18 THE COTTON PLANT. 



four feet apart in poorer ground, where less grow- 

 ing room is needed. 



Between the middle of March and the middle of 

 May planting is in order. The seeds are dropped 

 into the furrows, either by hand or by a machine 

 called a planter, and then lightly covered with 

 about an inch of soil. When the " stand," as 

 the collection of young plants is called, is fairly 

 up, and from six to ten inches high, the thinning 

 out begins. The weaker plants are relentlessly 

 hoed down, the stronger ones are left standing at 

 intervals of twelve or eighteen inches ; and before 

 long these are subjected to the process of topping ; 

 that is, the uppermost bud of each is clipped off, 

 and the plant, unable to continue its main shoot, 

 sends out numerous side-branches to make up for 

 its deficiency. As all of these side-branches bear 

 blossoms and fruit, the planter's purpose, that of 

 increasing his supply of fibre, is accomplished. 



The flowers appear when the plant is from 

 twenty-four to thirty-six inches high, and the bolls 

 open about six weeks after the corolla has fallen. 



Though the cotton plant is a biennial or a per- 

 ennial, it is always treated as an annual ; the old 

 plants are removed and new seeds sown each 

 spring. W. B. Dana, in his " Cotton from Seed to 



