Cover crop of Fulgrain oats and common vetch planted behind cow peas. Samples dug January 5th showed a green weight 
per acre of 23,348 lbs. 
Five Essentials of Cotton Production 
With the acreage limited by the A.A.A. program 
and the relative cheap price of cotton, more pounds 
of cotton per acre at the cheapest cost per pound, 
has become a necessity. T'o accomplish this result, 
we have found that there are five essential steps 
in the process of cotton production. We may liken 
these to links in a chain, since the neglect of one 
step means the failure of the whole crop. 
These five links in the chain of profitable cotton 
production are: first, intelligent management of the 
soil; second, well-bred adapted varieties; third, cor¬ 
rect fertilization; fourth, thorough preparation and 
culture; and fifth; proper boll weevil control. Each 
of these links must be strongly forged if the cotton 
grower is to succeed. 
Taking them up in order: 
SOILS: All soils must have plenty of organic 
matter for maximum production. This prevents 
leaching in wet years, holds moisture in dry years, 
encourages bacterial growth, insures proper aeration 
and moisture supply for growing crops. With proper 
amount of organic matter, we have seen the poorest 
Norfolk sands produce better than a bale of cotton 
per acre, and good lands produce two bales or more 
per acre. 
The Southeastern Council adopted a slogan, “The 
South Will Come Into Her Own When Her Fields 
Are Green in Winter.” This is literally true. Her 
fields can be green in winter more easily by plant¬ 
ing oats as a winter cover crop than any other seed. 
Our fields are green in winter, all planted with 
two bushels of Fulgrain oats per acre, or a bushel 
and a half of oats and 20 pounds of common vetch. 
Samples were dug on January 5th from three cotton 
fields planted with oats and vetch about the last 
of September and showed an average of over 4 tons 
of green matter or 2836 pounds of dry matter per 
acre. A ton of dry weight by past analysis would 
furnish 18.2 pounds ammonia, or about as much as 
100 pounds of nitrate of soda or 260 pounds of cot¬ 
ton seed meal. In planting oats alone, no ammonia 
is added to the soil. Some soils are sandy however, 
and loss from leaching is heavy. The oat plants 
take up the available fertilizers in the soil and pre¬ 
vent leaching. 
Our hay and corn fields also are planted as rapidly 
as possible in oats or oats and vetch, and acreage 
needed for feed is left and the others plowed under 
between the 15th of February and the 15th of March. 
The soil, the season, the previous crop, and crop 
residue determine very largely the amount of cover 
crop yields. This is strikingly shown in photograph 
at the top of the page. In the season of 1937-1938 
this 11-acre field was planted in small grain breed¬ 
ing experiments. Cow peas were sown, plowed 
under green and then planted in cover crops of oats 
and vetch. Samples taken on January 5th show a 
yield of 23,348 pounds of green matter or 6,083 
pounds of dry matter per acre. This crop contains 
as much ammonia as would be furnished by 780 
pounds of 7% cotton seed meal or 300 pounds of 
nitrate of soda. 
Cover crops are important but a good compost 
pile is also an asset. Every year all small grain 
straw, pine straw, leaves and waste hay are saved 
and composted during the late fall and early winter 
months, with stable manure and a mixture of sul¬ 
phate of ammonia, limestone and acid phosphate 
added to hasten decomposition. See photo at bottom 
of page. 
COTTON VARIETIES: The cotton farmer at this 
time is particularly fortunate. At no time in the 
history of cotton growing has there been so ade¬ 
quate a supply of well-bred varieties available. 
Every grower should buy each year sufficient well- 
bred seed to plant at least 10% of his cotton acreage 
to grow seed for his entire crop the following year 
and this would cost less than 15 cents extra per 
acre if charged to the second year crop. We have 
been breeding cottons for 37 years and at no time 
Making compost—straw, waste hay, leaves and other easily rotted organic matter, are layered with stable manure and small 
amounts of acid phosphate, ground limestone and sulphate of ammonia, to hasten decomposition. 
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