352 THE FORAGE AND FIBER CROPS IN AMERICA 



446. Preparing the Seed-bed. The land having been plowed 

 with an ordinary mold board or turn plow, the field is made up 

 into alternate beds and middles or into "back" furrows and 

 "dead" furrows. The row of cotton is to be planted upon the 

 back furrow while the dead furrow facilitates drainage. On hilly 

 land these beds follow the contour lines in order to prevent 

 erosion. The custom varies somewhat with the need for drain- 

 age and other conditions, but in general the bed when finished 



is about six inches 

 above the general 

 level of the land, 

 while the middle or 

 center furrow is 

 about six inches be- 

 low the general 



level, making the 

 The " Middle Buster " 



middle furrow about 



twelve inches below the cotton row. There is considerable dif- 

 ference of opinion as to the necessity for this process of 

 bedding, but there is practically no experimental evidence as 

 to when it is desirable and when it may be omitted. Where 

 cotton follows cotton, and where the soil is sandy, the land is 

 usually not plowed before the beds are formed. In this case 

 the bed is formed on the center furrow of the preceding year. 

 In some cases the cotton plants are gathered and burned, and 

 in other cases the stalk cutter is used, after which they may 

 be plowed under without interfering with the subsequent cul- 

 tivation. (C. A. 296) 



The method of preparing the bed is somewhat as follows: 

 The place where the cotton row is to be is opened by means of 

 a sco0ter, which is merely a flat shovel four to five inches wide, 

 and about twelve inches long, or by means of a middle "buster," 

 which is a double mold board plow. The fertilizer is then placed 

 in this furrow and the land turned back over the fertilizer by 

 means of a small plow which turns a furrow seven to eight 



