The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-02-19
The Ameuat ef FertilszeR an
 Number Of Acres

Number of Acres.
 A volume might be written on tne most profitable amount of fertilSsr bnt no amount of discussion of this snhjeet would afford much help to the farmer unless consideration were also given at the same time to the numper of acres to be cultivated. In other words this question of the best amount of fertilizer raises this definite sup question. Does it generally pay ness fa apply given number of sehs .. fertilizer to large or to a sHAll nun, nun her of acresgs This article Is written with a view to focusing attention op the question just stated. To % so more effectively concrete. but sup posititicns example of each type or oot- ton culture Is presented, not seiecuhs an extreme example of either extensive nor of intensive forming.
 Let us take the case or the iSInhsa who cultivates in crons ol s. astsn happeps that as much as seventy acres IS in cotton. The other thirty acrss 1t uiifiiized somewhat as foiiows' fwertv-five acres in corn, two in oats. two in sweet potatoes and sugar cane or sorghum, ana ols acre ln orchard and garden. IT 5s evident that he who has oeVo.eu " per cent of bis arabic land to one crop has placed all his eggs in one pasASs and has left himself no proper amount og land on which to grow other sale cronn ar an which to grow plants Wnose rnaIn cad is to imnrove the land and ta Increase the size of future crops.
 Taking this concrete example, wn4s changes are advislpleg 10 hastls aAy wide adoption any proposed changes must be fii moderate or eonAerRa- five: t2) they must involve only erens and systems somewhat familiar in the lanaftty in whieh the farm Hes; ta3 thav must be practicable without ths expenalture of much more than the customary outlay in making 9 eFop on a farm of thts size; t4l any change lh eraupiRg and in rotation must lntFe- ause oniy thasa crops or products for which there is a wide demand by con- susuers and and an unfaiIing sale.
 Having in view all these require- p1ey,ts. the KoifawinR are some 0f the immediate changes In the management of this preDsfty that the writer ven tures to suggest, though knowing fuil well that local and personal modinea- tisss win ha needed to make even these slialat innovations workable.
 The findamentai error must Do nfst corrected. The acreage in cotton should he cut down as low as pFastl- able without reducing the number or bales to be produced on the farm, me seventy acres in cotton has been pre- ducing about twenty-five bales with the help of about 150 pounds per acre of some guano. As this guane' is us- uxrIy ready mixed tine same kind or plant food must be deied out to eacn Nefd Whether it be sand or clay, poor or medium. subject to rust ar never Fusting cotton, growing awarI or giant stalks. Here is opportunity for the second reformation, though II q h1f enngidQFc hlNr irsewe knowledge is needed to mix 1udf- ciously ones own fertilizers ehan 70 take any standard brand of suano that has a good name in the neighborhood. Indeed there Is need for the State Ex- pertinent station to do much more ex- tensive experimenting to determine the fertilizer requirements Qf the scores of different soils of Alahama than IS l,ossible with it's present income. When funds are provided for the extension of this work 1t will be possible for farnaers to buy in fertilizers only what their soils require.
 It will be perfectly safe in most cases to reduce the cotton acreage from seventy down to fifty acres, and vet by the use of large amounts oi fertilizer and more timely cultivation to pick fully as many bales as from the larger area On this reduced area I suggest as a beginning an average oi 300 pounds of fertilizer, instead of I5o pounds. This will mean only about one and one fourth tons of fertilizei more than before, and enough can bf saved by mixing the ingredients on the farm to pay for this additional amount
 The twenty acres freed from cotton culture can well be devoted to oats fol lowed by COW peas, and to increased areas of crops to be consumed by hogs fer exsnple, peanuts sweet potatoes saybeans, and sorghum This increasF In the area of crops for hogs should save a hundred or two dollars in thf usual Dill for western meat and should afford a surplus of live pork of about the same value for sale.
 The main reason for advising the growing of small grain on the twenty acres rescued from cotton Is in oFdei that COW peas may be grown with 3 vIsw to usings them primarily as ferti' ll1er for the next years cotton crop, and making them pay more than their own expenses in the pork into which they are to he converted. On sandy land I have repeatedly had ar increase of a third of a bale per aor, m the cotton crop following the blow ine in of a, good growth of cowpeI vines. But to he conservative we vii estimate the probable increase at onl! a quarter of a bale per acre. or fiv bales on the land rotated as suggeste' above. This increase in the seeon, years yield of cotton, together wit
 the value of the pork produced, wpui constitute the main items of increase
 revenue under the plan proposed. |
 this. year the fifty acres with 30 pounds of fertilizer, and twenty Q uu.1ausuuuu.usuauuuuuuu