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l'i'om 4 Vi tong Chilean nitrate of
soda used on ,90 acres of cotton in
10J7, I haje increased the scope of my
fanning operations and the use of this
great %rtillzing material, until this
year i «m using lG^tons on between
1,100 and 1,200 acres £rt cotton. What¬
ever success 1 may have had as a cot¬
ton-grower, 1 attribute, more than to
any other single factor, to Chilean
nitrate of soda. For me, It has meant
the difference between success and
failure; and farmers everywhere in
the Cotton Belt, by increasing tens of
thousands, are finding it the key to
big crops and farm profits. B. L.
Moss, Soso, Miss.
Five Dollars for
Each Dollar Spent
Twelve years’ experience with Chil¬
ean Nitrate of Soda as a cotton
fertilizer has led me to t hi certain
conclusion that for each dollar spent
tot it I get, on an average, an increase
in the cotton crop worth at least, live
dollars. Two hundred pounds of Chil¬
ean Nitrate per acre, costing about $9,
used as a side-dressing, may be de
pended upon to give an increase in
yield of 100 to 150 pounds of lint per
acre, in average seasons. Swapping
one dollar for live dollars Is a trade 1
always like to make, and using Chilean
Nitrate as a side-dressing for cotton
is the surest way I know of for mak¬
ing such a trade.—B. L. Moss, Soso,
M iss.
Jesse Joil iisoii, I Hd’Hlt Member, biislteln
belli Cilj, ncrt*,\ N., C. Produced 15(1
.corn per ........ Loiflmittiin, Winner tViiinue of nf ctiiln prteo nri'/i* fillil
trip* Ir i|in JHtu Into ihMi.smnn, Texns II ltd M<tXl<*.
Offered by Chilean N Urate of Soda Edu¬
cational Hull'll ii.
Do You Know Why
Your Cotton
Why does cotton shed? The
authorities now agree that
Is mainly due to plant starvation,
to its hunger for nitrogen In partial
lar. When hot, dry weather comes
July or August, millions of acres ol
cotton turn yellow and sickly in
and countless little bolls are
off, until the disheartened grower
wonders if any will be left.
nitrate of soda, furnishing as it
immediately available nitrogen, sup
plies the hunger of the
plants, keeps them green and vigor
ous, and holds a large part of
fruit, and often doubles the
More and more, successful cotton
farmers are learning that Chilean ni
trate of soda is the most successful
of all preventives of cotton shedding.
‘Kill It Some More’
A young lady from the city, visiting
in the country, encountered a harm¬
less but threatening black snake.
After her escort had killed (ho snake,
she was still unsatisfied, and kept urg¬
ing him to "kill it some more, kill it
some more!” We are reminded of this
by the experience of II. F. Bailey,
Somerville, Ala., who was told that
Chilean nitrate of soda would kill ltis
land. He took a chance on this, and
as a result got only 37 hales on 34
acres in 1928, bad as the season was
Mr. Bailey says he expects to “kill ills
land some more” in 1929, and that a
lot of his neighbors are going to do
likewise.
‘Soda” Doubles Corn Yield
On the average upland soils of the
Cotton Belt, there is no better guar¬
anty of a good crop than an appliea
ation of 100 to 200 pounds per acre
of Chilean nitrate of soda when the
corn is about knee-high. Such side-ap¬
plications generally double and fre¬
quently treble or even quadruple the
yield of,corn. This is so. because
quickly available nitrogen is the great
need of corn on nearly all Southern
soils, and this need is best supplied by
Chilean nitrate of soda, the great nat¬
ural nitrogen-carrier, its effect in
keeping corn a dark, bluish green
through periods of hot, dry weather
is remarkable, and, once used, no corn
grower is ever again satisfied without
it.
Do not forget that extra helping of
Chilean Nitrate you promised your
corn. When it is knee to waist high,
apply oue hundred to two hundred
pounds per acre. This method wil! aid
you iu filling the corn crib at harvest
time.
' fugcwvmzmrmiyam CLEVELAND.GEORGIA.. ‘
V i; the cotton grower who is
c •> v.t with low acre yields? Where
over he is, his clear profits per acre
at b; :>t arc small—and in thousands
f i ids crop is produced at a
loss.
luv: Mirations made by the U. S
t>epartm mt of Agriculture in grow
a- ail nc-re of cot ion show that tin
. )i!o ring items cost practically tin
fhtr.a rer.ai-diess of the yield; loan
,;| inula labor, rent, seed, and im
.'.oiiKMt depreciation. If the yield be
a or l.ktlO pounds- seed cotton pci
ert. these items of cost remain ap
ox 1 mutely the same. Yields of a
.. le p« v acre arc not uncommon and
...cully return a fair profit to the
rower. B&io-por-acre yields can be
made only through proper fertiliza
’.on, however. ' -t»- ■»—........
