446 FIELD CROPS 



to become exhausted and when leguminous crops are not 

 grown. Cotton seed was formerly largely used, but the 

 ready market for it afforded by the oil mills has led to the 

 substitution of other materials. As the oil in the seed is of 

 no value as a fertilizer, the use of whole seed for this purpose 

 is wasteful. A popular fertihzer normally is cottonseed 

 meal, as it contains a good supply of nitrogen and some 

 potash and phosphoric acid. It should generally be supple- 

 mented with acid phosphate and muriate of potash, if avail- 

 able, while a small quantity of nitrate of soda helps the 

 early growth of the crop. 



Barnyard manure is used to some extent for cotton, but 

 the available supply is usually limited, as the number of 

 live stock kept on Southern farms is relatively small and 

 that which is kept is confined for only a small portion 

 of the year, so that most of the manure is dropped on the 

 pastures. 



GROWING THE CROP 



610. Preparation of the Land. The methods of prepar- 

 ing the land for cotton vary somewhat with different soils 

 and in different sections, but the general plan is about as 

 follows: The land is ''bedded" early in the spring, that is, 

 narrow beds are made by throwing together two furrows with 

 a small plow, alternating with narrow unplowed strips. 

 Where the land was in cotton or corn the previous year, the 

 ''bed" is made between the old rows. The stalks are either 

 cut up with a stalk cutter or are gathered and burned. Bed- 

 ding helps to aerate and wami the soil and the furrows give 

 drainage, so that it is advisable on poorty drained land. 

 Later, but before planting time, additional furrows are 

 thrown upon these beds from each side, but the entire mid- 

 dle is sometimes not broken out till the first cultivation. 



When commercial fertilizer is applied, it is either sown 

 broadcast on the field before bedding, or it is distributed 



