Food for or "guano" as they are often called. But many people do 

 P'^"^^ not wish the trouble of getting the materials and mixing 

 ^ them, so purchase the ready-mixed fertilizers. If this is 

 done, great care should be taken to examine the analysis, so 

 that some idea can be had of what the fertilizer contains. 

 Special attention should be given to ascertaining in what 

 form the Nitrogen or "ammonia" exists. Many of the 

 manufacturers do not tell this, but the Experiment Stations 

 analyze all the fertilizers sold in their respective States and 

 publish the results in bulletins, which are sent free to any 

 one asking for them. These analyses usually show in what 

 form the Nitrogen is. The "brands" that contain the most 

 Nitrogen or "ammonia" in the form oi Nitrate is the one to 

 use. If you use a "fertilizer" containing only a small per- 

 centage of Nitrogen or ammonia in an organic form, such 

 as cotton-seed, "tankage," etc., it will be of great advantage 

 to use a small quantity of Nitrate of Soda in addition to, or 

 in connection with, this fertilizer. This is often an econom- 

 ical and convenient method of procuring fertilizers. 

 ^ .,. . The Alabama Agricultural Experiment 



P Station at Auburn, Alabama, made some 



interesting experiments in fertilizing cotton 

 in 1 891. Experiments were conducted in many different 

 parts of the State and on various kinds ot soil. A con- 

 densed table of some of the results obtained is given on 

 opposite page. 



It will be noticed that in nearly every case 96 pounds 

 Nitrate of Soda, when used with acid phosphate, gave a 

 better yield than 240 pounds cotton-seed meal when used 

 with the same quantity of acid phosphate. The 240 

 pounds of cotton-seed meal contained more Nitrogen than 

 96 pounds of Nitrate, and cost more than the Nitrate, yet 

 did not give, as a rule, as good results. It will also be 

 noticed that, as a rule, potash did not pay, except on poor 

 land. Where the "no fertilizer" acre gave only a small 

 yield, the best results were obtained from the combination 

 of Nitrate, phosphate and potash, but where the land was 

 fairly good, the potash did not seem to be necessary. 



Cotton-seed meal is undoubtedly an economical source 

 of Nitrogen when it can be bought at low enough prices, 

 but it should not be depended upon to furnish a// the Nitro- 



