COTTON. 



3&amp;lt; 



is well to have an abundance of seed planted, since the enemies of the cotton-plant are so 

 numerous and destructive that many of the young plants will be liable to be destroyed. If 

 all the seed germinates, there will, of course, be a large surplus of plants, which must be 

 removed by thinning. The drills should be straight, in order to facilitate after-culture. The 

 distance apart of the hills varies from ten inches to three feet. The larger the distance apart, 

 the larger the number of plants in a hill, as a general rule. The quality of the soil must 

 also be taken into account, since the richer the soil, the larger and more thrifty the growth 

 of the plants, and consequently the more room they will require. 



Care must also be used not to cover the seed too deeply in the soil, as the crop will be 

 injured by this means. In such cases, some of the seed will fail to germinate; others will 

 produce but feeble and sickly plants. It should be well covered, however, from an inch to 

 an inch and a half being the usual depth, sandy soil requiring a greater depth than rich, 

 heavy loams or clays. The soil should be pressed down upon the seed to hasten germination, 

 and the work thoroughly done. The time of planting will vary in different localities. In 

 some sections, the planting is done as early as the middle of March, in others it is delayed 



DEEKE SPRING CULTIVATOR. WITH IMPROVED COTTON-SCRAPER BLADES. 



until the middle or 20th of May. While, with favoring conditions, an early planting insures 

 an early harvest, yet there is danger of injury to the crop if planted before the land is 

 sufficiently warm. The seed will not germinate if the soil is too cold and wet; they will, on 

 the contrary, be liable to rot in the ground, while with a proper temperature, even with 

 rather late planting, they will soon start and become well established in the soil. 



Poor soils, however, necessitate an earlier planting than rich lands that are naturally 

 rich, or have been made so by being heavily manured. . One of the advantages of late plant 

 ing on rich soil consists in the saving of labor, since if such lands are planted early, large 

 quantities of grass and weeds will spring up and feed upon the soil, extracting much of its 

 fertilizing properties, consequently injuring the cotton crop, and also requiring considerable 

 labor to exterminate them. As the plant grows slowly on poor soil, a late planting, on such 

 lands would not be advisable, as it would not have time to fully mature. The time before 

 the young shoots make their appearance varies according to the time of planting, and the 

 weather. Late-planted seed will start sooner than the extremely early, in consequence of the 

 greater warmth of the soil, the time varying from five to fourteen days or more. With 

 favorable temperature they will usually come up in from five to seven days. If the weather 



