EXERCISE 48. A STUDY OF COTTON IN THE FIELD 



Equipment: A tape measure and a fine-toothed comb. 



Method: The pupils may be taken to the field for this 

 exercise any time during the harvesting season, but prefer- 

 ably at the second picking. Make the observations and 

 measurements necessary to fill in the following table: 



Distance apart of rows 



Distance apart of plants in row . . . 



Average height of plants 



Average width of plants 



Average number of bolls per plant. 

 Average number of seeds per lock . 



Seeds fuzzy or naked 



Color of the seed 



Average length of the Hnt 



Color of the lint 



Where does the longest lint occur? 



Make a longitudinal and cross-section drawing of a boll, 

 showing locks and seeds. 



Discussion: Cotton plants should be thinned to one 

 plant in a place and twelve to eighteen inches apart. The 

 width of rows may vary from thirty to sixty inches. The 

 narrow row with the plants further apart in the rows will 

 usually give a better yield of cotton, but the narrow rows are 

 more expensive to cultivate. Cotton usually receives its 

 first cultivation when the plants are four to six inches high, 



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