The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1907-02-22
How Much Fertilizer to Apply.

The question, Glow much fertil
izer should be used per acre?" can
not be answered definitely, but in a
general way. 1t is sometimes put in
this form: What is the most profit
able amount that may be applied per
acre?" Neither can the question in
the amended form be exactly and &C
curately answered. The soil, its char
acter, condition, preparation, etc,
may be well known, or comfortable
factors, but we know not what the
seasons may be, says the Hon. r. j.
Redding, Director Georgia Expert
ment Station, Department of Agricul-
ture, in the Virginia-Carolina Fer
tiliZer Almanac.
We know that some crops will
bear larger amounts Of fertilizers
with reasonable assurance of profit
able returns than may be expected
of other soils. A crop that occupies
the soil from the fall season until
spring, or early summer, will bear
heavier fertilizing than will crop
that is planted in the spring and
ripens for harvest in midsummer.
The first case is illustrated by oats,
wheat or other small grain, or grass,
especially when sown in the fall of
the year Such crop occupies
soil during the late fall and winter,
and early spring-during which per-
iods the rains are usually abundant
-ripening for harvest in late spring,
or very early summer, before the
burning summer heat and possible
drouths of June and July. Oats and
wheat therefore are ideal crops for
liberal fertilizing.
Corn is rather an uncertain crop
on the ordinary dry uplands of the
South. 1t has but a short period in
which to develop its flowers-tassels
and silks-covering but few days.
If very dry weather shall prevail
when this critical period is approach
ing, and for some time after it is
passed, the crops may prove a great
err or less failure. There can be no
second effort, no second period of
blooming.
It is different in the case of cotton
which commences to bloom and make
fruit in June Tor even earlier) and
continues throughout the summer
until checked by a severe frost in
November. 1t has a number of
chances"
Cotton is therefore another ideal
crop for liberal fertiliZing. A small
amount of fertilizers applied per acre
will no doubt yield a larger per cent
age of profit on it's cost than will a
larger amount. To illustrate: An APP
plication of So worth Of fertilizer per
acre may cause an increased yield
of cotton Cat ten cents per pound)
of the value of Sc to IS, or profit
of zoo to 800 per cent. on its cast
/ have frequently had such results.
But it does not follow that twice as
heavy an application will produce
twice as large results, or that three
times as much would cause three
times as great an increase. in the
yield. In other words, the rate of
increase in the yield of cotton will
not be in proportion to the increase
In the amount of fertilizers applied.
Two dollars worth of fertilizer per
acre may yield an increase in the
crop of Sc; but Sc worth would not
therefore bring an increase of $18.
But careful observation has shown
that an application Of SIS to Sc worth
of fertilizers (properly balanced) is
a safe amount to apply per acre on
cotton. Many farmers in Georgia
have secured satisfactory returns
from an application of so much as
500 pounds per acre. / think 600
pounds a perfectly safe limit on up
land in fairly good condition, well
prepared and properly cultivated in
cotton. For corn, / would limit the
amount to 200 to 800 pounds per
acre on old uplands