14 BULLETIN 4X(i, l T . S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



instituted. It is common experience among cane-sirup makers that 

 applications of barnyard manure, especially of horse-stable* manure, 

 to the cane crop injure the quality of the resulting sirup, making it 

 darker in color and imparting a strong salty flavor. It is therefore 

 advisable to make such applications to the cane crop sparingly 

 where the cane is to be used for sirup production. In such cases it is 

 good practice, if such manures are available, to make heavy appli- 

 cations to the crop preceding the sugar cane in the rotation. 



In consideration of the quality of the sirup, cottonseed meal or even 

 the cottonseed itself is a very popular manure for cane. Such prac- 

 tice, however, seems to be rather illogical, in consideration of the 

 high food value which these substances possess. The cottonseed 

 contains about 17 per cent of fat, which has no fertilizer value, but 

 which if pressed out and purified has a high food value. The press 

 cake remaining, if ground up, becomes cottonseed meal. If this 

 is properly prepared it is an excellent high-protein concentrated 

 foodstuff. In spite of the high food value of the oil and the high 

 feeding value of the meal, the prices of these articles usually pre- 

 vailing in the cotton sections are so low and their value as a fertilizer 

 so high that they are both extensively used as fertilizers. Doubtless, 

 with the upward trend in prices for animal products and with a 

 fuller appreciation on the part of the farmers of the value of barn- 

 yard manure, these conditions will gradually change and more cot- 

 tonseed meal will be fed and more barnyard manure will be pro- 

 duced to be available for crops in rotation with sugar cane. 



TIME AND MANNER OF APPLICATION OF FERTILIZERS. 



Between what is theoretically best in the time and manner of ap- 

 plication of fertilizers and what is least expensive, compromises must 

 necessarily be made. To economize labor in distributing the fer- 

 tilizers, the several constituents are usually mixed and distributed at 

 one time. For cane planted in the spring it is customary to put a 

 rather liberal application of mixed fertilizer, the nitrogen of which 

 is in a form becoming gradually available, into the furrow in which 

 the cane is to be dropped. Some implement is run through the 

 furrow to mix this fertilizer with the soil. For cane planted in the 

 fall or early winter the fertilizer is used very sparingly, if at all, 

 at the time of planting, but the main amount is given in the spring 

 when the crop starts to grow. In case of either spring or fall 

 planting, another application is made near the middle of May, 

 designated as a side application, in that it is distributed along the 

 sides of the rows and cultivated into the soil. Many farmers favor 

 giving a top-dressing of readily available nitrogen, e. g., nitrate of 

 soda, at the time of laying the crop by, July 15 to August 1. Thus, 

 a very common fertilizer program among the Georgia cane growers is 



