COTTOiN. 



merely stir tlie siirfare as ollieis do 

 with the turning or shovel plough, 

 and can, with the same lahour, cer- 

 tainly cultivate more. I cannot per- 

 ceive that any labour will l)e saved 

 on the same space of land by manu- 

 ring, as the same acre will recpiire 

 the same work ; but the plant, by be- 

 ing warmed with the manure, will 

 grow off faster, and if the crop can 

 be ever doubled on an acre, it will re- 

 quire only half the number of acres 

 for cultivation. 



" I may err, as we all are subject 

 to error, especially in being wedded 

 to our peculiar mode of practice ; but 

 I think all practical planters will agree 

 with me that the first, and often 

 the second working of cotton, must 

 be slow and tedious, even should the 

 planting be in May. It is impossible 

 that the plant should grow off until 

 the fine roots or spongioles have 

 formed around the top roots to nour- 

 ish the plant ; in the mean time the 

 fibrous rooted plants are growing ; 

 we must therefore work early, and 

 every one who has fcdlowed hands 

 knows there is little dependance on 

 covering grass ; it must be cut up. I 

 therefore think we must scrape. 



" My hoes are home-made, the 

 blade entirely steel ; I have some 

 here that have been used for the past 

 four years, and they have been used 

 for cutting down sprouts as well as 

 cutting up grass and weeds. My fore- 

 man of the crop i.s furnished with a 

 flat file, and is required to keep the 

 hoes sharp. 



" I now sum up, commence clean- 

 ing the cotton early, clean it well, re- 

 turn as soon as possible, throw earth 

 or mould to the young plant ; if the 

 earth be liard, give a thorough plough- 

 ing ; keep the earth light and mel- 

 low, and the plants clear of grass and 

 weeds. 



" Gathering and Drying. — After my 

 crop has grown so large as to meet 

 in the row, or to be injured by the 

 plough, I have the grass chopped out 

 with the hoe, especially if there has 

 been rain, for then there springs up 

 a grass called by the opposite names 

 of sour or saltpetre grass ; not that 

 198 



I fear any injury to the crop, only as 

 furnishing more trash to get into tho 

 cotton when gathering, or keeping 

 the earth wet in the mornings by 

 dews. I forthwith prepare for gath- 

 ering cotton any leisure time, such 

 as making baskets, sacks, cleaning 

 up gin-house, 6:c. 



" In all this country each hand has 

 a cotton sack and cotton basket lor 

 picking ; the first made out of stout, 

 yard-wide Lowell goods, by cutting 

 off one and a third to one and a half 

 yards, doubling, and sewing one side 

 and end. On the open end attach a 

 strip of cotton doubled, long enough, 

 when over the shoulder, to keep the 

 sack off the ground when standing 

 erect, this is sewed on each side, so 

 as when the right arm and head are 

 passed through, similar to the belt 

 of the bayonet or broadsword, the 

 weight rests on the left shoulder, and 

 the sack against the right hip. When 

 picking, the cotton is placed in this 

 sack until full, which will weigii from 

 fifteen to twenty pounds, and then 

 emptied into the hamper or basket, 

 placed in a central part of the day's 

 picking. This is made of young 

 white oak, some three to five or six 

 inches in diameter, growing in low 

 ground, by cutting off a piece about 

 seven feet long, quartering, and then 

 splitting into splits about three quar- 

 ters to an inch wide, and as thick as 

 a case-knife blade, and ril)s somewhat 

 thicker. Take, according to size of 

 basket wanted, some 

 fifteen to twenty-two or 

 twenty-three of these 

 ribs, and lay them on 

 the ground crossing 

 each other thus, and 

 commence weaving in the splits as 

 near to the central point as possible, 

 by fastening to the bottom rib first, 

 running over and under until all 

 round ; insert an odd rib, for fifteen 

 or twenty will give an even number 

 of ribs, each long one making, in fact, 

 two, and, if an even number, the 

 splits will round all alike ; but by hav- 

 ing an odd one, the rib that was out- 

 side comes next inside, &c. After 

 the bottom is filled up the size want- 



