1862. 



THE ILLINOIS FARMEE. 



139 



(From Field Notts.) 



Culture of the Cotton Plaiit; 



SOIL. 



Select if possible a dark colored, sandy, or 

 Bandy loam soil, with a southern exposure if pos- 

 sible. It should be well pulverized, therefore it 

 should be plowed rather deep twice at least and 

 then harrowed. It should then be plowed in 

 ridges, and the cotton planted on the ridge, so 

 that the water of the spring and summer tains 

 will not stand about. the roots of the plant, but 

 will flow away as soon as possible. 



A dr ught will check the growth of the plant 

 and the boils will notdeveop, but will fall off; a 

 wet season is eqtially pernicious. 



TIME AND MANNER OF PLANTING. 



In the southern States, cotton is planted from 

 the first of March until the first of June, accord- 

 ing to circumstances, as corn s planted here in 

 Ohio from the first of May until the first of July. 

 The object in planting in March appears to be to 

 obtain time to attend to other farm work, as well 

 as to realize the entire amount of cotton> shonld 

 the season prove favorable. But even in Georgia 

 and Alabama, the March planting is frequently 

 cut off by frost. On account of the comparative 

 shortness of our seasons, it should be planted as 

 early as possible, so as to avoid the spring and 

 early fall frosts. It does not bear transplanting 

 as well as tobajco does. 



After the ground has been prepared by plow- 

 ing and harrowing, it is then ridged or furrowed 

 out ; the ridges being > rom four to five feet apart 

 one way, and about two feet apart the other. 

 Some planters ridge one way only, and then 

 plant the seed twelve or eighteen inches apart ; 

 others ridge both ways and plant the seeds in 

 rows, say two feet by five. There are generally 

 four or five seeds plaated in a hill, and these are 

 subsequently thinned out, so as to leave two or 

 at most three stalks in a hill. 



SOAKING THE SEED. 



Mr. M. W. Phillips, one of the most success- 

 ful cotton growers in Mississippi, recommends 

 that the seed be thoroughly soaked with salt and 

 water, or in a brine made by steeping stable ma- 

 nure in salt and water for ten days before using, 

 or until fermentation has ensued. The seeds are 

 then dried off with ashes or lime or plaster — the 

 latter is preferred biecause it makes the seeds 

 perfectly white and they can be more carefully 

 planted. When the seeds are planted they are 

 Ughtly covered, that is to say, covered from half 

 an inch deep with the soil. Cotton seeds are 

 about the size of white beans, and the quantity 

 of seed for any given plot of ground is much the 

 same as that required for field corn. .; .] - '^,:j^ 



The after culture of cotton is much like that 

 of corn; it requires to be kept perfectly free 

 from weeds and grass. 



The crop of cotton can be gathered at several 

 times; first from the lower bolls, — these ripen 

 first ; in many instances the lower bolls are gath- 

 ered before the upper or top ones are in bloom. 

 Some days, and in many instances weeks even, 

 after the first bolls are gathered, the middle ones 

 will be ready to be harvested, and if the season 

 be long and favorable, quite late in the fall the 

 upper or topmost bolls may be gathered ; but it 

 is very seldom indeed, even in Georgia and Ala- 

 bama, that the topmost boUs are gathered ; they 

 are generally caught hj the frost before ripen- 

 ing. - John. H. Klippab.t. 



Thb Wedge. — Editor Co. Gent: — I notice in 

 your issue of Jan, 23d, page 61, a very sensi- 

 ble article upon " The Ax, the Bee'le, and the 

 Wedge," by Mr. A. Fish, which I consider a 

 " stich in time." His descriptions of the ax and 

 beetle are good, and so is that of the wedge in a 

 general view or sense. But I have found the 

 wedge decidedly .a "peculiar institution," i. e., 

 I have been an occasional " rail-splitter" de facto, 

 for several years, during all of which time I have 

 never seen but one wedge of just the right size, 

 shape and proportion, which I now fortunately 

 have before me. I will attempt to describe it, 

 which is as follows : Length, 9 inches; width, two 

 inches and one and one-half inches thick at the top 

 or head end — weight, four pounds six oiinces — 

 made perfectly straight on each side from head 

 to point, with a slight groove, say half an inoh 

 wide and one-eight deep, running down each side 

 from one inch of the head — said groove becoming 

 narrower and shoaler until within one and a half 

 inches of the point, where it comes out and leaves 

 a flat surface to the point. This wedge is deci- 

 dedly superior to any and all others I have ever 

 used. It will " stick," and When it ever does 

 bound, which is very rarely the case even in 

 frozen timber, you m^ay know that you have got 

 a "hard" if not a "knotty" case. 



A wedge of this make will split or cleave tim- 

 ber for rails, etc., In a much better manner than 

 those -of tlie usual " chubby" kind. All practi- 

 cal "rail-splitters" — I mean those who are mas- 

 ters of the trade — know the importance of havt 

 ing the opening made by the wedge at the point, 

 when " driven home," as large or as near the 

 same size as that at the head as possible, for 

 when the part first entered is opened wide, (which 

 is usually the case with chubby), while the under 

 or inner side is but little if any opened, it iis 

 quite impossible to "heart" or otherwise divide 

 even the best of timber to advantage. 



Mr. F- recommends having the " edge end in- 

 laid with steel, but not hardened." This may be 

 a good thing, but I am inclined to think that a 

 steel point will not "go down" in frosty timber 

 with mine, which is made of good iron and har- 

 dened, but not. so hard that, it will not bcoid 

 rather than break. , ^^ '/ ' 'iT "" T" * ' "C • v.-' ,' 



Brother "rail-splitters," try one made as 

 above mentioned — nine inches long, two in width, 

 one and a half inches thick, etc., and report 

 through the Country Gentleman. . -^^ 



Newark, 0. • "°~ 



