The Cordele dispatch. (Cordele, Ga.) 19??-1971, 1917-04-22
ANOTHER CASH CROP FOR THE
COTTON FARMER.
BY J. C. Pridmore, Asronomist

tested territory, and where the boil
weevil is about to make its appear
ance, are beginning to realize that
they must depend upon crops other
than cotton for ready money While
cotton will still continue to be grown
in spite Of the boil weevil, especially
where one takes advantage of those
measures which are known to beat
the insect to the crop, it will not
be grown so abundantly as if the
WeeVil were not present. Growing
slightly smaller acreage to cotton
giving more attention to the prepar-
alton of the land, to heavy fertiliza-
ton, better tiuage, and the use of
an earlier maturing variety, all Of
which tends to mature the crop be-
fore the boil ,Weeyil does its damage.
And the use of supplementary crops
on the other acres will undoubtedly
be a more profitable system for the
cotton farmer to use in boil weevil
territory than the production Of cot
ton on all the land, as has been prac-
ticed in the past.
Supplementary crops grown should
have ready market which may be
through the live stock on the farm
or to commercial enterprises or in
terests. At present, one Of the best
supplementary crops to cotton as a
cash crop is the Soy bean. 1t is splen-
didly adapted to the cotton section
and when grown there is a ready
market for it. 1t can be used for
hay on the farm: it can be used for
grain or it can be sold to oil mills,
which are in need Of the beans for
oil purposes. In fact, there is grow
ing demand for vegetable oil, such
as may be obtained from the Soy
bean and the peanut For that rea-
son there is an unsatisfied demand for
soybeans.
The soybean is well adapted to the
soil and climatic conditions of the
cotton section, and can be grown on
practically any soil that produces
corn, cotton or COW peas, because OF
tho fact that beans are upright in
their growth, and can be harvested
more easily and produce more hay
or grain than peas, and can be soWn
to advantage earlier as well as later
in the season, and are richer in both
protein and oil, they are to be pre-
fered to the COW peas.
In the cotton territory they may
take the same place in the rotation
as cowpeas under which conditions the
preparation Of the soil, planting and
cultural methods will be practically
the same as for the COW peas. For
the better grade Of land, especially
the soybean will probably make the
greatest yields planted in rows and
cultivated two or three inches with
some shallow cultiVating implements
as one would peas when planted in
rows. Planting in rows twenty-four
or twenty-six inches apart with a one
or two horse planter or with a grain
drill, by stopping up two spouts and
leaving one open, in which case 1t
is possible to plant three rows at a
time. It will take between a peck and
q half bushe1 Of seed per acre. Beans
should not be planted more than an
inch and a half or two inches deep
since they are unable to germinate
and come through a greater depth OF
soil
Most profitable and satisfactory re-
turns in the growth Oh soybeans Will
be made only when they have a suf-
fcient amount of necessary plant food
at their disposal On poor soils, even
though the plant is a legume, it will
be profitable to use a fertilizer car
rying a small amount OF nitrogen IN
addition to q liberal amount OF phos-
nhOric acid and a small amount OF
p0tash. Under such conditions a fer
tilizer carrying 2 to 2 IL per cent
nitrogen, 10 per cent or IL per cent,
phosnhoric acid, and l per cent. or z
por cent. potash will be sufficient, On
heavier soils, especially those which
contain a good amount OF potash 1t
will not ordinarily be necessary to
supply any commercial form OF pot
ash for this crop unless one knows
from previous crops that applications
of this element can be used profit
abIy. Fertilizer should be applied IN
the row at the rate Of three or four
hundred pounds per acre, and thor
oughly mixed with the soil previous
to planting. Amounts greater than
400 pounds should be applied broad
cast end narrowed into the soil be-
fore seeding. The beans may be plant
ed almost any time after danger OF
frost is over, but there is nothing TO
be gained in planting until the soil
is warm and favorable growing con-
dition are supplied.