THE CULTURE OF COTTON. 309 



Cotton is an exhaustive crop. The fiber is almost pure 

 carbon and contains very little that is drawn from the soil. 

 But the seed is exceedingly rich in nitrogen, phosphoric 

 acid, and potash; and thus draws very heavily upon the 

 land. 1000 Ibs. of seed contains 35 to 40 Ibs. of nitrogen; 

 20 Ibs. of potash; and 30 Ibs. of phosphoric acid. As there 

 are 2 pounds of seed produced for every pound of ginned 

 cotton, a crop of 500 Ibs. of clean fiber per acre therefore 

 takes from the soil the above quantities of valuable ele- 

 ments, and thus calls for an adequate return of manure or 

 fertilizer. 



The large quantity of carbon in this crop may be all de- 

 rived from the atmosphere, but at the same time it is indis- 

 pensable for the full exercise of this function of the plant, 

 that it should have the most vigorous development possible; 

 and to secure this the soil should not only be furnished with 

 every other element in abundance, but it should have an 

 adequate supply of carbonaceous matter in the soil. 



Hence the same kind of rotation that is practiced where 

 the common sorts of farm crops are grown, will be found 

 valuable to the cotton planter; and the plowing in of green 

 crops, and the use of stable manure, as well as of special 

 artificial fertilizers, will be found necessary for the produc- 

 tion of a full yield of cotton. 



Cotton is a tropical plant and requires much heat and a 

 hot sun for its successful culture. It also requires a rich 

 soil. The methods of culture practiced by the best farmers 

 in the South are as follows. The land is broken in the 

 fall; usually it is a fallow or newly cleared ground. It is 

 then "bedded" in the spring, and manure is plowed in as 

 the beds are made. The beds are about 3 or 4 feet wide 

 and are raised somewhat in the center. The middle of the 

 bed is then split and a furrow is made in which some com- 

 post or fertilizer is dropped, ani this is covered lightly with 

 soil. The seed is then sown and covered. A machine for 

 planting seed is in use which saves labor and expense in this 

 work. The great pest of the cotton planter is the prevalent 

 crab grass which has been permitted to seed on the land 



