The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-02-26

II
 ar There is. no danger oh oyer stimula. ting corn unless it is planted in a feeu | lot. in which case the manure IS SC thick and the content of nitrogen sc great that the stalk will grow exces-
 sively large at the expense of the ear Feed lot manure, however. may pc used on corn fields And is we'll worth the time and labor expended in rcmov- ing it from the feed lot to the field provided 1t is not too far away. Such manure is worth from s2 to $S per , ton if pure, but when mixed with the mud of the feed lot. it's value, though considerable. can not be definitely named. Manure should be spread al the rate of from to IS tons per acre and in even larger quantities if there is much earth mixed with it. but II
 the pure manure is used in larger quantities on corn there is likely to
 be a waste of nitrogen. The result
 may be good, but not as economical as
 when smaller quantities are used.
 The idea of manure burning up
 the crop, as some people think, is 8
 bugaboo; but as even the siliiest idea
 supposedly built, so this one has.
 When a heavy application of coarse
 manure is made and plowed under and
 the weather turns of dry. the top soi
 becomes dryer than without the ma.
 nure. because the latter breaks ths capillary connection between the uppel
 soil and the sub-soil. Water filters
 downward through the soil during and
 after rains. but 1t rises to the surface by capillary action during dry weather and in the case just mentioned 1t it stopped by the manure before it reach es the upper soil ana the latter be- comes very dry and the crop burns up."
 The remedy is to use well-rotted ma nure or to apply the manure so early that 1t becomes routed or at least be- comes mixed with the soil instead ef constituting a sheet between the upper and neither soils.
 Another method of fertilfzing corn is to make use of leguminous crops for
 that purpose. Corn that follows peas
 or peanuts or alfalfa is enriched by
 the nitrogen which those legumes
 gather from the air.
 MT. ]. D. Wing of Mechanicsburg,
 Ohio. obtained a yield of 100 bushels
 of corn per acre following alfalfa,
 whereas the yield was 60 bushels per acre following timothy sod.
 It is surprising that legumes are
 not introduced more generally into crop rotation so that nou-legumes, like corn, may benefit by the nitrogen that
 the iegumes gather. #
 Concerning commercial fertilizers,
 there Is much to be said that even the Southwestern farmer. with his
 rich soils. should heed. There is a
 noticeable lack of Knowledge on the subject in this part of the country and disposition to skip it on the all
 legged plea that our soils are rich
 enough if we can only get good sea- sons cannot discuss the seasons in this article, though I would like to say something about them at a later time. but will say to the man who has a rich soil.--keep 1t rich; and to the man who has poor soil,-make 1t rich. But we cannot Keep soils rich TOT make them rich in an economic manner unless we understand the sub feet of soil fertility" and there is no better introduction to that study than a study of commercial fertili- gers.
 The materials used principally to fertilize with in the South are cotton seed meal, acid phosphate and muriate of potash Other materials have great value, such as the bone. blood and tan kage of the packing houses, but the three first mentioned have a greater sale in. this part of the country. Cotton seed meal is essentially nitrogen (ous) fertilizer. acid phosphate is phosphorous fertilizer and muriate of potash is a potash fertilizer and it takes all three, (nitrogen phosphorus and potash), to constitute complete fertilizer In actual practice. however, we may sometimes omit one or even two plant foods owing to the soil being rich in them. In illustration of this fact I will mention that in some corn which I conducted at Ty- Ter, Texas, in the summer of 1904, on some old land that was sandy loam with red clay sub-soil I found that corn was greatly benefited by phos- phorus and nitrogen, put that potash was used at decided loss had al series of plots and the yields ranged from about 20 bushels per acre with out fertilizers, to 63 bushels per acre on the most highly fertilized plots. The fertilization with nitrogen and was very profitable with corn at 50 cents per bushel and prof. table even at 40 cents. ] think this land is fairly typical of much of East Texas, and I therefore believe that of cotton seed meal and acid phosphate makes the cheapest fertilizer for corn. Where manure has previously been used or where peas precede the corn, the nitrogen may be left out or used lightly, but acid phos- phate will do as much good as if no peas or manure preceded
 On the black waxy soil of Texas, commercial fertilizers have not given good results and in the present state of our knowledge we can recommend only manure and legumes for these soils.
 Some people fear to use fertilizers at all. thinking that while they in- crease the crop they do permanent in- l jury to the land; but this is mistake | and IS an idea unworthy of intelligent | farmers. Commercial fertilizers fill a very useful place in agricultural | economy. Whether it is profitable to use them depends on many factors which each farmer should study out for himself from the standpoint of his | own soil, crops, prices, etc.
 Three to five dollars worth of com fertilizer per acre for corn is | a reasonable amount to use. though I have used nearly three times the lat ter amount with profit (My expert ence is that large amounts of fertili- | gers are not advisable for corn-J F. D.
 While a combination of cotton seed | meal and acid phosphate usually con ,titute the best fertilizer for corn in he Southwestern states, l think 1t ! should be the aim of each farmer to get his nitrogen from iegumes in- Itead of from cotton seed meal. One on of cowpea hay contains 40 pounds if nitrogen (alfalfa the same) and when fed. more than half of this nt- rogen can be recovered in the ma | lure. This would be 20 pounds, or as much as Is contained in 800 pounds ,f cotton seed meal. It is cheaper. hen, to get nitrogen through legumes han to get it in the form of cotton r.