354 



SOUTHERN FIELD CROPS 



327. Chopping or thinning. — As soon as possible after 

 the operation of scraping or barring off, the plants (Fig. 

 152) should be thinned by means of a hoe. This first hoe- 

 ing is called " chopping." Usually either one or two plants 

 are left at the desired distance apart. Much subsequent 

 hoe work is saved if, at the time of chopping, the plants 

 can be safely thinned to a single one at the required dis- 

 tance apart. However, it may be wise to leave two or 



Fig. 153. — Various Forms of Sweeps and Scrape used in Culti- 

 vating Cotton. 



more plants in a place, or twice as many hills as will finally 

 remain, if chopping is done when the plants are extremely 

 small, or if many of the young plants are expected to die' 

 as the result of disease or of unfavorable weather. 



328. Second cultivation or "siding." — The objects in 

 " siding " cotton are as follows : — 



(1) To throw close about the plant, for its firmer support, 

 earth that may have been removed from it in the first 

 cultivation or in hoeing. 



