the county, as nearly as practicable, to obtain this condition with their 

 soils. Even though these soils do not respond to applications of phos- 

 phoric acid at the present time, and none has been recommended, yet as 

 time goes on and the amount in these soils become less and less it will 

 in the course of time become necessary and profitable to use this con- 

 stituent. At the present time this is not necessary nor profitable. Gen- 

 erally, one of the greatest needs of these soils, especially those of the 

 Iredell loam, is the addition of organic matter. Because of their color 

 it is hard to determine by observation purely whether they contain much 

 or little of this material. 



CROP ROTATION NECESSARY FOR A PERMANENT SYSTEM OF 

 AGRICULTURE IN THE COUNTY 



It is the duty of every owner of farm lands in the county to follow 

 methods of crop rotation and fertilization that shall maintain the pro- 

 ducing power of fertile soils and which shall build up the poorer ones. 

 The methods in common used by farmers should be such that their soils 

 would become more productive year by year. The investigations that 

 have been carried on by the Division of Agronomy in previous years 

 have been conducted primarily to determine the most economical meth- 



