118 COTTON 



Let cotton come; the old field is ready, there is 

 no weariness now; no dragging of feet because 

 famished by hunger or thirst; no sullen soil in 

 which the cotton plant must send its unwelcome 

 roots in search of food; no empty larder from 

 which it is to turn away disappointed, 



FOUR THINGS TO DO 



Be reasonable with this soil from this time on. If 

 you over-work it, evil results are sure to follow. 

 Treat it properly and it will grow stronger and 

 better. It will never despair again. 



These four things you must do : 



(1) Grow a legume of some kind every year or 

 two 



(2) Use cotton only in some rotation 



(3) Plow deep and cultivate thoroughly 



(4) Keep humus in the soil. 



Fertilizers usually can be employed to advantage 

 in soil restoration. Much plant food is not avail- 

 able. It is present in the soil, but not in forms that 

 plants can use. Time, tillage and thoroughness 

 only will wake this plant food from its sleep and 

 rest that plants may use it abundantly, and when 

 they have need for it. Until that time phosphorus 

 and potassium may be added to the soil to help 

 the cowpea. Nitrogen is not needed, since the 

 cowpea attracts the bacteria that build nitrogenous 

 store-houses on its roots. 



This mutual arrangement is especially helpful to 

 the cowpea, since it is a ravenous nitrogen feeder 

 and finds an abundance of nitrogen within 

 reach of mouth and hand. So chemical nitrogen 

 is not needed as a fertilizer for cowpeas. A mix- 

 ture of sixteen hundred pounds of acid phosphate, 



