COTTON. 393 



plowing not to throw up the subsoil to the surface, and bury the surface soil beneath, as it is 

 only in very rare instances that the subsoil is of such a nature as to benefit the surface or 

 agricultural soil by being mixed with it; the soil on the surface that has been exposed to the 

 atmospheric influences and mixed with decomposed vegetable material generally being the 

 richest, and hence possessing the largest amount of plant- food. 



The stalks of the previous crop are usually disposed of by being cleared off the field and 

 burned before plowing, but sometimes they are broken down and plowed under for fer 

 tility to the soil, which they will furnish to a certain extent by their decay. 



The best method is to plow in the fall, thus giving the soil all the benefits resulting from 

 the action of the frost, while many of the eggs and larvae of noxious insects will also be lia 

 ble to be destroyed by this means. This should be followed by plowing again in the spring 

 and thoroughly harrowing before planting. 



The land for cotton is generally plowed in ridges, these ridges being made two or three 

 weeks before the time of planting, in order to give the soil time to settle well before the seed 

 is deposited. Just before planting, they are thoroughly harrowed to loosen the upper por 

 tion of the soil, after which the middle of the ridge is opened for the seed by the cotton- 

 planter, drill, or other implement for the purpose. The ridges are so arranged that the rows 

 of plants shall be from three to six feet apart, according to the nature of the soil, and each 

 row stand upon a narrow elevation with a furrow between for the water. The richer the 

 land, as a general rule, the farther apart should the rows be planted. On very poor soils, this 

 distance is sometimes not more than two and a half feet; on very rich soils it sometimes 

 exceeds six feet. 



&quot;When stable manure or compost is used for fertilizing, it is generally placed in a fur 

 row, and the plow used to throw the soil over it, thus leaving it covered in the middle of the 

 ridge, where the roots of the plant can soon reach it. Where commercial fertilizers are used, 

 they may be mixed with four or five times their bulk of dry soil, and be deposited in the 

 hill at the time of planting, or placed in the hill and slightly covered with soil before plant 

 ing. Chemical fertilizers should never come in direct contact with the seed, as they are very 

 liable to injure the germ, being very strong and penetrating. 



Various kinds of fertilizers are used for the cotton crop. It has been the practice in 

 many sections of the South to produce this crop with little or no fertility added to the land, 

 and hence exhaustion of soil has followed, with its attendant evil consequences. The pro 

 duction of the lint alone would not cause so very great an amount of drainage of the fertiliz 

 ing elements of the land, but when we add to this the elements necessary for the 

 production of the roots, stalks, leaves, and seed of the plants, it is not surprising that soils 

 thus treated should become exhausted ; the only surprise is, that they do not fail in this 

 respect sooner than they do. It has been found by experiment that, when the seed is 

 removed from the soil, the exhaustion is about twenty-five times as rapid as when the lint 

 alone is taken, and fully equal to that caused by the production of corn or wheat. Hence the 

 necessity of returning to the cotton-growing lands a substitute in the form of fertilizers of 

 some kind, for what has been removed by the crop. Cotton-seed composted with other mate 

 rials makes a valuable fertilizer for this purpose. Common stable manure is also a complete 

 fertilizer, and is especially valuable to this crop. A compost of cotton-seed and stable manure, 

 mixed with lime or plaster, is a very effective fertilizer. Commercial fertilizers are also very 

 beneficial. 



The most important mineral element removed from the soil by the cotton crop, and 

 which must be supplied by the cultivator, is claimed by agricultural chemists to be phos 

 phoric acid. Potash and lime are also removed to a certain extent, but in smaller quantities. 

 Phosphate of lime is also highly recommended for this crop. 



Gypsum, bone-dust, and guano, as well as wood-ashes, have also been found very bene- 



