The Van Buren press., 1895-12-14
FARMER AND PLANTER
FARMING VS.. PLANTING.
Fsllaey of the Notion That Cotton Can
Not be Rotated with Other Crer9s

It has been said that the nature of
the cotton crop forbids its being
grown in a regular farm rotation as Is
praetieed among good farmers IN sec
tions where the money crops are grain
and stock. The utter fallacy Of the
notion that this can be the case with
any annual crop has been repeatedly
shown from the experience OF those
who have broken away from the old
time methods Of cotton growing. and
have shown that cotton fits as well
into an improving rotation of crops as
any other of our hoed crops. 1t IS true
that its use in rotation neeessitates
q rather longer rotation than where
there Is but one heed crop N the rota-
tion, fer where cotton IS grown there
corn must almost Of necessity be
grown also, and to properly To-
cate two hoed crops in a rotation,
SO that both can have fair chance for
success, involves a lengthening 81 the
series Of the crops. This Is matter of
no disadvantage. however. as it gives
more diversity 10 the farming. ana
opens up more opportunities for the
prottah bic keeping Of stock on the cot
ton farm. We would lay Il down IS
rule that no progressive farmer in the
south should disregard. that two clean
cultivated crops should never follow
each other in successive seasons on the
same land. unless 8 leguminous crop
can be gotten IN between them We
will suppose that the farmer in the
- r.fasr, k.fs -rrsf1
adopt for his crops cotton, corn and
winter oats Now, the true idea
In S rotation Of crops IS 10
SO manage his rotation and
fertilization as TO get the largest
amount Of tie money crop cot
on, per scre. while steadily in
ereasing the fertility OF his soil He
will study the srt Of using fertilizers
50 that lie can get, BY naezns ot the 70
tatiOn he uses, not only without cost
but at an aetusl profit. the moss ex-
pensiEe portion OF a high-grs5e Ter
tilizer, the nitrogen, which. when pur-
chased in the market, costs more than
three times as much per pound what
the potash and phosphoric acid cost
II he farms without such well-de-
vised rotation, in the old one-crop
plan, he must buy the nitrogen. and
must thus be handicapped in grow
ing cotton in competition with neigh
Dor who farms willie he plants. With
the added cost in the crop of the nitro
/ gen his neighbar makes a profit in
getting from the air while he pays
heavy price for it on the market. 1t
Is easy to see then that while his neigh
Dor may find margin of profit in the
! cotton crop, he may at the same price
lose money in the culture, and not only
! lose money on the crop. but find that
his land IS growing poorer and poorer
+ at the same time. And this is to-day
+ the condition OF the great mass Of the
/ cotton growers q the South Atlantic
cotton country. Now let us assume
/ that the farmer IS going to get out of
/ this destructive system, or rather lack
/ Of any system, and that he is going to
+ grow something else besides cotton.
/ And he IS going to do this. not
i because of some misty notion that
+ He has that he should diversity
mis- crops, and grow some other
/ things besides cotton, just in the same
way that he has been growing cotton,
I but that he has determined 10 use these
4 other crops as means toward the de-
I velopment Of his land for the more
/ profitable culture of cotton. He is not
/ going to grow lot of corn this year
/ 50 as to be able to say that he has
I grown enough 10 last for several years
/ while he grows cotton, but he is going
I TO use these extra crops as any busi-
/ ness man wonld use the stock he has
I for sale, 10 help pay his expenses He
I will get rid forever Of the idea that his
cotton IS the only thing TO get money
ont Of but viii turn al his sur
I plus OF any kind into money. and
4 thus tend toward the making Of the
1 cotton crop a surplus crop for profit.
The change from 3 plantation which
Z has been run for years in the single
Z crop OF cotton until il will only bring
cotton BY the application Of q complete
fertilizer. 10 farm where a variety Of
I crops are grown in a systematic man
E ner, can not be done all al once, unless
the owner has a surplus cash capital
Bat II can De done gradually by any
man ot industry and perseverance,.
4 The one thing which our people need
10 learn IS the Talne of concentration
in farming, and 10 realize that few
seres heavily fertilized and well culti-
waited viii give more profit than many
lightly dressed and scratched over.
L, therefore. the man who wishes %
change his practice viii drop of about
half the area he usually eultivates in
the cotton crop snd use on the Re
mainder al the fertiliSe- he has been
accustomed TO use on the whole. lie
Will have a fair chance 10 make more
clear money than he would on the
whole, for the extra dose of fertilizer
will not only give him = better ercr
Of the staple. but VIII help in the
sdoption q the rotation we propose
We viii suppose thst he does 50,
and in August. on his wei cal
t5Tated and enriched acres he sows
al smong his cotton seed Of erin
son clover al the rate q 6tteer
pounds per acre. and If by anF means
he can afford 10 buy few hundred
pounds a acid phosphate and potash
for a top dressing on the clover II The
5All he VIII be thai much further
aAes6, and the money wll be inreste-
where 4 Vii paT q better percentage
than IN hank stpckS We VIII ASSUME
that lie 5 going 70 keep some stock d
add 20 the profits q his farming ali
I 70 furnish manure 10 lessen TIE 1eai
ef purchased fertilizers The clover
! vi --ra In Z --aa-a. Is Ne -.