The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1907-03-15
NOW MUCH FERTILIZER 70
APPLY.

Tha os1est,or. sHow much fertilizer
shouid III used per acre?n cannot be an.
sNered definitely, but only In g genera!
way. It Is sometimes put In TINS Iolns
what 10 the most profitable anounL tnas
may be applied per aere% Neither can
the question In the amended form PC
exactly and accurately answered me
soil, Its character, condition. preparatione
etc, may be wei known. or controliapio
factors, but we know not what the sea-
sons may be, a j Hon. r. J. Reddinss
Director Georgia Experiment station, 70
partment of Agriculture, In the Virgini&s
Carolina Fertilizer Almanac.
We know that sorne crops Will pear
larger amounts Of fertilizers with reason
able assurance OF profitable returns than
that occupies the soil from the fall season
until spring. Or early summer, Will bear
heavier fertilizfng than Will q crop tnaE
IL planted in the spring and ripens Tor
harvest in midsummer. The first case y
illustrated by oats, wheat. o. other SINAI
the fall Of the year. Such a crop occu-
pies the soil during the late fall and win
ter, and early spring-during which PEE
RODS the rains are usually abundant
rfpening 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. II
has but q short period In which to deyel-
op Its howers-tassels and s~ilks-cover-
Ing but a few days. II very dry weather
shall prevail when this critical period IS
approaching, and for some time after 1t
Is passed, the crops may prove a greater
or less failure. There can be no second
II Is different In the case OF cotton,
which commences to bloom and make
fruit In june Tor even earlier) and con-
tinues throughout the summer until
checked by a severe frost in November.
1t has a number OF chances" Z
for liberal fertilizing. A small amount
Of fertilizers applied per acre will no
doubt yield q larger percentage profit
on Its cost than will a larger amount.
To Illustrator: An application Of 81 worth
or fertilizer per acre may cause an in
pound Of the value Of IS to IS, or a profit
OF 200 to 800 per cent. On its cost. / have
frequently had such results. But 1t does
not follow that twice as heavy an appii-
cation will produce twice as large re-
suits, 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
b amount OF fertilizers applied, Two
collars worth OF fertilizer per acre may
yield an increase in the crop OF Sc; but
rs worth would not therefore bring an
Increase OF SIS.
But careful observation has shown that
an application OF IS to 50 worth Of fertil-
izers properly balanced) Is q safe amount
to apply per acre on cotton. Many farm
ers In Georgia have secured satisfactory
returns from an application Of so much
as 800 pounds per acre.
l think 500 pounds a perfectly safe limit
upland In fairly good condition, well
prepared and properly cultivated In cot
ton. For corn, / would limit the amount
20 2vo TO 800 pounds per acre on old up