BULLETIN No. 208 FEBRUARY, 1919 ALABAMA Agricultural Experiment Station JN _Lf;i7 ,,S:. , C I NS1'_ ) n Si1 OF THE A iabtha Polytechnic Institutey. AUBURN i+ fir Comparison of Peanut Meal, Cotton Seed Meal, Velvet Bean Meal, Ammonium Sulphate, and Nitrate ol Soda, as Fertflizers for Corn and Cotton By E. F. CAUTHEN 1919 Post Publishing Company Opelika, Ala. STATION STAFF C. C. THACH, President of the J. College Station. F.- DUGGAR, Director of Experiment HORTICULTURE: AGRICULTURE: '1JPlant Breeder. ,i Pd . Sellers, Assistant. M.' H. Pearson, Assistant. VETERINARY UQH 4 B:',Tisdale, J. F. Duggar, Agriculturist. E. F. Cauthen, Agriculturist. M. J. Funchess, Associate. J. [., Williamson, Field Agt. Associate G. C. Starcher, Horticulturist. J. C. C. Price, Associate. C. L. Isbell, Assistant. ENTOMOLOGY: SCIENCE: C. A. Cary, Veterinarian. 'CHE=MISTRY: W. E. Hinds, Entomologist. F. L. Thomas, Assistant. J. M. Robinson. Assistnt. B. B. Ross, Chemist. E. R. Miller,' Chemist Soils and Crops. C. L. Hare, Physiological Chemist. BOTANY: ANIMAL HUSBANDRY: W. A. Gardner, Botanist. Robert Stratton, Assistant. PLANT G. S. Templeton, Animal Husbandman. F. 0. Montague, Assistant. E., Gibbens, Assistant. G. L. Burleson, Assistant. F. W. Burns, Assistant. PATHOLOGY: .G.L. EDITOR: Peltier, Plant Pathologist. Leslie L. Gilbert. ',COMPARISON OF PEANUT MEAL, COTTON SEED MEAL, VELVET BEAN MEAL, AMMONIUM SULPHATE, AND_ NITRATE OF SODA, AS, FERTILIZERS FOR, CORN AND COTTON. By E. F. CAUTHEN CORN This publication records thc relative fertilizing soda, annnoniumsulphate,'cotton fects of nitrate seed meal, peanut, meal, and velvet bean neal'used as shown in experiments on the Alabama Experiment Station farm at-Auburn, and covering period.of two years. The 1917 test was made a gravelly.loam upland soil, and the test on a deep sandy soil very -low in plant. food. In the first test, corn was planted June 20th following a crop of wheat, and in the second test it was planted in March on poor sandy weed land. The anmount.of nitrogen furnished from the different materials was practically the same for all plots,'the amount of fertilizer required to furnish equal of nitrogen or ammonia varying from pounds of sulphate of ammonia to 400 pounds of 'velvetbean meal per acre. The peanut meal and velvet bean meal contained the ground hulls of the In addition to the nitrogenous fertilizer,: 240 pounds of acid posphatae per acre xas applied at planting time in both testswith ,of ef- made 1918 on a 80 amounts pods. corn. One fourth of applied at planting time, and the remaining three fourths punt as a side application to the growing corn when the plants were, about knee high. the, nitrogenous fertilizer was on TABLE 1. Relative Nitrogen from Diuff cre111 Sources for 'Coirn______ 'Effects of find of Yield fertilizer CI per acre a S . TTb7. ,Bu. Nitrate of soda sBu. 17.5 -Bu. Ammonium sulphate-----_ Cotton seed meal Peanut meal bean men' No nitrogen -------_--_______ tOO 2001 10 4001 -- 80 26.:0 25.1 17 6° 14.0 '2111S _Bu. 7.5 21.4 Velvet ------ f 25.7 24.3 16.0 11.4 19.2 20.9 16.4 7.1' 4.9 6.6 2.1 -- 19.4 21.3 9.1 14.3 I The average gains for the different forms of fertilizer varies from 2.1 bushels of corn from velvet bean meal to 7.5 bushels from nitrate of soda. Eighty pounds of sulphate of ammonia produced nearly the same average increase as 100 pounds of nitrate of soda. Equal amounts of nitrogen in peanut meal in comparison with practically equal amounts of nitrogen in cotton seed meal increased the yield 1.7 bushels of corn per acre, but neither meals were as effective as nitrate of soda or ammonium sulphate. For the purpose of comparison, the availability of nitrogen in nitrate of soda is assumed as 100 per cent. Measuring then the availability of nitrogen in the materials by the average yield of corn for two years, the approximate avaliability of the nitrogen is as follows: 94 per cent In ammonium sulphate In peanut meal 84 per cent 65 per cent In cotton seed meal 28 per cent In velvet bean meal Assuming the cost of nitrate of soda at $100.00 per ton, ammonium sulphate at $120.00, cotton seed meal at $55.00, peanut meal at $50.00, and velvet bean meal at $25.00 per. ton, and the value of corn at $1.50 per bushel, the profit from the use of the different materials is as follows: $6.25 per acre 100 lbs. nitrate of soda 5.85 per acre 80 lbs. ammonium sulphate - 1.85 per acre 200 lbs. cotton seed meal 2.15 per acre 310 lbs. peanut meal 400 lbs. velvet bean meal (Loss) 1.85 per acre ----------- COTTON Approximately equal amounts of nitrogen in cotton seed meal, peanut meal, velvet bean meal, and nitrate of soda were applied to cotton in 1917 and 1918. The tests were made on a sandy loam of medium fertility on the Experiment Station farm at Auburn. The 1918 test followed the 1917 test plot for plot, and probably received some of the residual effect of the corresponding fertilizer on the same plot of the first test. A mixture of 160 pounds of acid phosphate and 20 pounds of sulphate of potash per aicre was applied with the nitirogenous fertilizer. All fertilizer was applied before planting. The yield of seed cotton is given in the following table: TABLE II. Relative Effects of Nitrogen from Different Sources for Cotton Yield per acre 1917 1918 Nitrate of soda -Cotton seed meal Peanut meal No nitrogen SLbs. 4 Lbs. Kind of fertilizer v 140 351 ... Velvet bean meal - |754 452 823 825 779 ..._ 1312 1068 1178 1002 1161 Lbs. Lbs. 550 1132 970 1076 I 841 In the above table it is noticed that nitrate of soda gave the largest yield. It was followed closely by cotton seed meal and peanut meal, there being only 3 per cent difference between the two meals. Velvet bean meal gave the lowest yield. For comparison, the availability of nitrate of soda is assumed at 100 per cent. The nitrogen in the several fertilizing materials then shows the following relative effectiveness for cotton: Nitrate of soda __________ 100 per cent Cotton seed meal 93.8 per cent Peanut meal ________________ 90.9 per cent Velvet bean meal 78.7 per cent Assuming the cost of the fertilizing materials at the following price per ton: nitrate of soda, $100 per tonr cotton seed meal, $55.00; peanut meal, $50.00, and velvet bean meal, $25.00 per ton; and the value of seed cotton at 10 cents per pound, the profit from the use of the different materials is as follows: 140 lbs. nitrate of soda (in the 1918 test) ------------------- $23.60 per acre 351 lbs. cotton seed meal per acre 452 lbs. peanut meal 8.50 per acre 754 lbs. velvet bean meal 5.60 per acre The results from the same materials under corn and cotton show that nitrate of soda per unit of nitrogen is the most effective fertilizer and that it is closely followed by ammonium sulphate. Between peanut meal and cotton seed meal there is not much difference. Velvet bean meal gave better results when used under ----------- -10.20 cotton than when used under corn. The cotton plant which received all of its fertilizer before planting, has a longer growing period than the corn plant, to which three fourths of the nitrogen applied a side application; therefore, the cotton plant able to utilize a larger per cent of the nitrogen in the slowly was nitrifying velvet bean meal than the was corn plant. late as ANAJXYSIS FOR FERTILIZING CONSTITUENTS OF PEANUT MEAL, VELVET BEAN MEAL, AND COTTON SEED MEAL* Peanul eal Containing Some Hulls Phosphoric ------1.10 per cent - - - - - - - - Nitrogen - -- -- - - -- - - - 4.69 per cent Nitrogen equivalent to ammonia ----5.70 per cent acid Potash - - - - - - -- - - - - 1.36 2.02 2.42 Hulls per cent cent cent Phosphoric Nitrogen -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Nitrogen equivalent to ammonia -Polash Velvet acid Peanut Meal Without flls --- 6.12 per cent 7.44 per cent Beau Meal Containing Some -- per per Phosphoric acid Nitrogen Nito ogen equivaicul Potash -- - - - - - - - Cotton Seed to a4 rnmonla .72. pep cent 2.78 per cecnt 3.38 per cent Phosphoric Potash (Average Meal for 1.37 per cent of Many Fertilizer Analyses) acid Nitrogen ------ ----- - - - - - Nitrogen equivalent to ammonia ------- - - .2A4'924tcent _ 5.65'per cent 6.86 per cent - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MlVade 1.50 per cent by tute. Chemical Department of Alabama Polytechnic Insti-