COTTON 



COTTON 



257 



multiplication plot, from which in turn choice 

 seed can be taken to plant a general crop. 



Literature. 



The following are some of the principal works 

 treating on cotton: Structure of the Cotton Fibre in 

 its Relation to Technical Applications, F. H. Bow- 

 man, Second Edition, Manchester, 1881 ; Cotton: 

 Its Uses, Varieties, Fibre Structure, Cultivation, 

 etc., C. P. Brooks, New York, 1898 ; Cotton : Its 

 Cultivation, Marketing, Manufacture, etc., C. W. 

 Burkett, New York, Doubleday, Page & Co., 1906 ; 

 The Cotton Plant : Its History, Botany, Chemistry, 

 Culture, Enemies and Uses, United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Stations, 

 Bulletin No. 33, "Washington, 1896, 433 pages; 

 Notes on Egyptian Agriculture, Geo. P. Poaden, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau 

 of Plant Industry, Bulletin No. 62 ; Lyman, Cotton 

 Planters' Manual ; Cotton Pacts, A. B. Shepperson, 

 New York ; Cotton and Cotton Oil, Cotton Plant- 

 ing, Cultivation, Harvesting, etc., D. A. Tompkins, 

 Charlotte, North Carolina, 1901, two vols. ; Trans- 

 actions, New England Cotton Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation, Waltham, Mass. (issued annually); The 

 Cost of Cotton Production, J. W. Watkins, United 

 States Department of Agriculture, Division of 

 Statistics, Bulletin No. 16; Watt, Dictionary of 

 Economic Plants ; Improvement of Cotton by Seed 

 Selection, H. J. Webber, United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Yearbook, 1902 ; Growing 

 of Long-Staple Upland Cotton, H. J. Webber, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, Year- 

 book, 1904 ; Story of the Cotton Plant, Frederick 

 Wilkinson, D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1902. 

 In addition, bulletins issued by the agricultural 

 experiment stations in the cotton-growing states, 

 give much valuable advice on specific phases of the 

 subject. Perhaps the best published information on 

 cotton soils is the record of the work done by 

 Hilgard, found in the Eeport of the Tenth Census, 

 Vols. V and VI. 



Practical Suggestions on Cotton-Growing. 



By W. B. Mercier.. 



The following comments on cotton culture are 

 drawn from the author's personal experience, 

 mostly in Mississippi and Louisiana. The advice 

 will necessarily need to be modified somewhat for 

 other regions and conditions. 



Fertilizers. — Cotton does not make excessive de- 

 mands on the soil, but it is a clean-culture crop, 

 and adds little humus to the soil, so that its con- 

 tinued growth will wear out even the richest delta 

 lands. Crop rotation, with the growing of a legume 

 crop after the small grain and in the corn, is the 

 most satisfactory way of rejuvenating the soil. 

 But all lands will be benefited by the addition of 

 some fertilizer. It hastens maturity on bottom 

 lands, and increases the yield on poor uplands. 

 Many farmers produce 500 to 800 pounds, and 

 more, of lint per acre, while the average yield is 

 less than 200 pounds per acre. It is evident that 

 many growers are doing a losing business. The 



B17 



reason is not hard to find, when we consider that 

 cotton is grown on the same land continuously 

 without fertilizers or other means of supplying 

 the constant drain. The writer averages 350 

 pounds of lint per acre on large areas of hill land, 

 with the application of 200 pounds of commercial 

 fertilizer per acre in drills under the cotton. It 

 has been his experience that with medium prepa- 

 ration and culture, about 250 pounds of commercial 

 fertilizer per acre is the most profitable quantity 

 to apply. A greater quantity will frequently pro- 

 duce a greater yield, but it is doubtful whether it 

 is economy. In the more sterile soils in some parts 

 of the eastern states, however, from 600 to 1000 

 pounds of fertilizer is frequently used per acre with 

 profit. On fresh lands, and on lands on which 

 leguminous crops have been grown, acid phosphate 

 alone gives best results. On medium to poor soils, 

 cottonseed-meal and acid phosphate mixed equally 

 gives splendid results. Potash does not give bene- 

 ficial results as a cotton fertilizer in Mississippi or 

 Louisiana, as is shown by experiments. Notwith- 

 standing this fact, 90 per cent of all fertilizer sold 

 in these states contains potash. 



Variety to plant. — There are two general kinds 

 of cotton grown, long-staple and short-staple. 

 The writer has grown both, and always with the 

 result that the short-staple is the more profitable 

 under average conditions. He has never grown a 

 long-staple variety that would yield more than 

 70 per cent as much as short-staple variety on the 

 same land with the same treatment. No long- 

 staple he has yet tried gives more than 27 per 

 cent lint, while any good short-staple gives 33 to 

 35 per cent lint. The difference in price is usually 

 about two to three cents a pound. 



There are so many varieties of cotton seed now 

 offered for sale that one not accustomed to the 

 advertising schemes of the high-priced new variety 

 man will be puzzled to know what is best to plant. 

 There are, in fact, only a few distinct varieties. 

 One not familiar with the business cannot do 

 better than to consult the leading farmers in 

 his section as to what are the best varieties 

 for that special locality. Some varieties will do 

 well in one place that will be failures in another. 

 In the writer's experience, a short-staple variety, 

 making a vigorous growth with medium long 

 limbs, good-sized bolls, and seed with a tendency 

 to early maturity, is best for general culture. 



Growth characteristics. — A few facts in regard to 

 the general nature of the cotton plant may be 

 of interest. There is no fixed time as to when the 

 seed will germinate after being planted, as this 

 is governed entirely by the temperature dnd the 

 moisture in the soil. Also, there is no definite 

 interval from the date of germination to the time 

 when the first "form" or square is seen, as this 

 is determined by various factors, such as time 

 of planting, variety, soil, temperature and culture. 

 It will average twenty-one days from the time 

 a square first appears until it is a bloom; then 

 it will average forty-two days from the bloom 

 to the time of opening. The first blooms will 

 be a few days longer in opening, ,as will also 



