The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-11-05
ROTATION OF CROPS.
ADVANTAGES OF TIE SYSTEM
IN COTTON CULTURE.
Valuable Suggestions for Southern
Farmers by Professor Massey,
CT the North Carolina Ex-
pertinent Station.
Z 7 has been said that the nature Of
the cotton crou forhids It's being

IT has been said that the nature Of
the cotton crop forbids its being
grown in a regular farm rotation
as is practicel among good farm
ers 10 sections wherc the money crops
are grain and stock. The utter
fallacy OF the notion that ta;s can be
the case with any ANIMAL crop has
been repeatedly shown from the e&-
perience Of those who have broken
away from +he old time methods os
cotton growing, and have shown that
cotton fits as well into an improving
rotation Of crops SIS any otaer OF our
hoed crops. It is true tha: lis use in
q rotation necessitates rather longer
rotation than where there IS bGs one
hoed crop in the rotation, for where
cotton is grown there cora must al
ways Of necessity be grown also, and
to properly locate two hocI crops n
q rotation, so that both can have !
fair chance for success, involves &
lengthening Of the series OF crops.
This is matter OF no Disadvantage.
however, as it gives more diversity 10
the farming, and opens up more o.
portunities for the profitable keeping
OF stock on the cotton farm. We
would lay it down as a rule that no
progressive farmer in the South should
disregard, that two cieaa cultivated
crops should never follow eaan
other in successive seasons On the
same land, unless q le2umin2I5
crop can be gotten in between them.
We will suppose that the farmer IN
the coast plain, the true cotton belt.
will adopt for lis crops cotton, cora
and winter oats. Now, the trnc Idea
in q rotation Of crops is to so manage
his rotation anl fertilization rs 70 g;
the largest amount Of the MONEY crop,
cotton, per acre, while steadily in
creasing the fertility Of his soil. lie
will study the art Of Using tert!.-
izers so that he can get by n.saEs o;
the rotation he uses, not ou:v vit;.oaF
cost, but at an aetna! profit, the mast
expensive portion Of nigh grade fey
tiiizer the nitrogen. which waca
purcha=c in the market costs !G1c7
than three times per pound wn&s he
potash and pnospnor:c acid cost. Il
ne farms without such wel!Ie::ss ;
rotation, in the old oas crop p.a!. h.
must buy the nitrogen, and must t;:us
be Handicapped in growing cotton il
competition with a neighbor, who
farms while he plants, With the aa1el
cost in the crop of the nitrogen his
neighbor makes = profit in getting
from the air while ne pays q heavy
price for it on the market. 1t is easy
70 see then that while MS neishboc
may find 8 margin OF profit in tha cot
ton crop, he may at the same rr;ce
lose money in the culture, an& tot
only lose money on the crop, but -?
that his land is growing poorer and
poorer at the same time. And tlis IS
TO day the condition o. the great s:s
o. cotton growers 81 the South At
lantic cotton country. Now let Us
assume that the fs-mer IS going to get
out OF this destructive system, CT ra.a-
er lack OF any system, and that ha
i going to zsEeE#~sszaee5aaffG else J.=
sides cotton. And he is not going to
do this because of some misty notion
that ne has that he should diversity
his crops, and grow some other thing
besides cotton, just in the same way
that he hss been growing cotton, bat
that he hiss determined 70 use these
other crops as q means towards
the development OF his land tor ihe
more profitable culture OF cotton. Hc
is not going to grow lot G; cocn
this year so AS to be able to SAY that
he has grown enough to last for ssT-
erel years while be grows cotton, bat
be is going to use these extra crops rs
any business man would use the stock
he has tor sale-to help pay his Y
penses. BE will get ria forever OF
the idea thai his cotton is the o@t,v
thing to get money out o., bus viii
turn all his surplus of any kind into
money, and thus tend toward the max
ing of tie cotton crop q surplus crop
for profit. The changefrom p,aut:.
ton which has been run for years in
the single crop of cotton until it will
only bring cotton by the appli" I'll
of complete fertilizer, to farm
where variety OF crops ere grown IN
systematic manner, cannot be done
all at once unless the owner has a sur
plus cash capital. But it can be aoue
gradually by any man Of industry and
perseverance. The one thing which
our people need to learn is the value
OF concentration in farming, and to
realize that few acres heavily fer
tilized and we'll cultivated will give
more profit than many lightly dressed
ana scratched over. II, therefore,
the man who wishes to change his
practice will drop off about half She
area he usually cultivates IN the cot
ton crop and use on the remainder ali
the fertilizer he has been accustomed
70 use on the whole, he will have g
fair chance to mske more clear money
than he would on the whole, for the
extra dose Of fertilizer will not
only give him better crop OF
the staple, but will also help
in the adoption OF the rotation We
propose. We will suppose that he
does SO, and in August, on his we'll
cultivated and enriched acres be sows
al among his cotton seed OF crimson
clover at rate OF fifteen pounds per
acre, and if by any means he can al
ford to buy few hundred pounds OF
acid phosphate and potash for top
dressing on the clover in the ia!l he
will be that much further aheas:, and
the money will be invested where IL
will pay better percentage than il