1 Sepr., 1901.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 295 
yield of saleable potatoes to the extent of 2 tons to the acre, which at the 
present price means a consideration of about £6 per acre, for an outlay of 
about 30s. 
The potatoes were lifted at the end of September, 1900, when an equal 
area of sprayed and of unsprayed were heaped in separate clamps, which were 
opened on 10th April, 1901, when the potatoes were duly sorted and weighed, 
with the following results :— 
AMOUNTS PER ACRE. 
Unsprayed. Sprayed. 
: Tons cwt. st. Tons cwt. st 
Saleable potatoes... of IBY 914 0 
Seed size _,, mn So BLs14. 0, i fh 4 
Small # a a, W ©) 2 O43 BE 
Diseased _,, nt wo ik GB 015 6 
LG W433, OF 
VALUE OF COTTON SEED TO FARMERS: 
The result of two years’ feeding experiments with milch cows to determine 
the value of cotton seed to farmers is reported to the Agricultural Department 
in a bulletin of the Mississippi station. The following is a summary of the 
report by the editor of Farmers’ Bulletin No. 124 :— 
The facts as demonstrated are: (1) A. pound of cotton seed has a greater 
yalue for feeding cattle than 1 lb. of corn; (2) 1 Ib. of ecotton-seed meal has 
a feeding value about equal to 2 lb. of corn; (8) that at least 85 per cent. of 
the fertilising ingredients in the feeds is excreted by the animals fed, and may 
be recovered in the manure ; (4) that nearly half of the fertilising ingredients 
excreted is found in the urine; (5) that both cotton seed and cotton-seed meal 
may constitute a very important part of the grain feed of cattle without injury 
to their health ; (6) that cotton seed and cotton-seed meal, when fed to dairy 
cows in proper quantity and properly combined with other feeds, do not injure 
the quality of either milk or butter. 
With corn at 40 cents (1s. 8d.) per bushel (about the average price in this 
State), a ton of cotton seed is worth $16°70 (£3 9s. 7d.) as a feed for either 
beef cattle or dairy cattle. At present prices for commercial fertilisers, nitrogen 
costs about 12 cents (6d.) Rey lb., and phosphoric acid and potash each 5 cents 
(24d.) per lb. Allowing these prices for the same ingredients in manure, we 
have $9:09 (£1 17s. 10d.) as the fertilising value of the manure for each ton of 
seed fed, making for a farmer a total value per ton of $25°79 (£5 7s. 5d.). 
Farmers sell their seed for $4. to $6 (16s. 8d. to £1 5s.) per ton. Some of them 
sell for $2 (8s. 4d.) per ton. 
Jn a similar way, we find the feeding value of a ton of cotton-seed meal to 
be $28°56 (£5 19s.), and.the manure to be worth $19713 (£8 19s. 8d.) for 
eyery ton of meal consumed, making a total value of $47-69 (£9 18s. 8d.) that 
a farmer might derive per ton by first feeding the meal to the cattle and 
applying the manure to his land. The cotton crop for the south (in 1897-98) 
was 11,200,000 bales and 5,600,000 tons of seed, having a combined feeding 
and fertilising value of $144,424,000 (£28,885,000). At $5 (£1 Os. 10d.) per 
ton, the seed would have brought $28,000,000 (£5,600,000). The farmers of 
the cotton belt lost $116,424,000 (£23,284,800) on this one crop. 
The present disposition of the cotton-seed crop secures to the farmer a very 
small part of its real value, and must of necessity give place to a practice that 
will secure to the farmer the maximum benefit which he may derive from this 
product. The time will come when the southern farmer will realise that the 
fertilising value in cotton seed must stay on the farm to maintain its fertility 
and productiveness. 
