448 FIELD CROPS 



be protected from the weather and from mice and rats. The 

 quantity of seed which is now generally planted ranges from 

 ^ to 1 bushel to the acre. While this is much more seed 

 than is needed to produce a good stand, the numerous plants 

 produced help to break the crust which often forms after 

 heavy rains and which might prevent entirely the emergence 

 of plants from thinner seedings. Up to a few years ago, it 

 was the common practice to plant as much as 2 or 3 bushels 

 to the acre, but the demand for the seed at the oil mills has 

 led to the discontinuance of this waste. 



The usual method of planting is to open a furrow in the 

 middle of the bed with a small plow and to distribute the 

 seed evenly in this furrow with a one-row planter. Attempts 

 to plant cottonseed in hills have not been very successful, 

 as the fuzz on the seeds causes them to stick together and 

 prevent uniform dropping. Some attempts have been made 

 to remove this difficulty by coating the seed with flour paste. 

 This makes it possible to blow out the light seed with the 

 fanning mill and to plant with the corn planter. It is 

 probable that the plan of planting in hills as corn is usually 

 planted will become much more general in the next few years. 

 The distance between the rows ranges from 23/^ to 5 feet, 

 according to the variety and the fertiUty of the soil. A 

 small, early variety of the King type on sandy soil may be 

 planted much closer than one of the big-boll type on loam or 

 clay soils. The seed is covered to a depth of from 1 to 3 

 inches, depending largely on the nature of the soil. The 

 crop is planted during April and the first two weeks of May. 



612. Cultivation. The ordinary method of cultivation 

 has been to wait till the plants reach a height of 2 or 3 inches 

 and then to break out the middles of the rows, which have 

 previously been unplowed. A little later, the field is "barred 

 off" by running a small plow or broad shovel close to the 

 row and throwing the earth away from it. About this time, 

 the plants are thinned with the hoe to the proper distance in 



