FIELD AND CROP LABOR ON GEORGIA FARMS 
15 
width of the bed is reduced each time siding is done. In some locali- 
ties the term scrape is used instead of siding. Barring off is done for 
the same purpose as siding, the only difference being that a turnplow 
is used in the place of a scooter or scrape. 
Cotton is planted in a continuous row, and when the stand is well 
defined the plants are chopped out with a hoe to a stand of 12 to 18 
inches. Any subsequent work with the hoe is termed hoeing. 
Depending on the season and the weed growth, hoeing is done one or 
two times. 
Cultivating middles and breaking middles after planting are terms 
which signify the same operation. Middles are usually cultivated 
after each siding, so that this operation may be done the same number 
of times as siding. One furrow to the row is the common practice, 
but two and three are sometimes run down the middle. (See Table 
16.) Weeders, A-harrows, and spring-tooth cultivators are frequently 
used to cultivate middles. Such implements are usually wide enough 
to do a complete job of cultivating in one trip. 
Since the boll-weevil infestation it is the practice to pick and 
destroy the weevil-infested squares. The most successful method of 
direct control of the boll weevil is poisoning by the use of calcium 
arsenate. The rate of performing these two operations is not given, 
as not enough reports are available to give reliable results. 
The rate of picking cotton varies greatly. Some can pick as much 
as 300 pounds of seed cotton per day at the first picking. The rate 
per day, for the first time over, is always higher than for subsequent 
pickings, so that the best pickers always average less for the season 
than for the first time. Table 17 shows the average rate of picking 
per day for two different yields per acre. According to the estimates 
from which this table is made, the total yield per acre does not influ- 
ence the number of pounds picked per day. 
Each picker is equipped with a sack, into which the seed cotton is 
thrown. When the sack is full, the contents are dumped onto a sheet 
at the end of the row, and the total day's pick is weighed at night. 
The cotton is then stored in the cotton house for the night or put in a 
wagon and hauled to the gin. The gin may be located in town or at 
some convenient crossroads. If the former, the cotton is usually 
stored in a warehouse after ginning; and, if the latter, it is hauled 
back home and marketed later. 
Ordinarily, a large part of the time required in hauling cotton to 
the gin is taken up in waiting one's turn to have his load ginned. 
(Fig. 8.) This may mean several hours, and in case of long hauls it 
will be possible to make only one trip a day. The only time taken 
to market cotton (Table 18) other than hauling is for sampling, selling, 
and weighing. 
Table 15. — Planting cotton 
(1-row planter — 1 man, 1 mule) 
Width of 
of row 
Number 
of re- 
ports 
Average 
acreage 
per day 
Acreage reported 
most frequently 
Feet 
3 
3H 
4 
4H 
5 
19 
95 
104 
18 
13 
6.39 
6.67 
7.37 
8.19 
9.27 
6 (11 reports). 
/6 (31 reports) . 
\7 (23 reports). 
(7 (20 reports) . 
\8 (35 reports). 
8 (8 reports) . 
10 (9 reports) . 
