Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-11-07

The average Tor tne~ past Live
years is therefore 784,00@ tons. The
average yield of lint cotton for the
period between 1911-1920 was 1858
pounds per acre. The average yield
of cottonseed for the same period
and under the same conditions was
$685. pounds per acre. The aver
age price of lint cotton during the
period mentioned was l7.OS cents
per pound. The average price + cot
tonseed was $685. a ton. Fertilizers
varied widely in price during the
same period. 1t is impossible to get
at a very definite average as none
seems to have been worked out. Ger
tainly we would be conservative to
say that during the last five years
available nitrogen has been worth
approximately Is cents pound.
phosphoric acid and potash are
much lower at this time of course,
but those which have pertained over
period of several years must be
used in order to make a fair COM
parison.
1t would appear from these figures
therefore that the amount of fer
tility removed by an average cotton
crop during the period mentioned ap-
proximates So. 48 an acre. When we
consider that there are from three
to four million acres of land in Geor-
gia devoted to the cultivation of cot
ton each year, the enormous drain
which the sale of cottonseed may
make upon the store Of potential
plant food in our soils becomes APP
parent.
A ton Of high grade cottonseed
meal contains approximately 14l.2
pounds of nitrogen, 53.4 pounds of
phosphoric acid and 1922 pounds of
potash. A great deal of the cotton
seed meal manufactured in the state
of Georgia is Of lower grade than
this due to varying causes. The
seed in themselves vary in compost
ton, and there is a good deal of vari-
alton in the methods of manufac-
ture practiced by the different mills.
Roughly speaking, one-half ton of
cottonseed meal could be obtained
from a ton of seed. This one-half
ton Of meal would contain by far
the greater part Of the plant food
found in the original seed. If this
meal were purchased and used on
the farm, or exchanged for seed on a
fair basis, it would, viewed in the
light of the figures presented con-
serve about SIG worth of plant food
for each ton of seed sold. When you
consider that a pound of cottonseed
meal is equivalent to about 1.75
pounds of corn in feeding value, you
can readily see what enormous bene.
fits are to be gained by our farm
ers feeding the cottonseed meal and
returning the animal droppings to
the land. Animals, in consuming
this feed, would probably retain in
their digestive systems an average of
from IS to 20 per cent of the total
amount of plant food the meal orig
inally contained. The balance would
be excreted fdom the body, and it
can therefore be gathered up and re-
turned to the land in the form of
yard manure.
A ton of seed only removes from
the soil about SIG worth of plant
food. So, the equivalent of the
plant food contained in the soil could
be successfully maintained through
the feeding of cottonseed meal to
livestock while releasing the very
valuable oil contained therein for
edible purposes. An additional gain
equivalent in amount to the feeding
value contained 25,O0O,0OO bushels
Of corn would be obtained. With
corn at 81 a bushel, this equals $25,-
100000. This actually represents
about the amount we are losing an
nually because Of our failure to han
die our cottonseed in a thoroughly
up-to-date and scientific manner. To
some this may se2m an exaggeration
of the facts, but if they will study
the conditions which pertain in
Europe where they are feeding enor-
nous amounts Of our cottonseed
meal at the present time, they will
find that the figures presented are
extremely conservative.