COTTON FERTILIZERS 337 



is removed in vertical layers, thus more thoroughly mixing the 

 materials. 



In view of the present high prices of cotton seed, and with 

 a view of utilizing cheap raw phosphate, the following formula 

 for making a compost for »cotton is suggested: — 



One load coarse stable manure, dampened, 



300 pounds raw phosphate. 



One load leaf mold from the woods, or other litter. 



311. Effects of fertilizers on maturity. — Cotton grow- 

 ing on poor land is late in maturing, unless the process 

 be hastened by the loss of leaves from rust, or by the pre- 

 mature death of the plants. 



Add phosphate decidedly hastens the maturity of cotton. 

 Its use enables the farmer to obtain at the first picking, or 

 at the first and second pickings, a larger proportion of the 

 total crop of cotton than by the employment of any other 

 single fertilizer. Other forms of phosphoric acid, including 

 raw phosphate and basic slag, when used in connection 

 with stable manure, have also been found to hasten ma- 

 turity. ' At the Texas Experiment Station (Bui. 75) the 

 plants fertilized with acid phosphate were 18 inches high 

 when the plants on the unfertilized area and on the plots 

 fertilized with nitrogen or potash were less than half t^iat 

 height ; at the time when the phosphate plants bore 8 to 

 16 squares each, the other plants averaged only about 4 

 squares. 



Nitrogen in commercial fertilizers in small or medium 

 amounts somewhat favors early maturity. When a 

 nitrogenous fertilizer is combined with acid phosphate, 

 the highest degree of earliness is secured. On the other 

 hand, ripening is retarded if the amount of nitrogen be 

 z 



