CHAPTER XV. 



COTTON UNIQUE: A SELF-SUPPORTING CROP 



Cotton, like other plants, gets its food for life 

 and growth from the soil, the water, and the air. 

 Strange as it may seem on first blush, it is from air 

 and from water that all plants are chiefly derived. 

 From the air carbon enters the leaves and there 

 forms the so-called carbonaceous matter of the 

 plant. Cotton lint is pure cellulose, a material 

 made from the carbonic acid of the air. From the 

 air, too, comes a large part of the oxygen which, 

 next to carbon, is the predominant constituent of 

 the dry matter in the cotton plant, as well as in 

 other plants. Other elements found in cotton are 

 hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur, calcium, sodium, 

 magnesium, chlorine, iron, aluminum, potassium, 

 phosphorus, and silicon. 



WHAT IS A FERTILE SOIL? 



A fertile cotton soil must contain all the elements 

 of plant food in sufficient quantities and in available 

 form to produce productive crops. As a rule, the 

 soil elements are present in sufficient quantities to 

 produce paying crops. Nitrogen, phosphorus and 

 potassium, however, may be deficient, and if so, 

 must be added through other means, or the crop 

 will manifest its loss by making small growth and 



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