soil in which it grows:--
1. Potash 29.58
2. Lime 24.34
3. Magnesia 3.73
4. Chloride 0.65
5. Phosphoric acid 34.92
6. Sulphuric acid 3.54
7. Silica 3.24
----
100.00
This analysis shows that the soil for cotton needs much lime, bones or
bone-dust, and wood-ashes, besides the ordinary barn-yard and compost
manures. All the preparations and applications of manures specified in
this work, under the head of "Manures," are applicable to cotton. The
usual recommendations of rotation in crops is, perhaps, more important
in cotton culture than anywhere else. Judicious fallowing, on principles
adapted to a Southern climate, is another great means of keeping up and
improving the land. This is also the only effectual means of guarding
against the numerous enemies and diseases of the cotton-plant. The
health of the plants is secured, and they are made to outstrip their
enemies only by the fertility and fine tilth of the soil in which they
grow. This is confirmed on every hand by the correspondence of the most
intelligent planters of the South. Let cotton-growers go into a thorough
system of fertilization of their soils, and attend personally to the
improvement of their cotton-seed, by selection, as recommended above,
and the result will be an addition of one eighth, or one fourth, to the
products of cotton in the United States, without adding another acre to
the area under cultivation. When this comes to be understood, men of
small means will cultivate a little cotton by their own individual
labor, as the poorer men do corn and other agricultural products, and
thus improve their condition. The above suggestions are the conclusions
to which we come, from a thorough examination of what has been published
to the world on this subject. We recommend the careful perusal of "The
Cotton-Planter's Manual," by Turner (published by Saxton and Co., New
York), and increased attention to the subject, by the intelligent,
educated, and practical men with whom the cotton-growing regions abound.
COWS.
The cow occupies the first place among domestic animals, in value to the
American people, not excepting even the horse. From the original stock,
still kept as a curiosity on the grounds of some English noblemen,
cattle have been greatly improved by care in breeding and feeding. Those
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