The log cabin Democrat., 1920-10-11
HARPER PRAISES
 FAULKNER SOIL
ARE GREAT
Proper Fertilizer and Crop Rotation Would Enormously Increase Yield,
 Experts Declare.

Faulkner county has a far bette, soil than that of Georgia or the Caro- linas, on which one to two bales of cotton per acre Is produced, according to conclusions drawn by Profs. J. N Harper of Atlanta, Ga., and J. C. Jridmore of Shreveport, La., who made the soil inspection in this county Saturday. The trip was under the direction of the profitable farming bureau of the Little Rock chamber of commerce, of which H. M. Cottrell is head. About 34 or 40 business men and farmers accompanied Mr. liar per on the trips along the Vilonia road Saturday morning and to the river bottom lands that afternoon.
 The lands east of Conway, accord ing to Prof. Harper are mainly com posed of fine silty loam. This, land can easily produce a bale to a bale and a half of cotton to the acre with a little extra work. This type of land, he belives, is deficient in nitrogen and a fertilizer with high percentage of this element will assist materially in increasing the yield per acre. The nitrogen, he said. was for weed or stalk growth, but without two other elements, phosphate and potash, a high percentage of nitrogen would "burn up" the cotton. The last two named clements would prevent the burning up of the cotton and also put the fruit on rapidly.
 In addition to commercial fertilizer, nitrogen can be readily obtained from the atmosphere by the use of cover crops and legumes, he said. He stressed the importance of winter cover crop of rye instead of sum- mer crop of COW peas. The rye will produce a large percentage of nitro gen and 1t can be converted to the soil by blowing under. The cowpeas, he said, should be cut for pay. Velvet beans and lespedeza are other valu- able land builders and should be used by all means on the silty loam lands,
 In speaking of the river bottom lands, MT. Harper said he was con- vinced this type of land was deficient in acid phosphate and a more liberal use of commercial fertilizer containing this element would increase the yield. Personally, he said, he did not like the socalled "buckshot" land for cot ton, but it could be made to produce a good yield of cotton if properly handled.
 The party accompanying Messrs. Harper, Cottrell and Pridmore left Conway Saturday morning and made four stops along the Vilonia road, the first being at the Albert Lachowsky place about three miles east From there they went to the Dr. Harrod place eight miles east and then to Beryl where diner was served. After dinner Prof. Harper made a short talk at the Graddy cotton gin in which he gave his conclusions drawn from an inspection of the soil. In his talk Prof. Harper said one mistake often made by the farmer was turning under the top soil. This top soil should be worked constantly" he said, "but don't turn it under Your field will soon be all clods and Jumps of clay instead of a finely pulverized soil, capable of holding moisture in the dry est times"
 Prof. Prdmore in a short talk em- phasized the points and suggestions thrown out by Prof Harper and eX- plained to those present the tables of commercial fertilizer formulae on a small pamphlet distributed by the ex- tension division of the University of Arkansas. Copies of the pamphlets, he explained, could be obtained from the county agent, T. M. Williams, without trouble.
 Due to a delay in the schedule, the party had very little time to spend on the farms in the river bottom sec ton west of Conway. They visited the D. o. Harton farm and the J. w. James farm before returning to Con- way to take the evening train to Lit 1 tie Rock.