269 
the purpose is 1 part of corrosive sublimate in 1,000 parts of 
soft water or rain water, that is 1 oz. of corrosive subhmate to 7 
gallons of water, or 1 lb. to 100 gallons ; where the water is hard, 
and rain water is not obtainable, the solution should be slightly 
stronger. The best way to make up the solution is to dissolve 
the corrosive sublimate in a suitably small quantity of water, and 
then to add this to the larger quantity of water that is required 
to bring the solution to the proper strength. As is well under- 
stood, the tubs for disinfection should be made of wood, and 
should have been allowed to stand for a few hours, filled with 
some of the solution, before they are used for treating the seed. 
This is then poured away, freshly made solution added, and then 
the seed is stirred into the solution and left for ten to twenty 
minutes. 
In planting, two or three seeds are usually placed in holes 
about 2 feet apart, in rows about 4 feet apart. This is a distance 
that has been found generally useful, though in any particular 
instance, the nearness of the plants to one another will depend 
on the nature of the soil : in poor land they will be farther apart 
than in rich soil. A fortnight after sowing, provided that the 
plants have made reasonable growth, they are thinned out, so as 
to leave one in each hole. Where for any reason, such as the 
lack of rain after sowing, the seeds have not germinated, the 
empty holes should be supplied by sowing fresh seed ; it is of 
little or no use to attempt to do this by transplanting. 
A short time after the plants have been thinned out, they 
should be moulded up, in order to enable them to resist the wind, 
and this should be done again when they are somewhat more 
than a foot high. In using the hoe for moulding up, the laborers 
should be careful not to injure the plants, particularly where 
they are likely to be attacked by black arm or red maggot. 
The cotton should be weeded regularly throughout the season, 
•until the bolls begin to open, and during dry weather it should 
be given light cultivation, where this is feasible, in order to main- 
tain a soil mulch for the conservation of water. In this weed- 
ing and cultivation the same precautions must be taken against 
injuring the plants as are indicated above for the first weeding. 
The chief matter to be realized in cotton-planting and cultiva- 
tion in the West Indies is that the plant requires continuous at- 
tention — an attention almost as intimate as that needed in what 
is sometimes termed garden cultivation. It is only by fulfilling 
this requirement that an adequate w^atch for insect and other 
pests can be maintained, and the receipt of a profitable return 
may be ensured. — Agricultural Neivs, July 8. 