Ilh'stioitiml sliovvlnit wil'iv of skin
tlrrssliig I,,i, will' ( lillcnii iillriHr
of soil .I. 4 i.lrl on li-rt KUO lbs. M r,I
i-olton |o-r iicrc. On right HSU Hi".. on
Inrmise of till Ilis. |o-r non- from use
of 200 lbs. of “miilu.”
No farmer expects his daily cow oi
lien to produce large quantities ol
milk or eggs, or his hogs to gain in
weight, without proper feed. Like
these animals, the cotton plant must
he fed, loo, If big yields are to be
made.
I). It. Coker, the famous plant breed
cr and cotton authority of Hartsville,
South Carolina, states; “1 side-dress
my cotton with 200 or more pounds of
nitrate of soda per acre, dividing it
into two or more applications. 1 pre¬
fer nitrate of soda,” he says, ’’because
of its Immediate availability and at
It a line reaction.”
Circular No. 30 of the South Caro¬
lina Experiment Station states that
’from tjWa tests made in 1928 an aver
age-increase of 340 pounds of seed cot
l,ou per aetft \vaS‘ made from.tht; side
ilrersUig-iif 20Q pounds Chilean nitrate
applied Just aflefi' chopping* Valuing
seed cotton at 7 cents per pound and
“soda” at $2.50 per hundred pounds,
a profit of $18.80 per acre was made.
Side-Dressing Cotton
Pays, Says Moss
B. I-. Moss, of Soso, Missiswipi, ont
of the South’s most successful cotton
farmers, declared in a recent article
in “The Progressive Farmer" that
“growing cotton under boll weevil con
dittoes without fertilizer is like fat
tuning hogs without feed--it simply
can’t he done. Close observation con
vinces me Unit time is no more ccr
tain way of increasing yields than b>
the liberal and intelligent use of com
mercial fertilizers.”
For twelve year? Mr. Moss has
found it profitable to side-dress his
cotton with 100 to 200 pounds Chilean
■y «■ • -
• *
-r
Illu-triition shows tillin' or Chilean
nitrate of soda as side dressing, stall,
on left from i»lot which received Con
Ihs. factory mixed fertilizer, stall, on
ritfht from plot which received 150 Ihs.
I liilenn iiltrnle of soda ns side dress,
iiur in addition to other fertilizer. I’tot
on right gave yield of 1842 Ihs. seed
otton per aere. an Increase of ISO.". Ihs.
over plot oil left.
nitrate of soda per acre. “The grea
value of this quickly-available nitre I
gen," says Mr. Moss “lies in its powet
to force quick growth and early fruit
age Cotton side dressed with 20c
pounds per acre remains a rich greet' i
in color, sets fruit rapidly, and holds j
i large proportion of what is set j
Cotton not so side-dressed, in my ex ,
perience, tends to turn yellow aid
sickly in July, and when this happens j
■ bedding is sure to be excessive.”
Since plants cannot talk the bes i
>ve .an do is to make close observa
tions. Mr. Moss has done, ’
as and do
our best to feed the cotton plant so
that it can produce large acre yields,
tt has been found from experience
that the period during the first to
second cultivation after chopping is s
hungry stage in the growth of the
cotton plant. A liberal side-dressing ot
Chilean nitrate then will iaereasi
1929 yteids and profits.
Parsers” Irlake B:g
Vfefjis Using Modem Methods
t'liluri Kurmer— .lolm Am'" Vntitl. I’agebi ml. Vucttilonai smith Garnllltit. U 7 4 4? Pounds t.fnt Cot
ton, 7 littlrs on tt acres. Winner Itegimtal Agricultural Student Contest,
The Smith Hughes vocational agri¬
cultural students, or, as they are
called, ‘‘Future Farmers,” are making
wonderful progre i in successfully ap¬
plying modern methods- iu their proj¬
ect work. A number of cotton projects
from each of the states of South Caro
lina, Georgia, North Carolina, Arkan¬
sas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Ala
bama show that the highest yield
made was 1,213 pounds of lint cotton
per acre, and the lowest, 550 pounds,
ir an average of 891 pounds.
These high yields, the records .indi¬
cate, are the result of thorough prepa¬
ration, good seed, frequent cultivation,
and a liberal .side-dressing of nitrate
it soda, in addition to the fertilizers
applied at planting time.
