TILLAGE FOR COTTON 107 



overcome by partially harrowing or dragging down the 

 ridges before planting. 



On sandy, well-drained land farmers sometimes plant 

 cotton without ridging the soil. In such cases very shallow 

 planting is necessary and extreme care must be exercised 

 to prevent covering the plants at the first cultivation. 



In the western part of the cotton-belt where the rainfall 

 is scant, ridging for cotton is not necessary and is often 

 detrimental. 



122. Forming the ridges. — As a rule the ridges 

 should be formed at least fifteen days before planting. 

 This allows the soil to settle and become warm. On heavy, 

 cold soils, ridging at an even earher date is advisable. In 

 most cases the ridges are formed by means of an ordinary 

 mold-board plow, four to six furrow sHces being thrown 

 together. An improvement on this practice would be the 

 use of a double-mold-board plow, or lister, for forming the 

 ridges, as much labor would thereby be saved. 



If commercial fertDizers are to be appUed, a shovel plow 

 is first used to open a center furrow in which the fertilizer 

 is drilled. The beds are subsequently formed immediately 

 over the fertilizer. In many sections the fertihzers are 

 applied and hsted upon about fifteen days before planting, 

 the ridges not being finished imtil some ten days later. 



In sections where no fertihzer is used, the advantage of a 

 center furrow is a disputed question. If the soil is loose at 

 the time of forming the ridges, the use of the center furrow 

 is usually of no advantage. However, in stiff land where 

 the plowing has been done early, the use of a center furrow 

 is advisable as it provides deep and thorough preparation 

 under the center of the beds. 



Just before planting, the height of the beds should be 

 reduced by means of a harrow or drag. Drawing a smooth- 



