38 COTTON PLANTER'S MANUAL. 



But to our work. I never plant all cotton land at once , 1 

 prefer much to plant, say one-half about the 1st of April, and 

 in ten days the residue. 



So soon as I see enough cotton up to make a stand, I begin 

 to scrape, by starting a scraper, which, if in good order and 

 beds well made, will shave the bed to within one inch of the 

 plant, and cover all the grass in the middle of a four-foot row. 

 And here will be seen the great gain in throwing up a ridge 

 and planting seed straight on a clean bed. Hoe hands follow, 

 and scrape the entire remaining surface of the ridge, leaving 

 none of the surface to grow grass, chopping through the row 

 so as to leave either a stand at the right distance, say two or 

 three, or four stalks, or else leaving a double stand. By be- 

 ginning early, the surface is cleaner, and it is much less difficult 

 to clean around the plant, than when grass and weeds have 

 started. And here let me say, I used the best steel-bladed 

 hoes sold by A. B. Allen, in New York, and by S. Frank- 

 lin, in New Orleans. I do not like the largest size. These 

 hoes can be ground on a grind-stone every two or three days, 

 and a flat file used daily will keep them quite sharp. 



My hoes having made a start, the earth being dry enough 

 to crumble after a plough, I start bull-tongue ploughs im- 

 mediately after, and dirt the cotton, endeavoring to finish in 

 a d^iy or so after the hoes ; thus, I have my cotton clean and 

 earthed ; it is protected from grass, and the light earth pro- 

 tects from the cold nights in May. Besides this, the deep 

 narrow furrows made by the bull-tongue plough serve to drain 

 the narrow ridge left. This certainly gives a warmer bed 

 for cotton, and in throwing light earth, grass vegetates much 

 slower. 



Sometimes I scrape the second time, though the plough 

 riot preceding; when I do not, and the earth is comparatively 

 clean, I start a small shovel-plough again to dirt, and the 



