474 FIELD CROPS 



obtained by plowing the land from 6 to 8 inches deep early 

 in the spring and harrowing and disking it every few days 

 till planting time than by the methods in common use. 



621. Planting. The best grade of cotton seed which can 

 be obtained should be used for planting. Good, heavy seed 

 is just as important a factor in obtaining good yields of cotton 

 as it is in corn or the small grains. The ordinary practice 

 of taking the regular run of cotton seed as it comes from the 

 gin, storing it with little or no attention over winter, and then 

 planting heavily in the spring to assure a stand, is a bad one. 

 While the extra seed has some value as a fertilizer, it is much 

 more profitable to sell it and to use cotton-seed meal or some 

 other fertilizer in its place. 



Instead of taking the " gin-run" of seed for planting, 

 the best portion of the field should be picked by itself each 

 fall, preferably at the earlier pickings. This cotton should 

 be ginned separately and the seed brought back to the farm 

 for planting the following spring. The seed should be spread 

 out in a thin layer to dry, as it heats readily when green and 

 its germination is easily destroyed. After it is dry, it may be 

 sacked or piled in bulk if it is kept in a dry place. It should 

 be protected from the weather and from mice and rats. The 

 quantity of seed which is now generally planted ranges from 

 Y^ to 1 bushel to the acre. Up to a few years ago, it was the 

 common practice to plant as much as 2 or 3 bushels to the 

 acre, but the demand for the seed at the oil mills has led to 

 the discontinuance of this waste. 



The usual method of planting is to open a furrow in the 

 middle of the bed with a small plow and to distribute the 

 seed evenly in this furrow with a one-row planter. Attempts 

 to plant cotton seed in hills have not been very successful, 

 as the fuzz on the seeds causes them to stick together and 

 prevents uniform dropping. Some attempts have been made 



