, United States Department of Agriculture, has also given 

 good yields in the boll weevil infested sections of Texas, but has 

 not been found quite as productive as King. 



Regardless of which early variety is decided upon by the 

 farmer, he should exercise extreme care in purchasing seed, in 

 order to guard against mixed seed, or seed which is sold under 

 a misrepresentation. Owing to the large demand for "King" 

 during the past two seasons, several unscrupulous parties in the 

 eastern part of the Cotton Belt have sold ordinary native seed 

 at high prices, representing it to be the pure King seed. 



If seed is purchased through well-known and reputable seed 

 houses there will be little difficulty from this source. Regard- 

 less of where the seed is purchased, the buyer should insist 

 upon receiving with it a written guarantee of its purity. 



The Commission expects to compile, during the coming win- 

 ter, a list of Louisiana farmers who have comparatively pure 

 King or Rowden seed for sale, this list to be furnished to those 

 who apply for it. 



The Commission will not advertise or guarantee anyone's 

 seed, but no planter will be included in this list until the Com- 

 mission is satisfied regarding the purity of the seed he has to 

 sell, the conditions under which it is grown, etc. Farmers wish- 

 ing to receive this list, as well as those who have seed of either 

 of these varieties for sale, should communicate with the Crop 

 Pest Commission at Shreveport. 



Ill Use of Fertilizers. 



The use of fertilizers in connection with the cotton crop 

 seems not to be universally practiced in Louisiana. Upon the 

 upland soils and upon light sandy soils, the use of a "com- 

 plete" commercial fertilizer has been found profitable and haa 

 been found to materially hasten the development and maturity 

 of the crop. In cultural experiments carried on in Sabine Par- 

 ish this season by the Crop Pest Commission, the application 

 of 200 pounds per acre of "8-2-2" commercial fertilizer prior 

 to planting gave excellent results, in spite of the fact that se* 

 vere washing rains followed for several days after the fertilize^ 

 was applied, and it was thought that most of it had been 

 leached out. 



On botton lands, the need for fertilizer is not so evident, 

 but even here the use of a fertilizer containing a considerable 

 amount of available phosphoric acid is found to hasten maturi- 



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