The Tupelo journal., 1906-02-16
Some Reasons Mhy Farmers Should
Use Commercial Fertilizers.

X
Use Commercial Fertilizers,
Fertility Of the soil is the Sc,
cret Of good crops. There may
be rain just as you need it, 20,
may have the best Of seed, vol
may cultivate your crop in thu
most scientific manner, yet i
your soil is poor your harvest vii
be light. But if you have fer
tile soil combined with good sea
sons, good seed and good cult
walton, your crop will be immens.
There are thousands Of acres o,
land nthe Southern States which
are not productive, and progress,
sive farmers are buyirg hun.
dreds Of thousands of tons Of
commercial fertilizers to use or
these worn out lands in order te
successfully grow profitable
crops of cotton, corn, small grain
and all kinds of fruit and truck.
The money annually paid for
these fertilizers runs up into the
millions. Does this pay? In all
fertile soils there are three great
elements Of fertility which are
absolutely necessary to the
growth of all crops. There are
phosphoric acid, ammonia and
potash. In worn out lands these
elements are in such small guam
titles as to be unavailable for
growing crops. Some lands may
have enough Of one or two Of
these elements and be deficient
in the others. Modern science
has succeeded in supplying these
elements in a condensed form in
The shape Of chemical fertilizers
and they are now manufactured
to suit the especial crop FOR
which you want them. 1t has
been demonstrated that different
crops need these elements in va
r.sing proportions. Also some
land needs a larger percentage
of a certain element than do 9TH
ers. Of course what will make
cotton grow will also make corn
grow, but if these elements are
compounded in the proportion
needed for each crop you will
get better results than if the
same formula is used for both.
These are some of the things that
up-to-date farmers are learning
to their advantage. The aver
age price for which ordinary cot
ton fertilizer is sold is about one
dollar per 100 pounds. Take the
season and average cul-.
tivation and / am confident that
for every 100 pounds of CONNER
cial fertilizer used you will get
100 pounds of cotton in the seed.
This at ten cents per pound for
lint is equal to about three dollars
and fifty cents per 100 pounds Of
seed cotton, or after deducting
one dollar for the fertilizer and
seventy-fve cents for applying
and for picking the cotton, you
have a clear profit of 100 per
cent. Is there a banker who
would not be glad to loan his
money on such security at 100
per cent. intereft? Yet there are
farmers who will cultivate worn
out land at a loss rather than
loan their money to their landin
the shape of fertilizer and get
100 per cent. on the investment.
But you say if everyone were
to do this the cotton would not
be worth the gathering. The
way to manage this is to raise
more corn, SOW more of your
land to small grain and hay crops,
enlarge your pastures, and plant
fewer acres of cotton. Why cul-
tivate 20 to 40 acres Of land to
get 10 bales when you can do it
on 10 acres by thorough prepar-
alton and cultivation of your land
combined with good seed and
commercial fertilizers. Save all
the manure you can, but don't
forget to use at least 200 pounds
of fertilizer to the acre on both
manure rnd unmanured land. 1t
will pay you. If farmers will
do this along with some other
things which / may mention lat
er on they will soon be able to
adopt the eight hour system in