/ C~:J::'l"EE::e~X:::E:l $grnulturall*perimtnt $tation, UNIONTOWN, ALABAMA. Bulletin No. 13, - December, 1891 ~OORN.~· BY "W".:H:. NE"W"MA]Sr. BROWN PRINTING CO., PRINTERS, r.WNTGOMERY, ALA... c '--_- . CANEBRAKE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION, UNIONTOWN, - - ALABAMA. BULLETIN No, 13, - BOART! OF CONTROL. DECEMBER, 1891 HECTOR D. L ANE . ..... . _ . . . . Commissioner of Agricu lture, Ex·Officio. W. L . BROUN . MIM8 WALKER, L.r... D . ....... . ... . Director, Ex·Officio. ................. . Faunsdale, Ala. W. M. BOOKER . . .. . . ..• . ..• .• •• •• • ••. •••• •.... . Uniontown, Ala. DR. J. HUGGINS .......... . • •.. •... . • _ . . .. •. _, . _... . .. . Newbern, Ala.. A. SLEDGE . . . '. . ............... . .... . ............... . Whitsett, Ala. . . . ... . ...• . •• . . . . . . . . . Tombi gbee, G. D. STOLL, NWERCK . ... E Ala. S ECRETARY OF THE BOA.RD. 'V. H . NEWMA.N .•.•••.••...••• ••••.• .. . ••..•••.. . •• . Uniontown, OFFICERS OF THE STATION. Ala. W. L . BROUN, L.L. D, Director . . .. Auburn, W. B. NEWMAN, Assistant Director in Charge... . . . Uniontown, T. J. KHAN, V . M. D., Veterinarian . ..... . . . . . ....... Uniontown, MIM S W ALKBR, Treasurer ............ . ......... . .. . .. Faunsdale, Ala. Ala. Ala. Ala. c '--_-- EXPERIMENTS WITH CORN. MANURES AND DRAINAGE. PLANTED MARCH 30TH-HARVESTED OCTOBER 6, 1891. (a). ..icre No.1, .Drained Land.-Three tons of stable manure and one ton of green cotton seed, applied in furrow and bedded on in January. Yield, 34~ bushels. (a). Acre lYo. 1, Undrained Land.-Manured as acre No. 1, drained land. Yield, 23~ bushels. (b). Acre No. Ii, .Drained Land.-No manure. bushels. Yield, 27~ (b). Acre No. Ii, Undrained Land.-No manure. 20 bushels. Yield, (c). Acre No.3, .Drained Land.-Four hundred pounds cotton seed meal applied ill drill at ti",e of planting. Yield, 33 bushels. (e) . Acre No.3, Undrained Land.-Manured as acre No. 3, drained land, Yield, 26 bushels. (d). AO're NO.4, j)rained Land.-Two hundred pounds cotton seed meal applied in drill at time of planting. Yield, 25 bushels. (Ii). Acre NO.4; Undrained Land.-Manured as acre No. 4, drained land. Yield, 18 bushels. L J c ____ RECAPITULATION. DRAINED LAND. Yni:LD. ___-;="'-===-=:LTc-===_____,,_1,,8"'90"'.--,J'-'1~91. Acre No.1 6000 pounds stable manure . . ... . ...... ~ 35 34~ 2000 pounds green cotton seed . .. . ..... f Acre No.2, no maoure . ..... . ... . ' . .... ......... 32 27>i Acre No.3, 400 pounds cotton seed meal. . . . . . . . . . . . 42 33 Acre No.4, 200 pounds cotton seed meaL.... . . . . . .. 32 25 1 UNDRAmED LA~m. Acre ~o. 1 6000 pounds stable manure · · ······ · · . · l 2000 ponnds green cotton seed . ........ f Acre No.2, no manure . . ... .. . ..... . Acre No.3, 400 pounds cotton seed meal Acre No.4, 200 pounds cotton seed meal 1 32 33 24 23» 20 26 18 27» Tbe following is taken from bulletin No. 10, 1890, on corn: "Tbe object of tbe above experiments was to test tbe benefits derived from tbe stable manure, green cotton seed, and cotton seed meal on "black slougb" bottom land. "Wbere 400 pounds of cotton seed meal were applied on drained laud tbe cost of tbe fertilizer was paid by tbe increased yield of ten bushels at 50 cen ts per bushel. In all of the others there was a decided loss by applying the fertilizer and stable manure. Tbe land had been well prepared by flushing in November, 1889, and bedding in Jan nary, 1890. All the experiments with commercial fertilizers have given similar re~ snIts. Cotton seed meal always gave the best results, and it was thought that the meal would pay, but the above results seem to prove tbat it will not. Where pea vines and melilotus were planted a decided increase w'aS gained in the yield, at a very little cost, on land that was not considered worth cultivating five years ago. Tbe eources of phospboric acid and pot. ash have also failed to give satisfactory results. Green cotton seed and the cotton seed meal have given good returns when applied to oats. Stable manure also gives returns applied to oats. We will continue to experiment with the fertilize", and will continue the above on tbe same land." o wing to the very wet weather these plots could not be fallowed. The land was prepared by opening a deep furrow in c ____ 5 the old water furrow and bedding the land on this furrow . The first season the stable manure and green cotton Eeed were applied broadcast; this season they were applied ill the furrow opened in the water furrow and bedded on. The meal on the other plats was applied in drill at time of plant ing. Each plat was clllth'ated as they were in the seasou of 1890, that is shallow, with Terrell heel scrape. The yield in 1890-91 are given in the table. In this year's experiments the increased yield did not pay for the cost of the fertilizers in any of th.e experiments. MELILOTUS AND PEA VINES AS SOIL RESTORERS. YIELD. \ YIelD. 1890. 1891. ~eeded to melilotns 1888 and 18$9 . \ Reeded to peas 1888 ann 1889 40 " .II%, 32,. 