26 COTTON PLANTER'S MANUAL. 



and judgment of the planter, in this matter, everything de 

 pends, as each year brings its own rules with it. Where cir 

 cumstances are favorable, early thinning is, of course, the best 

 Some planters always top their cotton. Others never do. 

 Your Committee are of opinion, that it seldom or never does 

 harm to do so. But whether it is worth the trouble, is a 

 doubtful question. Those who have no clearing, or other im- 

 portant employ for their hands, would lose nothing by devot 

 ing three or four days to this operation early in August. 

 Those pressed for time might gain by omitting it. 



Too muck pains cannot be taken in preparing Cotton for 

 market, for they are well remunerated by the additional price. 

 The first thing to be attended to, is to have it gathered free 

 of trash. With a little care, wonders can be effected in this 

 way ; and hands with a short training, will pick almost, if not 

 quite, as much without trash as with it. It should never be 

 gathered when wet. And here it may not be out of place to 

 remark, that one of the very best sanitary rules of a planta- 

 tion is, never to send out your hands to pick until the dew- 

 has nearly or quite disappeared. It saves time in the long- 

 run, as well as health and life. Cotton should never be gin- 

 ned, until the seeds are so dry as to crack between the teeth. 

 If damp, it is preferable to dry it in the shade, as the sun 

 extracts the oil, and injures the staple. If, by accident, how- 

 ever, it gets wet, there is no alternative but to put it on the 

 scaffold. It is of great importance to sort the cotton carefully 

 into several qualities, in ginning and packing, for by mixing 

 all qualities together, the average of the price is certainly 

 lowered. A few old hands, or very young ones, breeding 

 women, sucklers, and invalids, will earn excellent wages in a 

 ginhouse, at this occupation. Neat packing is of no small im- 

 portance, in the sale of cotton, and no little taste may be dis- 

 played in making the packages. The advantage of square 



