48 KNAPP METHOD OF GROWING COTTON 



but an extravagant and often unintelligent use 

 has been too common. 



The one-crop system of the cotton states 

 has been followed until much of the best lands 

 have become unprofitable without the use of 

 artificial plant food. There are vast areas 

 where the natural fertility is too low to produce 

 paying yields without the application of fertil- 

 izer. These facts, with the demand for a quick 

 cash crop, the prevalence of the credit system, 

 the indifferent nature of the negro laborer, and 

 the necessity for hastening maturity to avoid 

 insect pests has led up to a general use of com- 

 mercial fertilizers in recent years. A sort of 

 fertilizer craze has swept over the Atlantic and 

 Gulf States, only that portion of the cotton 

 region west of the Mississippi escaping. The 

 farmers have bought it and used it extrava- 

 gantly and unwisely, thereby bringing upon 

 themselves and their states a fertilizer debt, 

 much of which is an unnecessary drain upon the 

 resources. 



The following figures show the value of 

 commercial fertilizers consumed in cotton 

 states in 1910 based on inspection and tax 

 laws as reported by state officials : North Caro- 



