106 COTTON IN THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. [!ST. SEASON. 



CHAP, prepare his old land, and to clear a piece of new. On the 



L_ old land, advantage is taken of every interval of fine weather, 



for a few steady ploughmen to ran the manure furrow al- 

 ready described between the old Cotton rows ; while 

 women and children follow them, and beat down the old 

 stalks and lay them in the furrow. If necessary, the carts 

 follow with the manure, and then the ploughs again run 

 over the land to cover up the manure at once. On the new 

 land, the trees are cut down for fences, whilst the under 

 grown and thick canes are cut flat to the ground, and when 

 sufficiently dry, are set on fire and burnt off clean. Before 

 the embers are cold, this new land is planted with Indian 

 corn ; because the latter is not so delicate as Cotton, and is 

 not killed by the frost. The three agricultural operations 

 of planting, scraping, and gathering, may now be described in 

 their natural order. 



151 Planting, The planting season lasts from the first to 

 the thirteenth of April. The first of April is the great com- 

 mencing day, and then every available " plough team " is 

 put in harness, and often the carriage horses are pressed 

 into the service of the plough. A few additional furrows are 

 thrown to the slight manure ridge already mentioned, in order 

 that the closing furrow may drain the surplus spring showers. 

 Next follows the drill, which opens the ridge ; whilst an 

 active woman keeps pace with the horse, and sows the seed 

 in a beautiful straight line in the little furrow opened by 

 the drill. The interval between the plants varies according 

 to the poorness or richness of the soil. In poor land the 

 Cotton is planted close together, but in rich lands wide 

 apart, thus reversing the order of grain husbandry. A ccor- 

 dingly, the plants are sown in rows from four to eight feet 

 apart, varying according to the quality of the land ; and the 

 seed is left in the drill in corresponding intervals of from 

 six to twelve inches, or even of fifteen inches where the land 



