24 COTTON CULTURE. 



seeds are dashed carelessly into a wide and somewhat irreg- 

 ular furrow, the line of plants will be correspondingly 

 irregular. If, on the other hand, the furrow or drill was 

 small and sharply defined, and the seeds laid neatly at the 

 drill, and that drill quite straight, the work of thinning 

 out and cutting away to a stand will be very much easier. 

 Of course, the first thing to be done, where the sprouts are 

 very thick, is to cut away the superfluous plants, and con- 

 centrate all the fertilizing powers of the soil upon the most 

 thrifty specimens. The usual practice is to "run around 

 the stand," as it is called, that is, to carry a small furrow 

 close up to the crest of the bed on each side, cutting away 

 and covering the grass and superfluous plants. Here very 

 much depends upon the skill of the plowman. By keep- 

 ing a firm grasp upon the handles, and a close rein on the 

 mule, a good plowman will carry his coulter within two 

 inches of the row of little plants, yet never disturb them, 

 while an inexperienced hand will run a furrow that is 

 sometimes a foot from the row, and sometimes throws a 

 pile of dirt upon the plants and buries them. Where the 

 plowing is well done, the thinning out, or " chopping out," 

 as it is called, can be done rapidly. The hoe-gang pass 

 along, and break up the line of young plants by " chopping 

 out" a gap of, say a foot or more, thus leaving the stand 

 in clumps of three or four together, at intervals of from 

 twelve to twenty or thirty inches according to the exuber- 

 ance of the soil. 



When the plants have sprouted in great uniformity, this 

 operation is almost wholly mechanical, and can be done 

 very fast ; but where the stand is irregular, considerable 

 judgment must be constantly exercised in sparing only the 

 most thrifty plants, and such as are most exactly in line. 

 As a rule, it does not pay to be very particular this time 

 over the crop. Let the hoes pass on rapidly, killing the 

 grass that is nearest the plants, and calculating to get over 

 the field in a week, if the weather is fair. 



