258 



COTTON 



COVER-CROPS 



the first bolls. The bloom ppens wide early in 

 the morning, and is of a light cream-color; it 

 begins to close and change to a pink color in the 

 afternoon, and by the following morning is a deep 

 pink color, aiid falls to the ground. 



Gathering season. — The gathering season usually 

 begins in the hill country about the first of 

 September, reaches its height in October, and 

 is generally finished, except for scattering bolls, 

 in November. On bottom-lands, the season usually 

 begins later and lasts longer. The writer makes 

 about thjee pickings, getting 20 per cent the first 

 time, 60 per cent the second, and the remainder 

 the third or last time. 



Handling the crop. — Before gins were so numer- 

 ous, farmers would pick out several bales, and 



per cent of the business is done on what is known 

 as the "furnishing" or credit system. The crop 

 is virtually put in the hands of the merchant 

 and commission man before the seeds are planted. 

 The farmer pledges his crop to the merchant 

 for supplies (mules, tools, feed for himself and 

 teams) to make his crop with. The merchant, 

 in turn, pledges all the cotton he controls to ■ 

 the commission man and banker for money tc 

 supply the farmer. This system necessarily forces 

 the bulk of the crop on the market in three or 

 four months. Consequently, the speculators and 

 others interested manipulate the prices very 

 much to their own liking, and nearly always to 

 the hurt of the producer. There is a decided ten- 

 dency of recent years, however, to market the 



Fig. 367. Tyjical cotton-hauling scene. Mississippi. 



often their entire crop, before hauling to the gin. 

 When this was the practice, we had a much 

 prettier staple. The practice now is to pick, haul 

 and gin the same day, if possible. This is not 

 a good practice, for much of the cotton is green, 

 and nearly always has on it dew or rain enough to 

 make it damp; hence it is impossible for the gin 

 to do first-class work. The ginner is often crowded, 

 in this way, until he cannot do good work. Many 

 public gins employ incompetent men, and through 

 their carelessness there is great loss to the 

 farmers. 



The package in which cotton is marketed is 

 called a bale, and it is recognized as the most 

 unwieldy package handled in commerce. It is only 

 because of the pressing demand for cotton that 

 many carriers will handle it. For a number of 

 years the round, compressed bale was used, and 

 it was much more convenient and neat. There 

 is a great demand now for a better package. A 

 bale of cotton (Fig. 359) weighs about 500 pounds. 

 A characteristic load of cotton is shown in Fig. 

 367. 



Marketing. — The usual means of marketing the 

 cotton crop is unfortunate, to say the least. Ninety 



crop more slowly, and its effect has already 

 been felt in the markets. A complete change in 

 the system must be effected before the farmers 

 are to get their proportion of the value of the 

 product. 



The prices received for cotton varies from year 

 to year, depending on a number of conditions. The 

 law of supply and demand is the determining fac- 

 tor. Ten cents per pound of lint cotton may be taken 

 as the market price at present. 



COVER-CROPS. Figs. 368-370. 



By E. B. Voorhees. 



The term "cover-crop," which, until 1893, was not 

 distinguished from " catch-crop," or from " green- 

 manure crop," is now applied to a crop grown to ■ 

 prevent injury and losses to soils, and either directly 

 or indirectly to improve them, and often to afford 

 protection to trees or other plants, rather than to 

 secure the proceeds or products of the crop itself. 

 A catch-crop is one that is grown between the 

 periods of other crops, as after early potatoes and 

 before winter wheat; or, sometimes the word is 

 used to designate companion-crops, or thpse that 



