COTTON 109 



Proportion of land in cotton. Mississippi, Texas, Ala- 

 bama, Georgia and South Carolina devote approximately 

 one-half of their tilled land to the raising of cotton, the 

 remainder of the list, from twelve to about twenty-five 

 per cent. The tendency at present is to diversify the 

 farming in the cotton states, raising a smaller acreage of 

 cotton, and adding corn, oats, legumes and other forage 

 crops. With better methods of growing cotton, this can 

 be done without reducing the amount of cotton produced. 



Kinds of cotton raised. The two leading varieties 

 of cotton are the Sea Island, so called because it requires 

 the salt sea air for its production, and the Upland. The 

 Sea Island cotton is considered the best produced, because 

 of its long and strong fiber. It is also finer than the other 

 varieties. The Upland cotton has green seeds while the 

 Sea Island cotton has black seeds. Upland cotton is 

 grown in the states away from the Gulf and along the At- 

 lantic seaboard. This, variety is largely manufactured in 

 our own cotton mills, while Sea Island cotton is exported in 

 large quantities to foreign markets. 



2. Raising the Crops 



Soil requirements. Well-drained clay or sandy loam 

 soil is considered best for cotton. As a rule, bottom lands 

 are not well adapted to the growth of cotton, because most 

 of the fertility of the soil goes into the production of stalk 

 rather than bolls. There are two important reasons why 

 cotton should be planted only on fertile soil, and given the 

 best of cultivation: (1) A better quality of cotton and 

 larger yields are produced; (2) an earlier crop is secured 

 and the danger from the boll weevil and other insect ene- 

 mies is greatly reduced. 



Preparation of the seed bed. The ground in most 

 parts of the South should be plowed deep for cotton. This 



