Alabama, Lee County, Auburn
Side 1
The Cullars Rotation
The Cullars Rotation is the oldest, continuous soil fertility study in the South and the second oldest cotton study in the world. It was started in 1911 by the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station on the farm of J.A. Cullars and John P. Alvis. In 1938, the "Alvis Field" was sold to Alabama Polytechnic Institute which became Auburn University in 1960. The experiment consists of 14 soil fertility variables in three blocks that are rotated with cotton followed by a winter legume, corn followed by wheat, and soybeans planter after wheat.
Side 2
The Alvis Field and Cotton Rust
In the late 1800s, J.P. Alvis and J.A. Cullars farmed this property which later became known as the "Alvis Field." They allowed Prof. F. F. Atkinson, a biologist at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama, to use this site to study cotton rust, a disease that causes cotton plants to shed leaves early. Atkinson's research in 1890 led to the discovery that cotton rust was caused by a potassium deficiency. As a result, the Cullars Rotation was started in 1911. Today, potassium fertilizers are used on cotton throughout the South.
(Agriculture • Education • Horticulture & Forestry) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.