Hie agricultural teachers who are
guiding th-.-se. farm hoys in Ihei. think¬
ing and in their farm practices are
truly Iniilding for a better day in agri¬
culture.
Each of the projects consisted of
three acres and each hoy was. required
.o keep an accurate record of all oper
itlons and materials used, time requir¬
'd, and total costs involved. The av
•rage of these reports shows that it
cost $72.1 I per acre to’ grow cotton
recording to the methods practiced by
hese Future Fanners. When the sale
proceeds were accounted for, a net
profit of $140.99 per acre was made.
When we recall that the average yield
if cotton in the South is around 150
pounds of lint per acre, such records
4-H Qb b * Mem bers
Remarkable Yields
t II (’lull Member. Thomas Itotloins {eentret of ttheas. Via., with ltis mother and
father, the two haU- of eolton weigh tit * - pounds, and were itrown on one aere.
Co,Ton was side dre- : d with I.VI pounds nitrate of soda la -.ddilion to fertilizer
applied at planting. He is prond owner of ttndln set offered by Chilean .Nitrate of
soda lalnentional Korean.
Paul Robinson, 4-11 Club member of
Midway, Texas, claims to have made
154 bushels of corn on one acre itt
192S, while Jesse Johnson of Eliza¬
beth City. X. <’., another member of
ibis great organization', claims he
grew 150 bushels on an acre. Al¬
though widely separated these boys
used similar methods in obtaining
their remarkable yields. A liberal
side-dressing of nitrate of soda was
used in each case.
While nitrogen seems to he the
most important essential to high acre
of corn, there are other things
to be considered before : ueh yields
be obtained. A good loamy soil,
filled with lutmus and well drained, is
ideal soil for corn. Such a soil will
hold moisture longer than a sandy or
soil devoid of organic matter.
The corn plant requires large quanti¬
ties of moisture; therefore, during
periods of drought a soil containing
large amounts of organic matter will
in supplying the necessary mois¬
ture In- having retained it from previ¬
rains.
It is said, also, that nitrate of soda
a tendency to carry the corn
through these periods of
as well as to prevent them
“firing up.”
An average yield of 117. bushels was
by tile high-scoring Chib mem¬
itt the. states - of Texas, North
Mississippi, Georgia, Ten¬
Florida and Louisiana, Their
show that they, too. used the
method for increasing
yields.
Chilean Nitrate of Soda Brings Good Luck
“Well, you had good luck.” neigh¬
bors told me 12 years ago; when 1
doubted my cotton crop by. using Chi!-,
nitrate of soda. The next year !
used soda again, and my good ’nek
The third year, dome -of
neighbors decided, they wanted .to
as these should arouse us to the reali¬
zation that it is not altogether poor
soils, but largely a matter of methods
and the supplying of additional plant
food at the proper time to enable the
plant to produce heavily.
Sjde-dresdng nitrogen cotton with quick act
ins like Chilean Nitrate is
generally considered the most profita¬
ble investment in growing the cotton
crop. The constant fear of the ravages
by the boil weevil make it all the more
necessary to give the cotton plant
every advantage to fruit early and
rapidly, With good cotton weather
and plenty of available plant food, it
is astounding to see the growth and
squares the plant produces in a few
days’ time. Nitrate of Soda melts into
the noil moisture rapidly, and.since the
nitrogen is in tlte form plants like, it
immediately goes to work, forcing the
plant to grow and develop fruit
rapidly.
“In growing cotton.” said one of
these teachers, “it is important that
good seed be planted, that machinery
be used wherever It will further re¬
duce the cost of growing the crop, and
that the plants he fed liberally with
the, right kind of fertilizer and at (lie
proper time, if large yields and profits
are to be made.
These Future Farmers are being ert
ermraged- in their efforts through a se
ries of state ami regional prizes, of
••veil them by the Chilean Nitrate oi
Coda Educational Bureau.
To is -rule Winder of Nacogdoches,
Texas, is given tlie honor of having
produced more cotton on one acre of
land than any other Club member in
the South in 1928. He reports a yield
of 1,501 pounds—. tree hales—of cot¬
ton from one acre, or a net profit of
$241.52.
Tlte yields of the winners in the
states of Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi,
Alabama, Georgia and
show that these young fanners pro¬
duced an average yield of 1,287 pounds
of lint cotton per acre. That these
vields were profitably produced is evi¬
denced by the fact that they made an
average net profit of $207.11 per acre.
