10 COTTON CULTURE 



In the so-called "cotton belt" the presence of iron 

 causes many sands and clays to be colored a more or less 

 marked red, and farmers are accustomed to call them 

 "red" to distinguish them from "gray" soils. All things 

 considered, the red clay soil may be considered the more 

 favorable of the two, when sufficiently porous to be easily 

 freed of surface water a condition usually indicated by 

 the presence of small quantities of fine red gravel. The 

 native forest growth of such soils is generally long-leafed 

 pine, with hickory, oak, and maple in the bottoms. 



The amount and distribution of rainfall has much to 

 do with successful cotton culture, and this fact should 

 be kept in mind when selecting soils. On heavy clay 

 and rich bottom lands, the crop receiving too free a rain- 

 fall frequently becomes diseased or injured by insect 

 ravages, or is delayed in maturing by rank vegetative 

 growth until the appearance of frost. A good cotton 

 soil should maintain uniform conditions of moisture, as 

 sudden variations in the growing season affect the vitality 

 of the plant. Up to August, the soil should be continu- 

 ously moist, but not wet. A sandy soil is apt to be too 

 dry, and a heavy clay soil too wet. Excess of decaying 

 organic matter, or peat, indicates an excess of nitrogen, 

 as well as moisture, which tend to luxuriant growth of 

 "weed" at the expense of fruit and early maturity. 



The young and tender cotton roots penetrate to a con- 

 siderable depth. If the soil is washed from around a well- 

 grown cotton stalk, a large number of fibrous roots will 

 be found on the laterals. The roots penetrate three and 



