The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1922-04-07
County Agent Notes
FERTILIZERS.


Probably fifty tons of nitrate of
soda or more will be used in the
county this year and many tons of
acid phosphate will be put on the
land also.
Nitrate of soda and acid phosphate
should be used on the sandy soils
east of the river in the proportion of
100 pounds of soda to 200 pounds
of phosphate and on all cotton land
would put out all the fertilizer
that was to be used on it before
planting and be sure and not get it
in too deep as the roots of the young
cotton are too long in reaching it
when put in deep furrow and Gov
cred.
One of the costliest mistakes that
has been made in the past in using
nitrate of soda on cotton and also
on corn was in applying it too late.
So many farmers think that it should
be applied to cotton when it gets
knee high or more and is full OF
squares. but the time to put ii ON
cotton land is before planting This
is important as cotton needs to be
pushed when it is young to make a
crop ahead of the weevil.
Ia fertilizing corn of course the
acid phosphate is to be put in
before planting. and some nitrate of
soda can be used at this time but
not but few pounds per acre, not
over 20 pounds. The other eighty
or a hundred pounds should be used
when the corn is between knee and
waist high In the past many far
mers have waited until the corn be-
gan to tassel before applying nitrate
of soda, but this is entirely too late
as the corn plant stores up food in
the stalk to make the ear of corn,
and if this food is not given to it in
time, sufficient food cannot be taken
up to produce full crop.
Nitrate of soda can be used on
the prairie lauds profitably, and it
is a great help in pushing cotton off
especially when the ground is rather
poor. as is the case of some of the
farms. 1t should be used there the
same way as in the sand loan sec
ton. 1t is very doubtful whether
phosphate will pay on the prairie
soils and | would not advise the
purchase of it for these soils, but
nitrate of soda will pay we'll on
either cotton or corn on this land.
PLANTING COTTON.
In planting cotton be sure to put |
down plenty of seed, at least a
bushel. and bushel and half is
better. for there is one thing certain |
you must have the stalks on the !
land before you can make cotton.
| The largest and one of the most sue
cessful cotton growers in this state
says he always saves three bushels
of seed for every acre he is to plant,
and always plants a bushel and a
half per acre, and if he fails to get
good stand the first time he has
plenty to plant over.
Unless a man has plenty of cotton
seed to plant twice. it is risky bust
ness to plant cotton before the 10th
of April, and unless the weather
changes considerably in the next
few days. it will be better to wait
until the 18th or later. Cotton seed
is scarce and if the first planting
of seed IS killed generally by late
frost or cold rains and winds, we
need not worry about the acreage
being reduced this year. for it surely
will if this happens, for we cannot
find seed to plant again.
At later time | will have more
to say about thick spacing of cotton.
but at present the thing to do is to
get a good stand of cotton to live,
and this cannot be done until we ;
have more warm weather than we
have had up to now. Too many !,
farmers use the calendar as guide !
to plant cotton instead of being
onided hv the weather conditions