48 COTTON CULTURE 



striking but one blow in the same place and reducing the 

 plants to bunches, ten to fifteen inches apart, of two to four 

 plants. The "hands" should be able to cover two to 

 three acres where rows are three and one-half feet apart. 

 The cultivator should follow rather closely after this 

 chopping, and the final work of "putting to a stand" 

 should be commenced within a few days after the chopping 

 has been finished. At this juncture the presence of "the 

 boss" or some reliable representative is absolutely neces- 

 sary in order to see that the work is properly done and the 

 stand preserved. If this be properly performed, and the 

 plowmen do their duty afterward, very little further 

 work with hand hoes will be necessary. The further 

 work of cultivation should be done with shallow running 

 sweeps, scrapes, or, better still, regular cultivators running 

 once or twice to the row, every week or ten days, the main 

 purpose being to keep the surface to the depth of one or 

 two inches, as nearly as may be, in a loose and open con- 

 dition. 



The effect of this layer of loose pulverized soil is 

 to prevent undue evaporation and loss of moisture from 

 the soil, as well as to destroy grass. As a rule, all horse- 

 implement cultivation should cease when the cotton plants 

 have expanded laterally until the limbs nearly meet in 

 the middle, which is by July ist to August ist, depending 

 upon the location of the plantation. Continuing the cul- 

 tivation too long tends to produce "weed" at the expense 

 of lint. 



During the first period of the development of the cot- 