34» The following is taken from bulletin No. 10, 1890, on corn, and gives the notes un the preparation, planting and previous condition of the land seeded to melilotus and peas: "In the spring of 1888, one acre was sown in meliIotns and ODe in peas. "The land was in a very impoverished condition, and would not produce half a crop of corn or cotton. It was at the foot of a lime rock hill where the "shelly" land blended with the "black slough" bottom. In the spring of 1889 the acre was again prepared and sown in peas. "The melilotus is biennial, and the second season it is not necessary to stir the land until after it has re·seeded. Then if it is to be run in melilotus the third and fourth years, it is best to break the land in the fall and harrow well. "The plots were broken in December, 1889, and bedded as early in January as possible. The meJilotus land was dryer and more easily plowed than the pea vine land. The long tap roots of the melilot"s descend very deep in the soil and act as drains. The toots and stalks of the melilotus rot sooner than the roots and stalks of the pea vines. __ _ --1 , C '--_-- ~------~----- The cost of seeding the acre to meliIotus was $3.25, and the cost of seeding to peas was $7.00 for the two seasons, or $3.50 per season. The tneliIotus acre produced 40t bushels of corn per acre, and the pea vines 51! bushels- a difference of lit bushels in favor of tbe pea vines. Considering the greater cost of seeding the land to peas . tbe difference is very sl ight. A good crop of bay could have been cut each season and the profits would have been very much increased. From two to four tons of excellent hay can be cut from an acre in melilotus or pea vines, worth frotn eighteen dollars to thirty-six dol· lars. The increased yield by leaving the stalks and vines on the land will not pay for the loss of hay. Pea vines will produce better results in une year, for they make more forage the first year and cover tbe ground better. lYlelilotus makes a better growtb tbe second year, and after it dies tbe hnd is ruore easily prepared. It is very easily killed by plowing, and is not bard to eradicate either tbe fir.t year, or after it bas reseeded itself. Before the land was sowed in melilotus and peas it was not considered wortb cultivating. Tbis season it produced as fine a crop as tbe best lands on tbe station bigbly fertilized. Tbe winter and early Spring of '91 was so wet tbe land could not be fallowed, and hence was prepared by running deuply the water furrow, and tben bedding the land back to tbe water furrow. In tbis way no land was left unbroken, as is generaLly the case in the "Canebrake", in bedding for corn and cotton. Tbe plots were cultivated shallow, tbe entire season, witb Terrell beel scrapes. Two hundred ponnds of C. S. meal were applied in tbe drill at tbe time of planting. The yield compares most favorably with the plots wbere stable manure and green cotton seed were applied, and wbere four hundred pounds of C. S. meal was applied. The increased yield was due to tbe effects of the growth of pea vines and melilotus on tbe land. These plots .lso suffered from drouth. The difference in tbe yield of tbe plots was not as great as it was the first year. c '--_--.- 7 EXPERIMENT WITH (JORN. VARIETIES. - ~-------------------- Horse Tooth 3 Welbo rns Conscience 4 While Gourd Seed. 5 White Prolific ~ Vir~inia 1 Carter Corn. 21 04 5.61 26 65 23 09 3 . 73 26 .82 19 43/ 6.2>1125 72 20 .07 6 10 26 17 225902790 White Gourd Seed and White Prolific were obtained from W. F. Strudwick, Demopolis, Alahama. The other varieties have been grown on the station for two years. Each variety was planted on black, slough, bottom land April 7th, and harvested October 7th. The corn suffered from drollth at the time it commenced to "make," and the yield wae considerably decreased. They were clliti ved shallow with a Terrell heel scrape. There was only a slight difference in the appearance of the stalk. White Prolific was smaller than the other varieties. Welborns, Carter corn, and the Virginia Horse Tooth produced the largest ears and grains. Virginia Horse Tooth has hard grain and is not attacked by the weavil to any great extent. The other varieties were badly damaged by them. The yield of each variety per acre is given in the table. There was only a slight difference in tbe yield or the differcnt varieties. Each plot was fertilized with two hundred pounds C. S. meal per acre. CONCLUSIONS. (1) Drainage pays better than mannring on black slough prairie land and pays permanently and annnally. (2) Melilotus and peas grown upon'the land furnish the best and cheapest fertilizer for prairie soils. Acre No:S.- Undmined Land.-The following gives the preparation, planting and yield of acre No.5 in 1890 : J i 8 This acre was bedded in four·foot rows and every alternate row planted very thick in corn, the seed being dropped from eight to fifteen inches in the drill. This made the rows eight feet apart. Peas were sowed on the other beds in May and left to fertilize the land. The next season corn will be planted where the peas grew and peas where the corn grew. In this manner the land can be improved very rapidly and at a little cost. The acre produced 32 bushels of corn. It was fertilized with 200 pounds of C. S. MeaL It was "Black Slough" bot· tom and the yield was better thau most of the acres that were planted to fO. r-foot rows. D In 1891 the land was prepared and planted the same as 1890. The corn was planted where peas grew in 1890 and peas where corn grew in 1890. The corn was planted March 30th and harvested October 7th, 189l. There was little difference in the yield of this acre and the acres on which stable manure and green cotton seed and C. S. Meal were used. The yield was 241 bushels. Some seasons a good crop of peas can be picked, but generally they all go to vine. ~- - - - -- -.- - -- - c -___