The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-09-06
FERTILIZERS REQUIRED BY COTTON.
AS Determined by the Analysis OF tho Plant
Under Healthy Conditions.

Under Healthy Conditions.
No question perhaps so nearly con-
Germs the grower of cotton as that of fer
tilization. The small margin for profit
In its cultivation makes it imperative
that the southern farmer who chooses to
depend on the great staple for his live
lihood should cultivate it at tho small
est possible cost. Am indiscriminate
use of fertilizers must DO discarded and
the soil given just what is required in
order to make it highly productive. BY
the application of various fertilizers In
varying proportions the experimenter
has been able to say that his soil needs
this and that constituent in this and
that amount, but he solves the question
with any great degree of certainty only
with reference to his own soil and those
which resemble it In kind and climatic
conditions What Is needed In South
Carolina or Texas, for instance, may not
be needed in Alabama, and what an east
Alabama soil may be deficient in may
DO found IN sufficienoy in a western Ala
bama soil. The great desideratum,
therefore. Is to find some method of de-
termining soil requirements which ad-
mits Of general application. or which
may be readily and oheaply applied in
individual cases With the hope of be-
ing able, IL possible, to make some small
contribution toward the solution of this
great problem, the work detailed In bull
letin No. 81, from the station at Au-
burn. Ala, was undertaken.
For the purposes Of the experiments
therein described two plots of ground
were selected whose soils are of the same
general type, but are widely different in
point of fertility. The soil Of ono was
too poor for profitable culture Of cotton,
while the other had been brought to a
high state of fertility. 1t is not safe to
base conclusions on single series of OK.
periments, but it is believed that tho
broadest conservatism will sanction
the following conclusions from tho re-
suits presented
First, that tho composition of the
cotton plant In respect to potash, phos-
phoric acid aud nitrogen is subject to
decided variations under varying condi-
tons; second, that the nature of the soil
exerts considerable influence Oh the
composition of tho plant. a rich soil
giving higher percentages of the three
important constituents than poor soil;
third. by fortilizing with either Of the
three constituents in soils not already
containing n sutiicioucy of tho same it is
possible to increase the percentage OF
that constituent In tho cotton plant
which is grown OH such soil; fourth
that humus In the soil is Of great value
not only in supplying organic constit.
uents, but also in holding inorganic
constituents in most available condi-
tons
1t is not claimed that the results do
scribed in tho bulletin demonstrated the
utility OF this method as means of de.
termining soil requirements for cotton,
but it is claimed that they are highly
suggestive If the normal composition
Of the healthy, thrifty plant under given
soil conditions be known. it is possible
to determine whom a deficiency Of any
OF the three constituents exists in a given
soil. Systematic determinations, there.
fore, of the composition of the cotton
plant under normal healthy conditions.
together with determinations Of the
chemical composition and the physical
properties of the producing soil. will
furnish n basis. it is believed, for the
establishment Of plan of investigation
which will provo Of great value to the
agricultural interests of the south.