104 COTTON CULTURE. 



nection with a series of circle ditches. These are laid out 

 and made in the following manner. 



Determine by experiments, or observe from the charac- 

 ter and extent of the wash in a circular furrow, the fall 

 that must be given a ditch in order that the soil at the 

 bottom of it may not wash in gullies during a hard rain. 

 In many lands this fall must not exceed an inch in ten 

 feet, or one foot in a hundred. Commence now at the 

 foot of the hill, at the point where it is desirable to have 

 the waters of the hill-side discharged, and with a survey- 

 or's level ascertain the point which is three hundred feet 

 distant and three feet higher than the feet of the observer. 

 Mark these points by stakes, marked No. 1 and 2, and 

 thus proceed from stake No. 2 to stake No. 3, until sev- 

 eral hundred feet are laid off. The curves and irre^ulari- 



3 



ties of the hill-side may not permit you to take observa- 

 tions of three hundred feet ; in that case make the obser- 

 vations shorter and the stakes more numerous, but keep- 

 ing the slope the same. Now run a furrow with a double 

 plow from the first stake to the second, and so on over all 

 the ground surveyed. Throw off t\vo or three more fur- 

 rows in the same way, and then let hands with hoes and 

 shovels haul all the loose earth into one ridge. The 

 spring of the year is the proper time for doing this, after 

 the heaviest of the early rains. Then, when bedding up 

 for a crop, be careful not to disturb these ridges. Their 

 bottoms should be dressed off smooth and level, and the 

 ridge trodden quite firm. In working the crop, pay some 

 attention to these ditches, keeping the bed smooth, and 

 filling up any little washes that occur, but being careful 

 not to break the surface of the ridges or banks. If they 

 soon become covered with grass, weeds, and scrub pines, 

 it will be all the better. These ditches will take the wa- 

 ter as it comes pouring down the hill in a violent rain, 

 and convey it away down a slope so gentle that no wash- 

 ing can take place. 



