350 FlELt) CROP PRODUCTION 



acre. If all the seeds grow, the plants are much too thick 

 and must be thinned out. The thinning is done after the 

 plants are a few inches high by hoeing out the surplus and 

 leaving plants 12 or 16 inches apart in the row. Cultiva- 

 tion may be done at first with a light harrow or weeder 

 when the plants are a few inches in height. These im- 

 plements may drag out a few plants, but if thinning is 

 delayed until after such cultivation has been done, the 

 injury to the plants is not great. Further cultivation 

 during the remainder of the growing season should be 

 frequent and shallow. This may be done with cultivators 

 similar to those used in the cultivation of corn, the single 

 cultivators being commonly employed. 



369. Harvesting. — Most of the cotton crop is har- 

 vested by hand. Men, women, and children pass down the 

 rows and pick off the fiber in which the seeds remain, 

 placing it in bags or baskets which they carry with them. 

 When the bags are full they are emptied into a wagon 

 which hauls the loose cotton to the gin. Many attempts 

 have been made to build machines to pick the cotton, 

 some of which have been successful, but their use has not 

 become general. The difficulty with machine harvesters 

 is that they pick leaves and trash along with ' the cotton. 

 Then, too, the cotton does not all ripen at the same time, 

 and in order to gather it in the best condition, it is neces- 

 sary to make two or three pickings. The machine in 

 passing over the field during the first picking may destroy 

 or damage much of that which is not ripe. Usually the 

 first picking is a light one, the bulk of the crop being 

 gathered at the second picking. Hand picking, while 

 expensive, enables the grower to gather the crop as it 

 ripens, and also to keep the fiber free from leaves and 

 trash. 



