Staple Crops. 



Food for 

 Plants 



7i 



Cotton and Fiber Plants. 



Cotton is profitably grown on nearly all kinds of 

 soil, but does best perhaps on a strong, sandy loam. 

 On light uplands the yield is light, but with a fair pro- 

 portion of lint; on heavy bottom lands the growth 

 may be heavy, but the proportion of lint to the whole 

 plant very much reduced. 



The preparation of the soil must be even and thor- 

 ough; light soils should be plowed to a depth of six 

 inches, heavy soils about eight inches. The rows should 

 be four feet apart; on very rich soils the hills may be 

 made twelve inches apart, but, on the light soils com- 

 mon to cotton sections, twenty -four inches is a better 