Such yields'were produced, their rec¬
ords Indicate, front the use of liberal
applications of fertilizer, including
side-dressing of nitrate of soda.
Milton Brown of Route 2, Little
Rock, the Arkansas Club champion,
says: '‘I used 400 pounds of Chilean
Nitrate of Soda as a side-dressing on
my acre of cotton. The results were
easily seen within four days, it made
my cotton turn dark green and it grew
so fast that I was afraid it wouldn't
fruit, but it did fruit to the tune of
three bales per acre. The yield was
easily doubled by the application of
the nitrate of soda.”
Such methods, as enabled these
Club members to produce these high
yields are worthy of consideration, it
would seem,-, by many of our farmers
whose present low yields are helping
to pull the average yield of cotton
throughout the South below 200
pounds of lint cotton per acre.
get in on this "good luck." and tried
some soda themselves. Their “luck"
waj tine. and their conversion to tilt
policy • of- feeding tlicir crops with
Chileap.nitrate of soda was ■••'.ntp’ete
Now they know “it's Soda, not lack.'
—B. L. Moss, Soso, Miss.
Ccm Craves Available N itr ©gen
The desire little Willie has for his
grandma’s gingerbread is no compari¬
son to the way the corn plant craves
nitrogen. If all farmers cot;id only
understand corn language as well as
grandmas understand the pleadings
of their grandsons, the yields of corn
in the South would increase. These
mothers know just how much of their
tempting cakes little Willie shouki
I Aim Hi II. I-., nil.ITS, IS HUH K KAMI, TKXU-.
t orn at If it reeeivetl no fertilizer. I Jiat at rivlit received netil iihospliafe an.I
muriate of Potash at planting and Chilean nitrate of soda as side dressioa
when eora was tiilee Iiizli. liia-li fertilized plot prodneed 48 bushels, an Inerease of
2J bushels over the unfertilized plot.
have and how often, for if left alone
he would cat too much for his own
good.
So it is with feeding the corn plant.
There is a best time and kind of fer¬
tilizer to feed corn to make the most
for each pound of plant food used
Commercial nitrogen for feeding
plants comes iu two forms: slow-act¬
ing, such as cottonseed meal; and
quick-acting, such as nitrate of soda.
The nitrogen in cottonseed meal at the
time applied is tint available, it must
lie changed or made available before
the. plant cun cat it. Tills change
takes place through what is generally
known as "rotting.” The rotting
process requires time and, at best, only
a little of it is made available at a
time.
Experiments and results of success¬
ful farmers agree that best yields are
secured when the corn plant is given
a large amount of quickly-available
nitrogen from 35 to 40 days after the
corn is planted, or when knee to waist
Unk„own Farmer
Deserves Recognition
Distinguished recognition is due the
unknown Southern farmer who, prob¬
ably fifty or more years ago, used for
the first time Chilean nitrate of soda
as a side-dressing on cotton and corn,
. tie is so obgc^re^that, no state., can
justly claim him. The effectiveness
of this method is evidenced by the
fact that hundreds of thousands ot
farmers are today his followers.
Cngiiided in his efforts, this obscure
farmer sought through side-dressing
to find a better way and time to fer¬
tilize these two crops. Encouraged
by the results of the earlier use of ni¬
trate of soda as a side-dressing, re¬
search workers have found that there
is a critical time in the life of these
two plants when a quickly available
nitrogen applied to them will increase
production more than if applied at
any other time. This time has been
found to he for cotton just before the
first cultivation after chopping, and
for corn thirty-five to forty days after
planting or when the corn is from
knee to waist high. These workers
have also found, iu ihe case of cot¬
ton, that best yields are secured when
one-quarter of the nitrogen is applied
just before planting and three quar¬
ters as side-dressing.
tv
'*** s*
illustration stums remarkable
result* obtained u> side tiresshiu- cot¬
ton uiili ....... t liileaii ..... nitrate . ....... of ' ‘ - *ln. * I fcj,| HTtl
ot . Ill'll loit 1281 las.
‘ ,..... "II Plot oil * 1 it right. rtuiu.
wInch recount im nitrate of smla, pro
title'll only 87- Its., ,-t 'liiYi'i-eitet 1 of -58
Ills, s.-ril cotton.
Recent experiments at the Ala¬
bama Station showed that best re¬
sults were obtained when 300 pounds
Per acre of a mixture composed of 50
pounds of nitrate of soda, 4o0 pounds
superphosphate, and 50 pounds muri¬
ate ot potash was applied under the
crop and side-dressed with 130 pounds
nitrate of soda after the cotton was
chopped.
it is interesting to recall that it was
a missionary working among the In¬
dians of South America who first dis¬
covered the wonderful value of this
material as a plant food or fertilizer.
