The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1907-04-12
HOW MUCH FERTILIZER TO
APPLY.

The question, How much fertilizer
should be used per acre. cannot be an
swered definitely, but only in a general
way. II is sometimes put in this form:
Whit is the most profitable amount that
may be applied per acre. Neither can
the question in the amended form be
exactly and accurately answered. The
soil, its character, condition, preparation,
etc. may be well known, or controllable
factors, but we know not what the sea.
sons may be, says Hon. r, ]. Redding,
Director Georgia Experiment Station, De-
partment Of Agriculture, in the virginia.
Carolina Fertilizer Almanac.
we Know That some crops will bear
larger amounts of fertilizers with reason
able assurance of profitable 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 a 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 a crop occu-
pies the soil during the late fall and win
yer ana early spring-during which Pc
RODS the rams 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.
- ." "Ni' va liN IAN GlbH OH the
ordinary dry uplands Of the South. 1t
has but a short period In which to deyel-
op Its f1owers-taSsels and silks-coyer-
ing but a few days, Ii very dry weather
shall prevail when. this critical period is
approaching, and for some time after IL
is passed, the crops may prove a greater
or less failurc There can be no second
Effort, no second period of blooming.
IL Is different in the case of cotton,
which commences to bloom and make
Tnt if INV. LAa
unues throughout the summer until
checked by a sever frost In November.
II has a number OF chances"
COTTON Is therefore another ideal crop
Tor liberal fertilizing, A small amount
OF fertilizers applied per acre will no
on It's cost than will a larger amount,
To Illustrate: An application of Sc worth
OF Fertilizer per acre may cause an in
creased yield OF cotton TAT 10 cents per
pound of the value of Sc to IS, or a profit
OF w TO 500 per cent, on its cost. ! have
frequently had such results. But il does
not Follow that twice as heavy an applI-
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. they ntn
OF increase In the yield OF cotton IN
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 S.; but
70 worth would not therefore bring an
Increase OF SIS.
But careful observation has shown that
application Of IS to s. worth of fertil-
izers properly balanced) Is a safe amount
10 apply per acre on cotton. Many farm
ers In Georgia have secured satisfactory
returns from an application Of so much
as 500 pounds per acre,
! think 800 pounds a perfectly safe limit
upland In fairly good condition. well
prepared and properly cultivated IN cot.
ton Fol- corn, l would limit the amour.
% ~ to 800 pounds per acre on old up