1916] FIELD CROPS. 337 



corn receiving the fertilizer application after planting yielded 51.45 bu. per acre. 

 Velvet beans proved a little better than cowpeas and soy beans for green 

 manures. The results of experiments with corn indicated that bagasse had 

 no value as a fertilizer. Other fertilizer experiments with corn indicated 

 clearly the responsive power of stiff soils to pea-vine fallow and the use of 

 nitrogenous fertilizers. Alfalfa produced 8.6 tons of hay per acre. Kudzu 

 yielded a large quantity of forage and gave evidence of its value for smothering 

 out Johnson grass. 



A brief summary of the work at the State Station points out that a mixture 

 of corn and soy beans, among the different crops tested, gave the best silage. 

 The results of culture tests indicated that there was practically no difference 

 in yield from the application of all of the fertilizer before planting, all during 

 cultivation, or half before planting and half during the cultivation. Removing 

 suckers from corn slightly increased the yield but not sufficiently to compensate 

 for the labor. A plat where cowpeas were planted with corn when laid by, 

 followed by a crop of clover in the fall with a light application of stable manure 

 every three years, produced about five times as much corn as a plat receiving 

 the same cultivation without the manurial treatment. Green manuring with 

 red clover seemed to give as large a yield of corn as green manuring and an 

 application of phosphate and lime in addition. Of 20 varieties of corn tested, 

 Calhoun Red Cob and Yellow Creole were among those giving the best results 

 in yield and in keeping qualities. 



Among the forage crops tested, Sudan grass proved promising. It was 

 found best to sow this grass at the rate of 20 lbs. per acre about April 1 in the 

 locality of the station. The growth of ramie is reported as very successful. 



At the North Louisiana Station rock phosphate and velvet beans have proved 

 slightly inferior to acid phosphate in the production of both corn and cotton. 

 The use of 315 lbs. of equal parts of cotton-seed meal and acid phosphate as a 

 fertilizer for Sudan grass trebled the yield as compared with the yield of plats 

 receiving no fertilizer. In a test of 18 varieties of cowpeas, Whippoorwill, 

 Groit, New Era, and Brabham, proved superior. The yields of 14 varieties of 

 soy beans varied from a little over 3 to 20.5 bu. per acre, Hollybrook being the 

 leading variety. Of 13 crops, the rank-growing sorghums, particularly Honey 

 sorghum, produced the heaviest tonnage of silage and soiling material. The 

 maximum yield secured was a little over 34 tons per acre on good, red, 

 sandy loam soil fertilized with 200 lbs. of cotton-seed meal and acid phosphate 

 per acre. 



The highest yielding varieties of sweet potatoes under test were Doody Yam, 

 Jersey Yellow, and Southern Queen. Twelve fertilizer experiments with sweet 

 potatoes did not give results with a degree of uniformity to warrant conclu- 

 sions. It is reported that in a sweet potato storage house sweet potatoes were 

 kept in good condition with very small loss. 



In 42 tests in thinning cotton, uniformly better results have been secured 

 by following the usual practices. 



Plats under a 2, 3, and 4 year rotation experiment at the Rice Station gave 

 an average yield of 17.6 barrels of rice per acre, while the check plats con- 

 tinuously in rice yielded 2.18 barrels per acre of pure red rice. Corn and oats 

 were included in the rotation, and it is believed that rotations including upland 

 crops should be of long duration and that under such a system several profitable 

 crops of nee may be grown in succession. 



The use of 200 lbs. acid phosphate per acre has produced the most profitable 

 rice crops for five years in succession. Potash salts have not shown any ap- 

 preciable increase in yield. Readily available forms of nitrogen were inferior 



