SOILS FERTILIZERS. 



121 



Analyses of samples of soil and subsoil from the experimental field showed 

 the following results : 



Analy.'ies of noil and subsoil fnim McNeill mibstatifjii, Missi-ssiiJi)!. 



Sand 



Silt 



Fine silt 



Clay 



Phosphoric acid 



Potash 



Lime 



Magnesia 



Iron oxid and alumina 



The requirements of Mississippi soil of the type experimented with for phos- 

 phoric acid, potash, and nitrogen, and the kinds of fertilizer suited to cotton, 

 corn, winter grains, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, cowpeas, peanuts, vegetables, 

 and fruits are discussed as well as methods of application. 



The author's conclusions are as follows : 



" It is estimated that the farmers of the fertilizer belt of Mississippi are 

 spending ,$100,000 annually for the purchase of potash in their fertilizers. So 

 far as results at McNeill go to show, this money is practically wasted, and we 

 would urgently insist that the thinking men of the State, merchants, farmers 

 or manufacturers, who can control the composition of fertilizers, either discon- 

 tinue the use of potash or convince themselves that it is necessary under their 

 own conditions. The McNeill Station would also insist on the use of less cotton- 

 seed meal applied directly to crops, provided, of course, the farmers themselves 

 would get the nitrogen that the soils need from other sources. Cowpeas will 

 suppl.v this nitrogen and they can be grown every year after corn, oats, and 

 practically all vegetables. By rotating the crops cowpeas may also be made 

 to furnish a large part of the nitrogen to such crops as cotton, strawberries, and 

 sugar cane, occupying the land one year or longer. Spanish peanuts will add 

 much nitrogen to soils, especially if hogs are allowed to graze them off, and 

 there is certainly no surer money-maker on the farm than pork grown and 

 fattened on such crops. The growing and feeding of cattle in our State, except 

 for dairy purposes, has not on the whole been profitable, yet we are convinced 

 by work done here, that by buying and selling judiciously, we may, under aver- 

 age conditions, feed cotton-seed products to cattle and get the manure on the 

 laud as a profit, fin parking experiments carried on] since 1903 the average 

 yearly increase in yield of corn and cotton, due alone to the manure fi'om cattle, 

 has been 848 lbs. of seed cotton per acre and 21.4 bu. of corn per acre." 



Every farmer his own experimenter, H. B. M. Buchanan and J. J. Willis 

 (-l/«/7.- Lane Express, !>(i (1907). Xos. 3930. pp. 32, 53; 3931. p. 86; 3932, p. Ill; 

 3933. p. l.',o; 393.',, p. 180; 3935, p. 211; 3936, p. 242; 3937. p. 273; 3938. p. 305: 

 3939, p. 337; 39J,0, p. 365; 391,1, p. 391; 39J,2. p. J,18; 391,3, p. W; 39 J,.',, p. -',76; 

 39.',5, p. 509; 391,6, p. 5J,2; 391,7, p. 581; 39.',8, p. 609; 39-',9, p. 6/,i).— This 

 article undertakes to present in clear and simple language some of the more im- 

 IKjrtant and practical principles governing the general manuring of farm crops, 

 the results of a few exiieriments showing how these ])rincii»les have been applied 

 in a practical and pi'ofitable way, and to induce farmers to undertake experi- 

 ments for themselves in a small way. 



On the influence of different methods of applying fertilizers on their 

 eflficiency, P. Holdp:fleiss (.SV/c7ks-. Landtr. Ztschr.. 55 {1907), Nos. 1, pp. 3-5; 

 2. pp. 32-3-',). — A brief general discussion of the subject. 



