6 BULLETIN oil, TT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Tile drainage is employed instead of open ditches where the rela- 

 tive value of the land is sufficient to warrant the extra expense of 

 the tile. 



TILLAGE BEFORE PLOWING. 



The rotations practiced throughout the cotton belt are such that 

 cotton generally follows cotton or corn. Tillage before plowing is 

 necessary to break up the stalks left from the previous crop except 

 m a few areas where the stalks do not grow to a sufficient size to 

 interfere with tillage operations. For this work a stalk cutter (fig. 

 3) is most often employed. In areas where the stalks grow excep- 



FiG. 2. — A cotton field laid off in terraces. Where the land is rolling, with a clay type of soil, as shown in 

 this field in Mecklenburg County, N. C, numerous terraces and surface ditches are required to carry 

 off the surface water and prevent erosion. 



tionally large and weeds and grass are abundant, both the stalk cut- 

 ter and disk harrow are at times used. Little thought is given to 

 the benefits derived from pulverizing the surface soil before breaking. 



PLOWING. 



Whether land be plowed in the fall or spring is governed largely 

 by the previous crop and the type of soil. Where cotton follows 

 small grain or some sod-forming crop, the land is more frequently 

 plowed in the fall than where cotton follows a cultivated crop. 

 Heavy clay soils are more often plowed in the fall than light sandy 

 soils. (Table IV.) 



