346 



SOUTHERN FIELD CROPS 



When cotton follows cotton, the plowing to make a center 

 furrow usually serves to lift out the roots of the old cotton plants. 

 This is the first step in preparation and may be taken several 

 weeks earlier than the other steps in plowing. 



In certain stiff lands where fertilizers are seldom used, it is 

 a disputed point whether a center furrow is advantageous. Ex- 

 periments on this point are too few to be conclusive. The use 

 of a center furrow and the consequent deeper and more thorough 



FIG. 149. A MIDDLE BURSTER, OR DOUBLE MOLDBOARD PLOW. 



preparation under the center of the bed is probably advantageous 

 when plowing is performed early ; while if plowing is done imme- 

 diately before planting, a center furrow may leave the soil too 

 loose for the maximum germination of the seed, and for the best 

 growth of the young cotton plants. 



In "bedding land" the first two furrows thrown together 

 form a narrow ridge called a "list" ; the soil, from the hitherto 

 unplowed strip, or "balk," is usually thrown against each side 

 of the "list" by a turn-plow. But this balk is sometimes split 

 and thrown outward by a single trip of a double moldboard 

 plow, called a "middle burster" (Fig. 149). 



