220 Effective Farming 



the spring, which is an especial advantage. Nitrogen is needed 

 on most soils that are planted to cane. One way to secure this 

 food is to use cowpeas or other legumes as green-manure every 

 third or fourth year. Another way is to use commercial fertilizer 

 rich in nitrogen. In Louisiana 350 pounds of nitrate of soda 

 an acre or its equivalent in plant-food from dried blood, tank- 

 age, or cottonseed meal, has been used with good results. 

 Phosphoric acid is also needed on most of the soils. It is gen- 

 erally supplied in the form of acid-phosphate at the rate of 

 about 250 pounds an acre. Potash is not usually needed in 

 Louisiana and Texas. 



The Government recommends, as a result of experiments, 

 the following fertilizers for the sandy pine lands as found in 

 the southern part of Georgia : 



When the cane was not preceded by a soil-improving crop : 



300 pounds, nitrate of soda 

 100 pounds, cottonseed meal 

 600 pounds, high-grade acid-phosphate 

 100 pounds, sulf ate or murate of potash 

 1100 pounds, total to the acre. 



When the cane was preceded by a crop of velvet beans that 

 were plowed under : 



100 pounds, nitrate of soda 

 1100 pounds, high-grade acid-phosphate 



100 pounds, murate of potash 

 1300 pounds, total to the acre. 



In Louisiana and Texas and also in the Southeast, part of 

 the commercial fertilizer is usually applied before the planting 

 and a part after the plants start growth. 



126. Cultural methods. Cane in Louisiana is planted on 

 top of beds five to seven feet wide. These beds are necessary 

 to insure drainage. The land is plowed in the fall and the 

 beds formed about a month later. In the growing season they 

 are kept high and the furrows between them are kept open. 



Planting starts early in the fall and continues until Novem- 



