The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1897-12-14
THE VALUE OF MINERAL FIR
TILLZRRSn IN PREVENTING
THE DYING OUTe@OF1C0F. ai
o,s TON IN FHR SPRING. .sE57-

neutrality-suspicious. S4@
As most cotton farmers know we
have beeh saying a good7dea4 during
the present season about the dying ont
of Cotton Just after il is up. Upon
visiting a field a few days etter plant
inRIs the farmer. fnds fine stand OF
cotton above the ground, but uponre>
turning toSthe spot a few days later he
will find wisps of the drill q foot, q
vard-peFhaps-rvm ore-wiltipg down
and diving. and still a visit of a day or
two lsteFsWiil reveal sAskips' of from
one to twenty yards without a stalk Of
cotton. This has been the experience
of thousands of farmers this year.
Time, labor, rent Of land, and every
thing gone, and If the crop is allowed
10. rstand,s without an attempt at re.
planting there is no hope TO cheer the
farmer during the seasons toll. ,(And
we wish to say right here that during
our experience of twenty six years we,
have never known. re planting to come
to anything.O ,c-,.v
When this condition became q mat
ter of general comment last spring, we,
were forced. "a. the conclusion that the
trouble could be traced tosome general
cause, and commencing2aon our own
little farm we found good sand on,
all of oar land except, two small places
that were fresh and rich and to which,
we had not applied any fertilizers.
One Of these places retained q pretty
fair stand unfit after we had gone over
it the first time with cultivator, at
which lime it was dying, and died out
toS64 PERCENT. Of a stand by actual
count The other uRfertilized plot died
down to 3S per cent, and in both cases
there was fertilized cotton by the OF
each pfece-not for the. purpose Of the
test, but because it was poorer land
The stand was perfect on ali except
where a low grade fertilizer was used;
there the stand WIS 90per cent.
We have saba good deal already
along this line during the season, so
that all hands might akeadvantage of
the opportunity bis own farm might
afford him IS stady this subject, and
as the season id dFawing 70 aclose, thi9
article iutended to press hom be
point Jour SYSTEMATICALLY notbeen
confaed TO auroRn farm and we HID
about tnessma condifons on ethersm
this and oinng couna sySh
in otAer States. IL
T6eAguestion of cause presents itself
first, aBdfasRntting forWaEdeat opin
ion on the8same, We venture 10 assert
that we have good grounds for that
opinion. We believe the cause is due
to something that aeyeloped by fer
mentation going on In the soil, m
while we may not be able to say every
time what, produces this, We do know
that under certain conditions there
exist in the soil elements that are fatal
to young cotton. We have always
maintained, even since the agitation of
this subject commenced in the agricul
tural press of the South this season,
that this killing of the young cotton
never occurred where the fertilizer
used contained plenty Of potash, the
potash apparently acting aaaearec-
tive agency In nature. The fherapeu
tic value OF this ingredient Brecog
mixed the world over b9 the medical
profession, aud we have no fear of con
tradictlou by the leadiDg>agriculturists
of the world when we assert that it
serves the same purpose when applied
to the soil; at any rate, it is the only
thing known so far that the Southern
cotton grower can use to meet the evils
Of rust, and th.ugh the land may be.
ever. so rich in humus and the attend
ant elements o~tzfert1lf5y while ia a.
fresh state, we find that It. eyentuaHg
loses its ability to keeps stand Without
potash the same difficulty existsfn
Texas, and it can onlyb be met by ap-
plying TO the soil a tertiIizer rich in
potash, that will actaa a correctfy0 in
the soil,
We,know that most If not all of the
changes that organic matter undeFgoes
are 0the result of the action OF micro
ecopic organisms. Such changes as
MULTIPLICATION, or the transformation of
organic nitrogen into nitrates and its
opposites, identification. Now our OBJ
servations in the field have led as to
the conclusion that as these and other
changes are taking place some cause
operates to destroy the tender organ
ism of the plant, and hence theIcourse
for as to pursue is plain-destroy the
germ by an application of fertilizers
carrying a highper cent-of potash