76 



BRAZILIAN COTTON 



Mr. Guedcs has the following arrangement with his tenants who 

 all work on the share system. The cotton must be sold to him, the 

 first year after clearing the forest he keeps 20 per cent., the second 

 15 per cent., third year 12|^ per cent, and after that 10 per cent. 

 Besides this profit, the estate receives 40 per cent, of all the cereals 

 grown, such as Indian corn, rice, and beans are also counted as cereals. 



One of Mr.Guedes' cotton fields near Tatuhy* (American cotton) 



Cotton is grown for at least 3 years consecutively, after that 

 Indian corn is planted for a year, then cotton again. There are 

 lands on the " fazenda "' (farm) which have been used 12 consecutive 

 years for cotton. 



36 tenants' families live on the estate and about 60 in the town 

 of Tatuhy which is about 2| miles distant. Each family looks after 

 12 to 24 acres. 



Very little damage had been done by the pink boll- worm, as the 

 seed had been exposed to the heat of the sun before planting. The 

 cotton worm had eaten most of the leaves, as is noticeable in the 

 photograph, as however early planting had been resorted to, and only 

 early maturing varieties had been selected, the bolls had been formed 

 before the worm had attacked the leaves and little or no damage 

 was clone to the bolls. 



When land has been cleared of the forest, it is best to grow first 

 Indian corn for a few years, before cultivating cotton on it. At 

 times Indian corn and beans are grown in the same field with cotton. 

 A good cultivator will clear the land three times a season of weed. 

 On this "fazenda" cotton shrubs are stopped (i.e., tops cut off) 

 after three months growth, otherwise they would shoot up too much. 



* The frontispiece to the book shows also one of Mr. Guedes' fields. 



