FARM PRACTICE IN THE CULTIVATION OF COTTON. 
15 
acre for a cotton crop is 408 pounds. In the nine areas having the 
lowest yields of cotton, only 43 per cent of the farms surveyed use 
commercial fertilizer, and the average application per acre for a cot- 
ton crop is 251 pounds. 
THE RELATION OF TILLAGE AND PRICE OF LAND TO CROP YIELDS. 
In Table X the data are arranged to show the relation of tillage 
after planting and the price of land to yields of cotton per acre. 
This table shows that there is little correlation between the price of 
land and the acre yields of cotton, but a very decided relation be- 
tween the amount of tillage given after planting and the yields of 
cotton per acre. In a recent study of farm practice in the cultiva- 
tion of corn x it was found that there is little or no relation between 
yields of corn and the amount of tillage given after planting. Pre- 
vious investigations 2 have shown that with corn, if weeds be elimi- 
nated, any sort of tillage after planting is of minor consideration. 
Recent experiments have indicated that in growing cotton ordinary 
tillage operations are of minor consideration other than for control- 
ling weeds. It would appear, however, from these studies that extra 
tillage does increase the yields of cotton, which, generally speaking, is 
not found to' be true with corn. 
Table X. — The relation of tillage and price of 
land to normal 
acre 
yields 
of cotton. 
Number of cultivations. 
Avers 
Acre value of farm. 
3 or less. 
4 
or 5. 
6 
or 7. 
8 or 9. 
10 or more. 
ge- 
s 
2 
TO 
6 
2 
GJ 
to 
a 
2 
to 
a 
2 
TO 
s 
2 
p 
2* 
$30 or less 
2 
1 

4 
Lbs. 
900 
400 

538 
99 
61 
12 
26 
28 
10 
16 
2 
2 
2 
Lbs. 
636 
725 
720 
665 
887 
875 
774 
725 
875 
750 
50 
52 
18 
14 
16 
8 
8 
2 
1 
2 
Lbs. 
767 
940 
958 
843 
- 994 
970 
800 
875 
1,000 
925 
3 
5 
2 
2 
1 




Lbs. 
833 
930 
910 
900 
1,300 
1,200 




1 
6 
1 
3 






Lbs. 
800 
967 
1,400 
1,166 






$21. 80 
41.80 
60.00 
77.50 
100. 00 
124. 25 
148. 00 
162. 50 
175. 00 
212. 50 
Lbs. 
787 
§31 to $50 
792 
$51 to $70 
997 
$71 to $90 . 
822 
$91 to $110 

1,060 
$111 to $130 
1 
1 



500 
400 



886 
$131 to $150 
658 
$151 to $170 
800 
$171 to $190 
937 
$190 or over 
837 
Total 
9 
2,738 
548 
258 
7,632 
763 
171 
9,072 
907 
20 
6,073 
1,012 
11 
4,333 
1,083 
In consideration of the different root systems of the cotton and corn 
plants, this might be expected. The corn plant has many shallow 
fibrous roots, many of which are destroyed by cultivation, and it is 
probable that by cultivating corn the injury to the corn plants by 
destroying these numerous roots is as great or greater than the bene- 
fits of liberating plant food and conserving moisture. 
iCates, H. R. Farm practice in the cultivation of corn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 320, 66 p., 40 fig. 1916. 
2 Cates, J. S., and Cox, H. R. The weed factor in the cultivation of corn. U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant 
Indus. Bui. 257, 35 p., 10 fig. 1912. 
