12 



CHIEF ADVANTAGES. 



Caravonica has a higher percentage of Hnt than is known in 

 any other cotton, varying from 40 to 60 per cent. ; a better form 

 of tree, having no branches showing a tendency to trail on the 

 ground ; a large, freely opening boll, which allows easy and rapid 

 picking; and, lastly, a heavy yielding capacity, which becomes 

 more marked during the second and third year than during the 

 first year. 



Up to the present time only herbaceous cottons have been 

 grown, which has to be replanted annually ; the advantage of this 

 variety can thus be readily seen, when a perennial bushy tree that 

 grows to a good size can be substituted. Trees twenty feet high 

 are common, but under cultivation the trees are pruned each year 

 after cropping, and continue to yield profitably for from five to 

 eight years. 



CULTIVATION AND PLANTING. 



The proper cultivation of Caravonica cotton is comparatively 

 the same as for any other crop. The land should be plowed deep 

 and close, breaking the surface thoroughly, and should then be 

 cross harrowed to pulverize and smooth the surface. The rows 

 are then marked ofi^ ten feet by ten feet apart, and the soil is 

 bedded up by running a turning plow on each side of the row. 

 One pound of Caravonica seed contains about two thousand grains 

 and supplies enough to plant two acres at five hundred trees per 

 acre. 



The planting should be done at the end of May or in June, in 

 order to be able to gather the cotton in the dry season in as good 

 condition as possible. In less than two weeks, the plants are up, 

 and when they are four to five inches high, they should be culti- 

 vated with the hoe, after which a plow is run on each side of the 

 bed, throwing the earth on the plants. 



If the seed is projierly selected, only one seed is necessary in 

 each hole, bat many planters place from two to three seeds in each 

 hole, and then, during the first harrowing, all but the thriftiest 

 seedling is pulled out. 



The Caravonica cotton, being a hybrid, shows a tendency to 

 vary somewhat, as is the case With other hybrids. In order to 

 avoid this, planting of cuttings has proved to be very effective in 

 the eliminating of crossing. However, there is no danger of this 

 with the first ])lanting, and by obtaining seed from a different lo- 

 cality little variation will take place. 



CLI^^ATE Axn soil. 



Cotton being a tropical plant is killed by frost, and its growth 

 in colder climates is more or less stunted. Caravdiiica, however. 



