FARM CROPS. 113 



Thinning to a Stand is accomplished by " chopping 

 out " with a hoe the excess of young plants, leaving 

 three or four stalks in hills 12 inches apart in poor 

 land, and as much as 20 to 24 inches apart in rich 

 bottom land. A little later these hills are thinned to 

 one stalk. No machine has been invented that will 

 accomplish this work satisfactorily, but off-barring 

 close to the row so as to leave a narrow ridge with 

 abrupt sides greatly facilitates the process, and lessens 

 the amount of hoeing for cleaning the land. 



Fertilizers may be applied before the seeds are 

 planted or at the time of returning soil to the plants 

 after chopping out, or as a top dressing during the 

 cultivating season. When the fertilizer is sown in the 

 middle and the row bedded on it the best results in 

 early maturity will be secured except in sandy lands, 

 where fertilizers should be applied during cultivation. 

 Chemical fertilizers that are readily soluble, like ni- 

 trate of soda, are applied as top dressing, and appli- 

 cation should not be made very far in advance of 

 the period when their effect is desired. Nitrogen 

 stimulates the vigor of growth in stem and leaf. 

 Phosphorus stimulates the production of fruit, and 

 potassium frequently prevents shedding of leaves pre- 

 maturely. Potassium is of little or no value in many 

 soils. On average soils 300 to 400 pounds of ferti- 

 lizer made of equal parts of cotton-seed meal and high- 

 grade acid phosphate gives good results. Where a- 

 crop of cowpeas precedes cotton, or where large stalks 

 are produced, phosphate only should be used. It has 

 been estimated that 500 pounds of lint would contain 

 only 1.7 pounds of nitrogen, .5 pounds phosphoric 

 acid and 2.3 pounds potassium; but that the accom- 

 panying thousand pounds of seed would contain 31 

 pounds nitrogen, 13 pounds phosphoric acid and 12 

 pounds of potassium. It will thus be seen that the 

 loss of fertility is mainly in the seed, and the nitrogen 

 will not be fully restored by the fertilizer given above. 

 No consideration is here given to the loss in the stalks 