Through some mysterious process of
nature it was formed and deposited in
the desert country along the western
shore of Chile.
This materia! has been found to
possess many superior qualities and
has been recognized for more than
fifty years as the standard nitrogen
fertilizer, in the earlier days it was
known as Chile saltpeter; in the
South it is known as “soda,” but from
its origin and chemical analysis it is
called Chilean nitrate of soda.
high. More than fifty years ago
farmers used and found the quick re¬
sponse corn made to applications ot
Chilean Nitrate of Soda as compared
with other forms of nitrogen, since
that time, hundreds and thousands of
farmers have profited from the use of
side-dressing cotton and corn, ami
millions of tons of this material have
been furnished them from the intx
haustible beds in the little country o
Chile, on the west coast of South
America.
Many claim their coni yields fan
been doubled and trebled through the.
use of 10b to 200 pounds of "soda” pei
acre. W H. Camp of Villa Rica.
Georgia, who was declared 1>> the
Georgia State College cotton champion
in 192s. says: “I have found that 10(>
to 200 pounds of Chilean nitrate of
soda, applied to corn when it is about
waist high, will double the yield, t
rotate my crops, and O'.w-'an Nitrate
Is the only kind of fertilizer I use on
corn.” Blaney Sum fell. North Carolina
Master Farmer, of Ayden, said: “i
use Chilean nitrate of soda as a side
ur top dressing on my corn, cotton.
ami small grain. 1 use 100 pounds pe l
acre. My yields are doubled on corn
and oats and increased a third on cot¬
ton. 1 cannot recommend too highly
the use of side or top-dressings, as
they have proven so very satisfactory
tn mo.”
Master Farmers Side
Dress Cotton and Cora
Many farmers throughout the South
who have never skle-dres ed their
cotton and corn will do so for the first
time this season, it is indicated.
Partners who have made a practice ot
side-dressing in the past say that this
method of fertilizing cotton insures
earlier maturity, increases yields, and
lowers the cost of producing the crop.
No farmer can afford to continue
file fertilizer practice used before- the
appearance of the boil weevil, or per¬
sist in using cottonseed meal or use
slow-acting forms of nitrogen if best
results are expected. Cotton requires
a quick-acting, readily soluble nitro
gen, one the plant can eat or absorb
quickly and convert into weed and
fruit growth rapidly.
Experiments conducted bv the Ala¬
bama ami other Experiment Stations
of tho South show that best yields are
secured when, iu addition to the fer¬
tilizer applied at planting time, 100
to 200 pounds of Chilean nitrate or
soda are applied at the first cultiva¬
tion after chopping. Some farmers
use two applications, making the sec¬
ond at the appearance of the first
squares.
Side-dressing cotton and corn with
Chilean nitrate of soda is practiced, it
is said, hy most al! Master Farmers
of the South. In reply to the ques¬
tion, “Do you find it pays to side
dress?" Master Farmer B, N. Sykes
of Harrellsviile, North Carolina, says;
“I side-dress 40 acres of corn each
year with 100 to 150 pounds of Chilean
nitrate of soda, from which I get an
average increase of 5 to S bushels for
each 100 pounds of soda used. I also
use 100 to 150 pounds per acre on my
cotton at the first cultivation after
chopping, from which I get an in¬
creased yield of 25 per cent, and some¬
times more.”
Professor R. W. Hamilton of the
South. Carolina Extension Service
says the average yield of ail South
Carolina farmers is 167 pounds lint
per acre, while the average yield of
our sixteen Master Farmers is 444
pounds lint per acre. The success
these farmers have attained speaks
highly of the methods they use.
Feed Your Cotton With
Chilean Nitrate of Soda
The best of cotton growers are
learning to feed their crops, just as
the best of livestock men have
learned how to scientifically feed their
animais. And these cotton farmers
are learning that Chilean nitrate of
soda, 100 to 200 pounds per acre, ap
plied as a side-dressing by or before
the time the first blooms appear, is
the finest of ail foods for the growing
cotton crop. Such a side-application
keeps the cotton green and fruiting
vigorously, long after cotton not so
side-dressed has turned yellow and is
throwing off all the little bolls set
“Feed your cotton with Chilean ni¬
trate of soda, and it will fatten your
pocket-book,” is becoming proverbial
with the best farmers in the Cotton
Belt.
