485 



Almost as effective as the compost was a homemade chemical 

 manure, constructed as follows : 



Pounds. 



Acid phosphate 1,100 



Cotton-seed meal 700 



Kainit 200 



In Mississippi, commercial fertilizers were more profitable than 

 stable manure or cotton seed alone, but paid best in connection with 

 an abundance of organic matter. Composts variously proportioned 

 gave best results. 



In North Carolina, barnyard manure was found to be espe- 

 cially effective, partly on account of its after effects, and somewhat 

 the best of all fertilizers. Its first cost, however, detracted from the 

 profit, and a combination with acid phosphate was much more 

 profitable. Home composts gave generally good results, and next to 

 these a home mixture of 



Pounds 

 per acre. 



Acid phosphate 200 



Cotton-seed meal 100 



Kainit 50 



Relative Availability of Plant Food in Seed and Meal. There 

 is a difference in the mechanical condition and the chemical compo- 

 sition of seed and meal, and owing to these differences a season 

 which is entirely suited to one is not likely to be very favorable to 

 the other. The seeds are incased in hulls which must decay before 

 the crop can utilize the plant food in them, and the kernels contain 

 oil which is supposed to retard their decomposition, so that consider- 

 able moisture is required to decompose the seed and make available 

 the plant food. In case of a very dry season it does not become 

 available fast enough to supply the crop, and no doubt a portion of 

 it fails to become available until after the crop has matured. On 

 the other hand, the fertilizing material in meal, being in a finely 

 pulverized condition, is more likely to become available during a 

 dry season than that in seed ; but when there is excessive rainfall it 

 is liable to become available so fast that the crop can not utilize it 

 and a portion of it will likely be leached out and wasted. It seems, 

 therefore, that seed has an advantage over meal during wet seasons. 

 The Amount of Fertilizers Per Acre Giving Best Results. 

 The experiments bearing upon this question are somewhat meager 

 and the results uncertain. The amount of fertilizer which may be 

 judiciously and profitably employed is shown clearly to depend upon 

 the character, condition, and previous treatment of the soil, and to 

 some extent upon the season. Very few systematic experiments 

 have been made to test this specific question. In Alabama one 

 series of experiments indicated that an application of 1,000 pounds 

 per acre of a complete fertilizer was not as profitable as one of 500 

 pounds, although the yield was somewhat increased. 



In Georgia large doses of fertilizer applied at planting or dur- 

 ing the earlier periods of growth resulted in earlier maturity of the 



