ITS ADVANTAGES! ITS CONDITIONS ! ITS PROSPECTS ! 



with fowpcas niul a good lot of swoct 

 potatoes, ami you have the material to 

 ixvnw and fatten many hogs. The.se lots 

 .-dioiild he iu-ransed so tliat the hogs could 

 gather them ail, and sinriltaneously have 

 aeeoss to a field of grass or clover, with 

 an ahundance of fresh, pure water. By 

 adopting such a plan as the ahove. some 

 of our best farmers have raised hogs for 

 less than a half of a cent per pound. 

 The r.erlcshire, Jersey Red and I'olaud 

 China have proven excellent porkers in 

 this climate, while the Essex as a lot hog 

 for tlje small farmer is unexcelled. 



HOW TV) IJIOSTOiUO OUR WORN SOILS. 



The fo;io\ving, taken from a late bulletin 

 of the state experiment station, shows 

 how quickly tired soils may be restored 

 to more than virgin fertility, if proper 

 rotation with fertilization be adopted: 



Under this exclusive cotton culture 

 much of the lands of north and middle 

 and east Louisiana have become so de- 

 pleted of their original fertility as to 

 fail to irive remunerative returns for the 

 labor of cultivation. The question ol ■Para- 

 mount importance to every patriotic citi- 

 Ken of Louisiana is how to restore these 

 worn and trred soils. It is of vital in- 

 terest ti> the owners of these lands to 

 know how to do this, and at the same 

 time receive a fair remuneration for the 

 labor and expense involved iu its ac- 

 complishment. This the .stations have at- 

 tempted to solve, and a recital here ot the 

 results obtained through five years will, 

 it is hoped, convince a few that the plan 

 is a feasible one, and w-orthy of trial. 

 At Baton Rouge and Calhoun, nearly six 

 years ago, six acres were laid off in acre 

 plats, and the system of rotation of 

 cropri, with and without fertilizers, began. 



The crops selected were oats, cowpeis, 

 cotton, corn and cowpeas, or tive crops iu 

 three years. It would be more in accord- 

 ance with science to follow a erop of 

 cowpeas with corn, but experience has 

 proven that the rust-proof oat (the only 

 variet.v which can be successfully grown 

 hei-ey must be planted in October to in- 

 sure a certain crop, and to plant it in this 

 month it must follow a crop of corn, 

 since tlie cotton crop could not be 

 gathered l>y this time, hence the order 

 adopted. Three palallel plats of two 

 acres of each are used for the 

 expei'imenf. The front acre of 

 each is fertilized with a fertilizer 

 suitable to the crop occupying ft, while 

 the rear acre is left unfertilized. Other- 

 wise the plats are treated alike. The ro- 

 tation began with oats in plat No. 1 

 (front acre fertilized and the rear acre 

 not). Plat No. 2 in corn and cowpeas 

 (front acre fertilized, rear acre not). 

 I'lat No. 3 (front acre fertilized, rear acre 

 not). The oats were removed in May or 

 early in June. an<l land sown at once in 

 eciwpeas. using ter front acre a mixture 

 of UK) piiuiids acid phosphate and .'iO 

 p.nuids kainite broadcasted and harrowed 

 in with pe.Ts. Each crop now goes for- 

 'irird in tire circle one step each .vear. 

 't his year we complete the second round 

 of the rotation. At Baton Rouge defec- 

 tive drainage in two of the plats have 

 prevented such decisive results as have 

 been obtained at Calhoun. However, 



they are sufficient to establish the value 

 of the rotation. The following are the 

 condensed results at Calhoun: 



With oats the yield iu 188'.) was V 1-4 

 bushels, 8 2-3 bushels in 1890, 25.5 bushels 

 in 1891, 22.5 bushels in 1892 and 22 

 bushels in 1893, a total of 85.92 

 bushels, or an average of 17.18 

 bushels per year. The yields of corn were 

 13.09, 20.6, 4.8. 16.6 and 8.4 bushels, a 

 total of 59.49 bushels, or an average of 

 11.90 bushels per year. The cotton yields 

 were 528. 429, 020, .331 and 560 pounds of 

 seed cotton, a total of 24G8 pounds, or an 

 average of 493.0 jiounds per year. 



The fertilized plats gave for oats 12, 

 24.5. 55.2, 41.8 and 40 bushels, a total 

 of 179.5. The fertilized corn gave 17.73, 

 28. 1G.8, 34.3 and 24.4 bushels, a total of 

 121.23 bushels, or an average of 24.25 

 bushels per year. 



The fertilized cotton gave 829, 708, 1719, 

 1558 and 1440 pounds seed cott®n, a total 

 of 6260 pounds, or an average of 1252 

 pounds per year. 



In tlie five years' trial two seasons 

 have been very dry and yields accord- 

 ingly dein-es.sed. It is, however, worthy 

 of note that the unfertilized plats have 

 suffered tlie worst oy droughts. The ag- 

 gregate yields of tlie unfertilized plats 

 have been 85.92 bushels of oats, 59.49 

 bushels corn, and 2468 pounds seed cot- 

 ton per acre. The total yfeids of the 

 fertilized plats have been 179.5 bushels 

 oats. 121.23 bushels corn, and 6200 

 pounds seed cotton per acre. The excess 

 of fertilized over the unfertilized plats 

 have been 93. .58 bushels oets, 61.74 

 bushels corn, and .3792 pounds seed cot- 

 ton per acre. The fertilizers used cost 

 $3 for oats, $2 70 for corn, and .$3 20 fo* 

 cotton per acre every year. In this esti- 

 mate the cotton seed is reckoned at 10 

 cents per bushel. In five years the fer- 

 tilizers of the throe acres cost $44 .50. 

 Estimating the oats at 30 cents per 

 bushel, corn at 50 cents and seed cotton 

 at 2 1-2 cents per pound, the increase 

 due to the fertilizers would be .$1.53 84. 

 Deducting cost ot fertilizers there would 

 remain .$109.34 as clear profit from , the 

 use of fertilizers for five years on three 

 acres, or $7 29 per acre each year. This 

 is an excellent showing a4id renders cer- 

 tain this plan of rolintion wiMi fertilizers 

 as one which will build up the hill lands 

 of north Louisiana, and-at the same time 

 leave a handsome yearly profit for t4ie 

 labor applied. The results from the rota- 

 tion without fertilizers are not satisfac- 

 toKy, but shows that upon poor lands the 

 process of restoring without fertilizers is 

 slow and gradual. With fertilizers under 

 each crop the process is rapid and profi't- 

 able. An inspection of the table givea 

 will show that the Texas rust proof oats, 

 p-ropcrly seeded in October, is a more 

 reliable crop in north Louisiana than 

 corn. This will doubtless n main true 

 untjl these soils become charged with 

 vegetable matter sufficient to enable the 

 corn crop to withstand the droughts 

 which occuT at too frequent intervals 'd 

 the spring and summer. 



The following, taken from a pam,)hlet 

 on Louisiana recently published by the 

 state commissioner of immigration, Col- 

 onel J. G. Hawks, gives the nam^s and 

 chief stations of all 



