22 The Bulletin. 



well out of the ground and continue every week or ten days till about 

 August 1st, Avhen cultivation should cease, unless the weather has been 

 unusually dry and extended drought is expected, when one or more culti- 

 vations should be given to conserve moisture, otherwise there might be 

 a too free ^'shedding squares" and the crop yield greatly reduced. 



Cultivation may be some two or three inches deep early in the season, 

 but must become very shallow as the season advances in order to allow 

 the greatest amount of root development in the upper layers of the soil. 



COASTAL PLAINS SECTION. 



On the soils of this part of the State the same general methods of 

 fertilizer application and cultivation obtain, except that here there is 

 generally some necessity for using ridges rather than level culture, on 

 account of the poor drainage of some of the soils, particularly those of 

 the Portsmouth series and to some extent the fine sandy loam of the 

 ISTorfolk series. 



The cotton plant delights in a warm, well drained soil and this condi- 

 tion must be secured at all hazards. Instead of the tall narrow ridges 

 commonly used", however, it would likely be better to use a combination 

 of the ridge and level culture method and throw the fields into narrow 

 lands with deep dead furrows for carrying away rapidly any surplus 

 water. These narrow lands might be made wide enough for about four 

 rows of cotton which should then be cultivated on the level and thus get 

 the benefit of all the plant food in the entire soil stratum where drainage 

 is sufficient for bacterial action. 



THINNING. 



Thinning or ''chopping" should begin as soon as the cotyledons have 

 given way to the true leaves of the plant. When the first or second true 

 leaf has appeared, thinning should begin and continue till all probability 

 of dying, and thus destroying the stand, is past, which will be about the 

 time the fifth or sixth true leaf has come out. 



TOPPING. 



There is some difference of opinion as to the advisability of topping 

 cotton. A number of experiments have been planned to solve the ques- 

 tion of whether it pays to top cotton, but none of them have given conclu- 

 sive proof in favor of this practice. On the other hand, many farmers 

 seem to find the topping of cotton to pay, and so practice it every year. 

 It would seem that the soil and season might have some influence on the 

 results. On the whole, however, in this latitude and where the soil is 

 rich and inclined to prolong the vegetative growth too far into the latter 

 part of the season, the topping of the main stem and the larger branches 

 would seem to be advisable in order to check the growth and hasten ma- 

 turity. The operation might also result in forcing the plant to put on 

 more bolls. 



SEED SELECTION. 



The selection of the seed is an important matter in cotton culture in 

 JSTorth Carolina, first, because we must accentuate the tendency of our 



