30 BULLETIN 648, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Only 15 out of TO farmers applied any fertilizer to the oat crop, 

 a fact signifying that a large majority of them had not found it to 

 be a profitable practice to make such applications. The 15 which 

 did use fertilizers, to the extent of $1.92 per acre, increased their 

 yield, but in so doing the cost per bushel was increased from 55 cents 

 to 61 cents, and a small profit per acre was turned into a slight loss. 



Watermelons are fertilized rather heavily by nearly all growers, 

 about 15 per cent of the value of the applications consisting of stable 

 manure. The heavier applications resulted in somewhat increased 

 yields, but at the expense of higher costs per unit of crop. Thus 

 increasing amounts of fertilizers resulted in increasing the cost per 

 carload from $47.60 to $50.48 and $52.50, respectively. This increas- 

 ing cost per carload resulted in a correspondingly reduced profit per 

 acre in the case of the second group, but the last group offers an 

 apparent exception in that it shows the largest profit in spite of the 

 high cost per carload. The higher prices obtained for the melons 

 receiving the most fertilizer were^ no doubt, due to the resulting 

 better quality of melons and to the fact that they matured earlier 

 and reached a more profitable market than did the melons produced 

 on the other farms. Better salesmanship may possibly have been a 

 factor in securing the high prices. 



The records for sweet-potato costs are few in number and repre- 

 sent only small-scale production. The fertilizers applied consisted 

 largely of stable manure a-nd cottonseed meal. The results are there- 

 fore not comparable to those obtained from records of other crops. 

 The heavier applications were accompanied by much the higher 

 yields, and the margin of profit was so wide in every case that the 

 higher yields gave much greater profits, though the cost per bushel 

 was nearly the same for all groups. 



The conclusion to be drawn from this table would seem to be that 

 on this type of soil, with the type of farming and the fertilizer 

 practice found on these farms, it does not pay to use the larger 

 amounts of commercial fertilizers on the common field crops. Water- 

 melons may offer a possible exception, and sweet potatoes are dis- 

 tinctly exceptional. It should be remembered that on these farms 

 the organic matter in the soil is largely maintained by the extensive 

 growing and pasturing off of legumes, particularly peanuts. On a 

 heavier type of soil different results would probably have been found. 



ORGANIZATION. 



DIVERSITY. 



Much has been said and written regarding the advantages of a 

 diversified type of farming. The greater safety from losses due to 

 crop failure or demoralized markets, the better distribution of labor 

 throughout the year, and still other benefits arising from diversifi- 



