St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-03-02
The Fertflfzing Value Of
Cotton Stalks.


Cotton Stalks.
Under the above caption the fol-
owing article appeared in the Feb.
18th, edition of ssIhe Southern
Farmer" IN ans yer to a query As
10 whether the cotton stalk Is Of
any value as . fertilizer, ard If SO,
what method of disposition would
yield the best results:
sin replying to the above, it
would be we'll to especially empha.
size the enormous loss Of nitrogen
sustained by the burning
of cotton stalks. 10 fully demon.
strate this fact, it would be we'll 70
present first, the comparative guam
titles, with chemical composition,
of roots, stems, leaves, hollis, seed
and lint, of the cotton plant, which
will produce bale of 500 pounds Of
lint per acre. Of course, the guam
titles vary according to variety Of
cotton grown, character of soil, aud
variation in seasons, but the follow.
ing is not far from an average re-
suit upon the ordinary cotton lands
Of the South. A bale of lint cotton
$500 lbs. will be accompanied by
about 400 pounds roots, l,lOC
pounds stems, 1000 pounds leaves,
675 pounds 0olls, and 1000 pounds
seed.
s.1'he roots will contain $50
pounds nitrogen, 2.l5 pounds phos.
phoric acid, $40 pounds potash and
2.55 pounds lime.
ssThe stems will have l6 pounds
nitrogen, CTS pounds phosphorit
acid, 15.45 pounds potash and
10. 60 pounds lime.
"rhe leaves will carry $3.50
pounds nitrogen, ll.+0 pounds
phosphorlc acid, 1870 pounds
potash and 42.6O pounds lime.
s.rhe hollis will contain ILLS
pounds nitrogen, $50 pounds phos'
phoric acid, 1920 pounds potash
and 3.45 pounds lime.
.The seed will give 81. 10 pounds
nitrogen, 1882 pounds phosphor'e
acid, 1915 pounds potash and 2.7i
pounds lime.
1.-The lint will have l.7O pounds
nitrogen, so pounds phosphorie
acid, $50 pounds potash and .9j
pounds lime.
An acre of land that will yield
500 pounds lint will therefore give
nearly 5000 pounds of the entire
cotton plant. The proportion Of
each being about as follows: Roots
10 per cent, stems 90 per cent,
leaves 20 per cent, hollis Il pei
cent, seed % per cent, and. lint II
per cent.
elf only the lint be removed, thu
loss, as above shown. of the fertili'
" OF the soil will be very little. II
the oil of the seed, which has NJ
fertilizlng value, be also removed
and the bulls and meal of the sect
be restored either directly TO th'
soil, or better still, by feeding then
to stock and carefully returning thu
manure to the lands, the draft upol
the fertility Of the soil is not in
creased.
alt should be emphasized here a
an important fact, that the lint ant
the oil. whose fertillzing constltu
ents alone are necessarily perma
nen,ly lost to the farm, contain
comparatively Insignificant amount
of these constituents. If, therefore
the roots, stems, leaves and boil
are turned under, and the hulls ant
meal used at home for cattle feed
cotton IS one of the least exhaustive
of our staple clOps.
s.But pull up the plants with th
roots and burn them with adherin,
bolls and the loss in nitrogen be
comes 1t once a serious draft upol
the soil, at least 20 to 80 pounds Q
nitrogen are thus dlssipated in tn
form of gas into the atmosphere
aud lost to the soil. This will b
better appreciated by stating tina
it will require 800 to 400 pound
cotton seed meal 70 restore this los
nitrogen. 1t can thus be seen no,
wasteful Is the practice of burnln!
annually the cotton stalks upon tn
fertility of our soils. Again, tn
crying want of our Southern soils j
humus, and by burning We are dc
stroying a goodly source of this i'm
portant amendment TO all soils. Tb
loss of nitrogen and the destruction
of the humus-making material ar
the chief factors in burning on
stalks. The phosphoric acid. potas
and lime are restored to the soil i
the ashes, but in the common prac
nce of burning stalks IN piles, the
are left in spots, rather than uni
formly disseminated over the soil
By all means bury the stalks, leave
and bolls. Improved stalk cutter
may be obtained. which will cut a
the stalk into pieces, that will per
init of easy burial by the plow.'