The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-05-16
what to Plant Where Cotton Fails to

-
 Come Up.
 l A prolonged drought in the central part | of Alabama makes 1t doubtful whether on late planted fields cotton seed will come up in time to make a crop. Stil worse, not everyone who may need te
 repiant will be able to obtain cotton seed | Indeed, in most cases there would be nc use in replanting until rain occurs. As write May 13th), the sky is cloudy and
 1t is hoped that the increasing cloudiness | may lead to rain before this goes into print. | If rain occurs at an early date cotton can then be planted with some prospect ! o- nnaturin=, although the yield from cot. | ton planted late is usually disappointing For this late replanting every effori should be made to obtain early or quick maturing varieties. King is one of the earliest and is perhaps more extensively grown in Alabama than any other very early variety. Shine and Lowry are early
 but seldom foundsin Alabama Hawkins a rather early variety. has at different times been grown in several parts of the State. An early variety originating al Marion. Ala. is Woodfin's Nonpariel. Dickson, cluster variety. is early, but difficult to obtain.
 It is believed that parties having seed of early varieties would do the public a service as well as obtain good price for their seed if they should at once ad- vertise it for use in late replanting. If cotton must be planted late it's ma turity may be hastened by frequent cul- tivation and the use of liberal amounts of fertilizer, especially of phosphoric acid. On medium and poor land 1t will grow off more promptly if 20 to 30 pounds of nitrate of soda and at least this much AL AA A, tn1 sv4 fha lfurrow with the seed. This nitrate should
 be in addition to the usual fertilizers. The later the planting of cotton the great
 CT the need to keep in the soil suffi- cheney of the moisture that we hope will some day fall. This at first can be done by running a weeder or harrow over the land after planting and later by fre- quent use of the heel scrape, cultivator, or other tillage tool.
 1 But If the owner wisely decides that | there Is too much risk in very late planting of cotton, his land need not | lie idle. Corn can. be safely planted later than cotton, Ard if the accumu- lated deficiency of rainfall since last fall is brought to a normal average by an excessive rainfall this summer. late corn of any common variety should stand a chance of succeeding, though 1t
 usually suffers from drought and from | the boil worm. Mexican June corn, planted by or before the middle of June.
 is harder towards heat and drought
 than common corn, but there Is some
 risk that late plantings of, this variety may not mature.
 Sorghum Is more certain than corn of any kind, and can safely be planted 1a- ter than corn, or at least up to July l. Cowpeas and Spanish peanuts can also be. planted throughout June and
 New Era and other early varieties of
 cowpeas can be planted up to the mid
 dIe of July. If it be decided to grow
 cowpeas for seed, preference should be given to the white varieties, as White
 Crowder. which sell at a higher price
 than cowpeas of darker color. The
 Lady sells well. but in our tests has
 always been one of the most unprolific in seed
 Sweet potatoes will be a popular sub stitute for cotton plowed up late, but the ifsufTcfency of slips and the poor
 growth made by the early-planted vines will greatly restrict the area. In view
 of the scarcity of propagating material
 will 1t not pay a farmer whose crops
 are clean again to water the plants that
 ought to be forced along fast enough
 to afford vines for later setting? On
 the sweet potato plants a little nitrate
 of soda and acid phosphate, worked
 in near the roots, may accomplish won
 ders in promoting the growth of vines
 and thus make it possible to set a con-
 siderable acreage in June. J. F. D.
 Nitrogen Bacteria and Legumea ; One difficulty that the average read CT meets with in many bulletins of the experiment stations is the absence from some of these publications of any systematic and complete presentation of the elementary facts and principles underlying the subject treated. For this omission in many cases no blame attaches to the author. For he writes for readers of such differing degrees of information that a fairly complete elementary treatment leading up to the specific experiment which 1t is the chief function of the bulletin to pre- sent would be tiresome repetition to some readers, while very helpful to other readers. A happy combination of these two methods of treatment has been attained by Dr. C. G. Hopkins in publication bearing the title Nitro gen bacteria and Iegumes," and recent ly published as Bulletin No. 94 of the Illinois Experiment Station.
 Of all classes of agricultural infor- nation none Is more important to the farmers of the South than increased knowledge relative to the legumes. a class of plants that are almost as pre- eminent flor their high nutrltive quail ties as for their superlative value as means of improving the fertility of the soil. Hence this article Is written with the hope that 1t may lead some readers to apply to the experiment station at Urbana, III, for this bulletin, which so clearly explains the practical phases of inocculation of leguminous plants and so forcefully impresses the value of the plants of the clover Iami1y.
 Only few points of this bulletin can be alluded to here. by way of abstract It is calculated that the nitrogen in gaseous form, resting upon every acre of land amounts to millions of pounds Yet 1t is a common thing to see vast areas of country where the cultivated crops show every evidence of starva- tion for want of nitrogen. The only practicable way for the farmer to make his soil rich from the inexhaustibIe supplies of atmospheric nitrogen is to make use of the leguminous plants But even these plants. as the clovers vetches, soy beans, etc. are as a rule unable to utilize this great wealth of nitrogen and to make rich the soil where they grow except when their roots are supplied with tubercles.
 The process of supplying to the seed of the legumes the germs that cause tubercles to develop and nitrogen to be stored up is called inoculatipn.
 In Illinois 1t is sometimes necessary to inoculate the COW pea, but this is generally unnecessary in Alabama. Here it is usually advantageous to in- Oculate alfalfa crimson clover red