5 
the practice to terminate the work of the tenant with the picking of the 
cotton, leaving the clearing of the field for the next cropper. At pres- 
ent, after the cotton is picked the tenants frequently move to other 
plantations or to other parts of the same plantation. It should not be 
a difficult matter for planters to induce their tenants to practice the fall 
destruction of the plants as the last step in the production of a crop. 
In any case the plants have to be removed before the ground can be 
prepared for planting the following season; and the present recom- 
mendation merely involves applying, at a time some months earlier, 
the same amount of labor as is necessary in the spring. The best 
solution of the difficulty arising from the tenant system would be in the 
inclusion, in the agreement between the landlord and the tenant, of a 
provision which would bind the latter to clean the land thoroughly 
before leaving it. 
In a comparatively small area in southwestern Texas it might be 
considered that there would be a further objection in the practice, 
which some farmers have, of encouraging the growth of volunteer or 
seppa cotton in the hope of procuring an early and inexpensive crop. 
As has been repeatedly pointed out by the Department of Agriculture, 
this is beyond question the worst possible practice in weevil-infested 
regions. The disastrous experience of several counties in the southern 
portion of the State during the present season has abundantly demon- 
strated the force of the warnings that have been issued from time to 
time. The staple produced by volunteer plants is short, kinky, and 
undesirable. Before the advent of the weevil, the only reason for en- 
couraging such growth was to procure the first bale. Now, on account 
of its very detrimental bearing on the weevil problem, any attempt to 
raise cotton from volunteer cotton should by all means be discouraged. 
The point may be raised that the burning of the plants in the fall 
removes valuable fertilizing constituents and that the continuance of 
the practice would seriously reduce the fertility of the soil. In refer- 
ence to this matter, however, it must be stated that the present general 
practice is to clear the fields by burning the plants in the spring. 
Therefore, practically the only additional draft upon the soil by the 
method recommended is in the burning of many of the leaves and a 
portion of the roots. However, destruction of the plants can only take 
place after many of the leaves have fallen, and, in other cases, when 
the plants have become completely defoliated by the cotton caterpillar. 
The fertilizing constituents in various parts of the cotton plant have 
been carefully determined.! An estimate of the value of all the con- 
stituents which could possibly be removed by fall destruction, based 
upon the schedule of trade values adopted by experiment stations for 
1 See Bulletin 33 of the Office of Experiment Stations of this Department, pp. 
81 to 142. 
