124 



NOTES ON COTTON. 



Soil. — Light and sandy soils are better than such as are heavy and 

 clayey, and those which are moderately moist than those which are 

 very dry or very wet. Free drainage is essential, and irrigation is 

 necessary when the rainfall is small. 



The soil must be of good depth on account of the long tap root. 



It should not be too rich, otherwise the plants will run to stalk 

 and leaf, and the flowers drop without forming seed. The cotton p^nt 

 will flourish on inferior soils, where other plants will not grow. In 

 Georgia the soil is described as a dry whitish sand, forming the 

 <( Pine-barrens," and yet it is so suitable to the growth of cotton that 3, 

 4, and sometimes 5 crops may be harvested without manuring. 



Til/age. — In the States, where cotton has been cultivated with 

 greatest success, the ground is thoroughly prepared by ploughing as 

 deep as from 12 to 18 inches. If the ground has lain fallow for some 

 time, the ploughing is done three times with a considerable time in- 

 tervening between the ploughings, and if the ground is full of weeds, it 

 is ploughed even oftener. Even if the land is well pulverised and free 

 of weeds, two ploughings are considered necessary. A harrow or roller 

 is used after every ploughing. The preparation of the ground is com- 

 menced in November, and continued until March or April when the 

 seed is sown 



Seed. — Care should be taken that the seed is all of one variety, other- 

 wise the crops may not be of equal value, nor come in all at the same time. 



Solving Seed. — The land is laid off in ridges 5 to 8 feet apart, and 

 thoroughly hoed, all the weeds and grass being placed in the furrows 

 ^between the ridges. A plough is then run along the ridges, throwing 

 the soil on either side, and covering up the weeds, thus making the 

 furrows into beds in which to sow the seed As soon as the plough has 

 passed, the beds are levelled. Holes are made 18 inches apart, a foot 

 wide, and 18 inches deep, and filled in again. About 12 seeds are sown 

 where each hole has been made, at equal distances apart, and covered 

 lightly with mould to the depth of about an inch. 



Selection of Seedlings. — After about a month when the seedlings are 

 3 or 4 inches out of the ground, pull up all but 3 or 4 of the strongest 

 plants. Weeding must now be done and renewed every month. Some 

 consider it necessary to weed by hand, others by hoes, others again by 

 cultivators. If weeding is not carefully attended to, the crop will be 

 seriously injured, perhaps altogether lost. At the end of ihe third 

 month, or earlier if the growth has been vigorous, all the young plants 

 should be pulled up except the one which appears to be the strongest, 

 or is nearest to the centre of the hole 



Nurseries. — The seed is sometimes sown in nurseries by which means 

 the attacks of caterpillers are warded of! more efficiently, and irrigation 

 in dry weather may be attended to. 



As an Annual. — In the United States cotton is cultivated as an 

 annual, and sown every year although in the West Indies in former 

 days it was treated as a perennial. Planters in the United States con- 

 sider that it yields larger crops as an annual, and if the soil is likely to 

 be of such a nature as to favour luxuriant growth and a perennial form, 

 ■a crop of corn is first grown. 



