160 Journal of the Department op ApxRiculture. 



COTTON CULTURE. 



Practical Advice for the South African Grower 



Mr. W. H. SciiP:RFFii-s, Chief of llie Division of Tobai^co and ("oiton. 

 lias fuiiiislied the following' main notes of his lecture to the j^elsi)iuit 

 Fannei's' Association on llth December, 1920, for the iniOiiiiatioii 

 hoili of inlen(lin<i' g^roweis and Ihose already engaged in the 

 industry : — 



('o?ul it/on of Soil. — Cotton, like every other crop, to give go(<d 

 results must be ])lanted on good ground. 1 am not prepared to say 

 that tlie soil cannot be too fertile for cotton, bnt under average field 

 conditions one will not find the soil too fertile, while on the other 

 liand a soil that has been cropped till the fertility is rather low will 

 give a fair crop of cotton even though it might not pay to giow other 

 crops, such as mealies. 



When practicable, I would advise farmers to breal; their lands 

 in the autumn and allow iheni to lie fallow during the wiutei'. This 

 procedure has a three-fold advantage : it g'ives oj)portunity for earlier 

 planting*, reduces insect trouble, and pro^'ides a better seed hed for 

 the crop. 



Cultural MetJiotJs. — Planting should be done as early as possible 

 after the spring- rains set in, say 15th October to tlie 15th November. 



The ground should be worked lo a good tilth, the rows made 

 3 ft. G in. to 4 ft. apart, and the seed sown at the rate of approxi- 

 mately 25 lb. per acre; at this rate the young plants should stand 

 thick in the drills like beets. Start the cultivator as soon as the rows 

 can be followed, and continue cultivation as long- as the cultivator 

 can pass between the rows without damaging the bushes. If weeds 

 or gTass appear in the drills they must be removed by hand-hoeing. 

 When the plants attain a height of 6 to 8 inches they should be 

 tliinned, leaving only one in a place, and tliey should be from 

 12 to 18 inches apart in the drill, depending on the fertility of the 

 soil — the more fertile the soil the greater the distance required. 

 Care should be taken to de/stroy any blackjacks that may appear, as 

 they will become attached to the cotton and considerably reduce it in 

 value. 



Harve«tin,g should begin when the field is fairly white, and 

 continue till the cotton is practically all harvested. It usually takes 

 three or four pickings to complete the harvest, and these pickings will 

 come about ten to twenty days apart, depending on the weather. The 

 day the cotton is picked it should be spread on a bucksail so that it 

 will be thoroughly dry in the evening : then it is ready to tramp into 

 a wool pack ; when the wool pack is full it can be shipped to a gin or 

 stored. 



Qudlifij. First Consideration. — The tendency of most beginners 

 is to plant more acreage than they can manage. A small acreage 



