210 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 



better to select a smaller-growing type of cotton. Early 

 planting is strongly advised in all localities, and the 

 quantity of seed should be sufficiently large to insure 

 absolute certainty of a stand. For early planting, not 

 less than 30 pounds of seed per acre should be used. 



As soon as the plants are well established in the soil 

 and all danger of frost is passed, the excess number of 

 plants should be removed by chopping out the inter- 

 vening spaces with a hoe, leaving vigorous plants about 

 12 to 16 inches apart in the row. Following the chopping, 

 a cultivator should be run close to the row, so as to throw 

 some dirt toward the plants. The cultivation of the cot- 

 ton should be shallow and frequent, and continued until 

 the plants begin to mature bolls, and later, if necessary, 

 to prevent a crust forming. If the preparation of the land 

 was thorough and the soil has been well tilled up to this 

 time, the crop can be laid by with an assurance that there 

 is a sufficient quantity of moisture and available plant- 

 food to mature the bolls. 



198. Harvesting. The cotton crop is harvested by hand. 

 Various attempts have been made, from time to time, 

 to build a mechanical cotton-picker, and some very credit- 

 able machines have been produced, but they have not 

 come into general use. The problem is a difficult one be- 

 cause of the leaves and trash that are more or less 

 mixed with the cotton by the machine. Cotton-picking 

 is the negro's holiday vacation, and where there is a 

 large percentage of colored people, there is usually little 

 difficulty in getting sufficient labor to harvest the crop. 

 They pass rapidly through the fields, deftly picking the 

 locks from the open bolls, and placing them in a long 



