32 FuOD i'UK Pj.ants. 



REPORT ON ALABAMA COTTON PRIZE EXPERIMENTS 

 WITH CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS. 



Extended experimenls liave been made from year to 

 year by all the Experiment Stations in the various cot- 

 ton-growing states with a view to arriving at the fer- 

 tilizer requirements of the cotton plant undei- the varying 

 conditions of soil and climate which are met nith 

 throughout the cotton belt, and the needs of the plant for 

 the various essential fertilizing elements have been de- 

 termined with coni])arative accuracy. 



The farmer, himself, however, is often inclined to i.ny 

 little attention to the forms in which the fertilizing ele- 

 ments are applied, even though he may employ sufficient 

 quantities of a given mixed fertilizer to supply the 

 proper quota of each element. As a matter of fact, the 

 selection of a proper form or forms in which to supply 

 the needed plant foods Avill, in many cases, determine 

 the success of the application of a given formula to the 

 crop, and too much care and attention cannot be given 

 to this important question. 



Many of the formulas for cotton and corn which are 

 in use throughout the cotton-growing states supply pro- 

 portions of Nitrogen, and, in some cases, of potash, which 

 are far below the fertilizer requirements of the crop, 

 while as before stated little attention is given to the 

 matter of supplying these elements in forms most avail- 

 able for the needs of the plant. 



Analyses of the cotton plant, made at the South Caro- 

 lina, Mississippi and Alabama Experiment Stations, 

 show the needs of the plant for liberal supplies of Nitro- 

 gen and of potash, particularly of the former element, 

 since our average cotton soils are, as a rule, so poorly 

 supplied with it. 



At the Albania Experiment Station in 1899 (Bulletin 

 107), analyses were made of all portions of the cottori 

 plant at various stages of growth, including the plant at 

 full maturity. The weight of the various fertilizing con- 

 stituents contained in the whole plant grown on one acre, 

 and producing a crop equivalent to IKK) pounds dry 



