COTTOX rCLTIVATIOy 343 



Early plowing may cause clay land to become too com- 

 pact before the time for planting. In this case it is de- 

 sirable, shortly before planting, either to replow the land 

 or to loosen the surface -nith a disk-harrow. Too early 

 plo'ning of sandy land increases the loss due to the leach- 

 ing out of plant-food in the water that drains through the 

 soil. Hence, sandy land, as a rule, is not plowed in the 

 fall. However, it is good practice to plow any soils ex- 

 cept the sandiest in the fall, pro%-ided some winter-gromng 

 crop, such as the small grains, or clovers, or vetches, are 

 sown. The roots of the growing plants largely prevent 

 leaching by appropriating the plant-food that becomes 

 available as the vegetable matter decays. These green 

 crops can be plowed under in the late ^^^nter or early 

 spring, or grazed, or otherwise utilized Plowed soil 

 should be kept covered during winter "nith growing plants. 

 Fields covered vrith coT^-peas or other dead leguminous 

 plants shotJd not be plowed very early, since early fall 

 plowing would induce rotting and leaching before the cot- 

 ton plants would be ready to utilize the nitrogen made 

 available by the decay of the legumes. 



A small proportion of the area in cotton is plowed only 

 a few days before planting. This incurs the danger that 

 some of the seed may fail to come up in the loose soil, 

 which r^uickly dries. 



315. Depth of plowing. — A large proportion of the 

 cotton fields are plowed only 3 to i inches deep. It is 

 generally advisable to plow deeper than this, so as to afTord 

 a larger amount of available soil-moisture for the benefit 

 of the plants in periods of dry weather, and to increase 

 the feeding area for the roots. However, extreme depth, 



