118 COTTOX CULTURE. 



strict adherence to what should be regarded as a cardinal 

 principle in all farming operations. That is, always to re- 

 turn to the soil more fertilizing properties in the form of 

 manure than are removed in the crops and to cultivate 

 every crop with such thoroughness that the entire produc- 

 tive energy of the soil and its constituents will be con- 

 served and concentrated upon the plant in cultivation. 



Another advantage which the cotton grower will reap 

 by this system of generous manuring, and particularly by 

 the use of fertilizers which are rich in phosphates, is the 

 improvement of his seed, and consequently an increase in 

 the length and fineness of his staple ; for an excellent 

 quality and an abundant yield of cotton-wool can no 

 more be expected from seeds which are dwarfish, than 

 large clips of wool can be taken from small, half-starved 

 sheep. The improved varieties of cotton seed which are 

 introduced from time to time, and whose merits are loudly 

 vaunted, are nothing more than the product of common 

 varieties, grown in a favorable season, on fertile soil, and 

 in the best part of the cotton zone. 



Improve the cotton seed, and your staple is directly 

 augmented in value. It is on this account that guano has 

 been found an excellent fertilizer for cotton. It does not 

 stimulate the growth of a plant so rapidly as some other 

 manures, but it tends directly to perfect the seed and the 

 staple. It can be used to great profit. Ten dollars worth 

 of it, or three hundred pounds per acre, properly applied 

 to land that, without it, might produce a thousand pounds 

 of cotton, will double the crop, due allowance being made 

 for the casualties and vicissitudes affecting the cotton 

 plant, as guano is no specific against any of its ills, except 

 the lice and sore-shin. 



It should be remarked that guano as well as compost 

 manure ought to be applied early in the season, and well 

 blended with the soil by the plow and harrow. It is a 

 sort of medicine to the soil, so to speak, and its immediate 



