156 
COTTON 
than this, while the ground is cool, or before the 
season has advanced far enough for the cotton 
plant to bask in its loved sunshine, the crop will 
make little progress, even if germination itself is 
not seriously hindered by the low temperature. 
Some good farmers prefer to fertilize rather heavily, 
delay planting, and wait for decidedly warm 
weather, so as to rush the crop ahead of grass and 
weeds. If for this or any other reason you should 
postpone seeding until toward the end of the 
planting season, however, it will be safer to plant 
seed somewhat deeper, and if weather is dry, you 
should roll the land as well. 
Early maturity of the crop does not depend so 
much upon time of planting as it does on the 
early-maturing qualities of the variety. Even 
with late planting, if you have proper fertilization 
and good preparation of soil, you will secure better 
results than where the opposite conditions have 
prevailed. 
PUTTING FERTILIZERS INTO THE SOIL 
When two or three hundred pounds of fertilizers 
are used, seed may be planted without mixing the 
fertilizer with the soil. Where more than this 
amount is used, it seems desirable to apply it in the 
bed or mix it with the soil by means of the scooter 
plow. 
Heavy applications justify a different procedure. 
If placed in the center furrow, the fertilizer should 
be incorporated thoroughly with the land. Ex- 
periments seem to indicate that where as much as a 
thousand pounds are applied, it is preferable to 
side list or broadcast at least one-half of the quan tity , 
