FERTILIZERS. 55 



nitrate soda, is added to supply ammonia. In the cotton States they always add cotton 

 seed to the heap, which furnishes as much ammonia, pound for pound, as good; dry stable- 

 manure. Judge Turner, of Hancock county, Georgia, reported to the commissioner of 

 agriculture of that State the following experiment: dissolved bone, applied at the rate of two 

 hundred pounds per acre, yielded only six hundred and seventy-two pounds of cotton per 

 acre, while fifty pounds dissolved bone, seventy-five pounds cotton-seed and seventy-five 

 pounds of stable manure to the acre, yielded one thousand and eight pounds cotton to the 

 acre. This seems a remarkable result for so small a quantity of stable-manure and cotton 

 seed. 



When the compost is hauled out, every layer in the heap should be chopped down and 

 well mixed and pulverized. For wheat, it should of course be applied broadcast; for corn, 

 tobacco, potatoes, etc., in the trenches, unless there should be a plenty to apply broadcast.&quot; 



An agricultural writer from Georgia recommends that a compost, which he has found 

 extremely valuable, be formed according to the following method: &quot;If 360 pounds of cotton 

 seed be well wet and then mixed with four bushels of hard-wood ashes, and permitted to 

 ferment, all the time kept moist, and turned several times, they will form a compost that will 

 saponify the oil in the cotton-seed, break down the hulls, and reduce them to a pulpy mass 

 of most wonderful fertilizing properties. Then mix this mass with one ton of well-rotted 

 stable-manure; let the whole stand three weeks; turn it twice; keep all the time under shel 

 ter, and it will be fit for use. I consider this quantity equal to 400 pounds of guano, and 

 think it will bring as large crops as can be gotten from that quantity of guano applied to an 

 acre in the drill. 



The practice of composting cotton seeds directly with phosphates and manure is objec 

 tionable, judging from my experience. The following are the reasons: The cotton-seeds are 

 made dry and hard, the hulls are not broken up; the benefits from the seeds are not obtained 

 on these accounts. I have noticed the seeds entire two years after using the compost, show 

 ing they had not given up their valuable properties to plants. The phosphate forms an 

 insoluble fatty acid with the oil in the seed, which coating defies rot and prevents decompo 

 sition. To avoid all these inconveniences, I prefer composting the cotton-seed with an alkali, 

 so as to form a soap, as this will break up the hulls, and permit the valuable fertilizing prop 

 erties of the seed to be readily surrendered to the plant for food. Ashes contain the cheapest 

 alkali for this purpose; 100 pounds of ashes will saponify 300 pounds of cotton-seed, and 

 reduce them to pulp. Hence the above compost is recommended, which has proved emi 

 nently valuable in my experience.&quot; 



The fermentation process will commence in a few days after the compost heap is 

 formed, if the weather be moderately warm, which will increase to a certain degree before 

 subsiding. By keeping the mass compact, fermentation can be retarded; water applied will 

 also produce the same effect. The only danger at this stage in the process is, that if the 

 fermentation proceeds too rapidly, some of the most valuable elements, such as ammonia, 

 will escape in the exuding gases and be lost. This, however, can be detected by the odor; 

 and if there be a strong odor similar to ammonia, or what is commonly called &quot; hartshorn,&quot; 

 in the vapor that escapes, this proves that these elements are being lost, and the evil will 

 have to be remedied by putting on a covering of wet plaster with a covering of dry earth 

 above it, which is considered the best method of checking it, since wet plaster arrests 

 decomposition as well as retains any ammonia that may have been generated, or it may be 

 checked by turning on water only. 



If the compost pile be made rather late in the autumn, such as the latter part of October 

 in the colder climate, and in December in the warmer, too rapid decomposition might, in a 

 great measure, be avoided by the temperature of the air. It is always a benefit to the com. 

 post thus formed to be shoveled over and mixed before using. The time required to properly 



