﻿AGRICULTURE. 
  153 
  

  

  planting 
  of 
  cotton, 
  which 
  is 
  continued 
  to 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  

   May, 
  and 
  occasionally 
  later. 
  The 
  only 
  motive 
  for 
  plant- 
  

   ing 
  in 
  March 
  is 
  to 
  get 
  more 
  forward 
  with 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  

   the 
  plantation, 
  and 
  put 
  in 
  a 
  larger 
  crop 
  ; 
  and 
  this 
  is 
  often 
  

   done 
  at 
  the 
  expense 
  of 
  a 
  bad 
  stand, 
  or 
  having 
  to 
  replant, 
  

   which 
  is 
  apt 
  to 
  retard 
  and 
  derange 
  all 
  the 
  operations 
  of 
  

   the 
  planter. 
  

  

  Cotton, 
  planted 
  in 
  well-prepared 
  land 
  after 
  the 
  ground 
  

   has 
  become 
  sufficiently 
  warm, 
  comes 
  up 
  sooner, 
  grows 
  

   more 
  rapidly, 
  and 
  is 
  much 
  less 
  liable 
  to 
  be 
  injured 
  by 
  

   the 
  " 
  sore 
  shins," 
  or 
  the 
  plant-louse, 
  than 
  that 
  which 
  has 
  

   been 
  chilled 
  by 
  the 
  cold 
  winds 
  and 
  rains 
  from 
  getting 
  

   above 
  the 
  ground 
  too 
  early 
  in 
  the 
  season. 
  

  

  The 
  practice 
  of 
  horizontal 
  cultivation, 
  or 
  circling 
  the 
  

   rows, 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  keep 
  them 
  on 
  a 
  level 
  on 
  hilly 
  and 
  rolling 
  

   land, 
  was 
  introduced 
  by 
  the 
  late 
  Mr. 
  William 
  Dunbar, 
  

   of 
  the 
  Forest 
  in 
  Adams 
  County 
  (as 
  Mr. 
  Dunbar 
  is 
  

   known 
  to 
  have 
  stated 
  in 
  conversation 
  in 
  the 
  town 
  of 
  

   Washington, 
  in 
  1810), 
  at 
  the 
  suggestion 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Jefferson, 
  

   of 
  whom 
  Mr. 
  Dunbar 
  was 
  a 
  correspondent 
  for 
  many 
  

   years, 
  when 
  the 
  former 
  was 
  President 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  

   States. 
  Having 
  observed, 
  when 
  in 
  France, 
  this 
  economi- 
  

   cal 
  manner 
  of 
  cultivating 
  the 
  mountain 
  sides, 
  Mr. 
  Jeffer- 
  

   son 
  recommended 
  it 
  as 
  well 
  adapted 
  to 
  our 
  broken 
  lands. 
  

  

  The 
  practice 
  was 
  tardily 
  adopted, 
  and, 
  like 
  all 
  similar 
  

   innovations 
  on 
  established 
  usages, 
  met 
  at 
  first 
  with 
  its 
  

   share 
  of 
  ridicule. 
  

  

  Many 
  planters 
  rely 
  upon 
  the 
  eye 
  alone 
  in 
  circling 
  

   their 
  lands, 
  altering 
  and 
  correcting 
  the 
  rows 
  in 
  subse- 
  

   quent 
  years 
  as 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  the 
  rain 
  water 
  may 
  show 
  

   to 
  be 
  necessary. 
  

  

  The 
  most 
  careful 
  and 
  judicious 
  class, 
  however, 
  have 
  

   their 
  fields 
  carefully 
  staked 
  out 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  instance 
  by 
  

  

  