The stable manure, if that is used, should be broadcasted over the fields at the rate of six to ten tons an acre. If commercial fertilizers are used, it may be best to make two applications. To give the young plants a good start, apply a portion of the fertilizer in the drill just before planting. Then when the first blooms appear, put the remainder of the fertilizer in drills near the plants but not too close. Many good cotton-growers, however, apply all the fertilizer at one time.
[Illustration: FIG. 187. WEIGHING A DAY'S PICKING OF COTTON]
_Relation of Stock to the Cotton Crop_. On many farms much of the money for which the cotton is sold in the fall has to go to pay for the commercial fertilizer used in growing the crop. Should not this fact suggest efforts to raise just as good crops without having to buy so much fertilizer? Is there any way by which this can be done? The following suggestions may be helpful. Raise enough stock to use all the cotton seed grown on the farm. To go with the food made from the cotton seed, grow on the farm pea-vine hay, clover, alfalfa, and other such nitrogen-gathering crops. This can be done at small cost. What will be the result?
First, to say nothing of the money made from the cattle, the large quantity of stable manure saved will largely reduce the amount of commercial fertilizer needed. The cotton-farmer cannot afford to neglect cattle-raising. The cattle sections of the country are likely to make the greatest progress in agriculture, because they have manure always on hand.
[Illustration: FIG. 188. MODERN COTTON BALES]
Second, the nitrogen-gathering crops, while helping to feed the stock, also reduce the fertilizer bills by supplying one of the costly elements of the fertilizer. The ordinary cotton fertilizer consists principally of nitrogen, of potash, and of phosphoric acid. Of these three, by far the most costly is nitrogen. Now peas, beans, clover, and peanuts will leave enough nitrogen in the soil for cotton, so that if they are raised, it is necessary to buy only phosphoric acid and sometimes potash.
The tobacco plant connects Indian agriculture with our own. It has always been a source of great profit to our people. In the early colonial days tobacco was almost the only money crop. Many rich men came to America in those days merely to raise tobacco.