COTTON CULTURE 29 



After all, since not much reliance can be placed on the 

 analysis of the soil and since the analysis of the crop cannot 

 be relied upon implicitly, the actual soil-fertilizer test in 

 the field is the best and most reliable guide to the compo- 

 sition of a fertilizer for certain crops and for certain soils. 

 We must ask the soil, and also the crop to be grown upon 

 it, what plant food ingredients and in what proportions 

 they will give the best results. This question, answered 

 by the soil and the crops themselves, serves admirably as 

 a guide in computing a fertilizer formula for a particular 

 crop on all soils of similar character and condition. 



Bulletin No. 33 of the office of Experiment Stations, of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture, recommends 

 for cotton approximately seven hundred pounds per acre 

 of a fertilizer having the following composition: 



Potash 3 per cent. 



Available phosphoric acid 9 



Nitrogen 3 " " 



The Georgia Experiment Station, perhaps the most 

 prolific in experiments of this character, recommends the 

 following percentage formula for cotton on the average 

 worn uplands of middle Georgia: 



Potash 3 per cent. 



Available phosphoric acid 10 



Nitrogen 3 " " 



or potash i part, phosphoric acid 3^ parts, and nitrogen 

 i part. 



A standard mixture of fertilizer materials which will 



