FARM PRACTICE IN THE CULTIVATION OF COTTON. 25 
Some rural improvements have been made in this county. The 
land is drained by means of open ditches which surround the fields, 
and the farmers have cooperated in establishing canal systems to 
dispose of the water. Practically none of the land is tile drained. 
In some parts of the county good sand-clay roads are maintained, 
but most of the roads are hi poor condition. 
The farmers in this region employ a 1-crop system, and no definite 
rotations are practiced. Cotton is the principal crop and is planted 
on the most productive land. The average farm surveyed cultivates 
65 § acres of cotton and produces an average yield of 1,006 pounds of 
seed cotton per acre. Corn is the crop of next importance, the aver- 
age farmer growing 39 J acres, with an average yield of 24 bushels 
per acre. Nearly every farmer grows a few acres of oats, which are 
often cut for hay while the grain is in the dough stage. The average 
yield of oats is 30 bushels per acre. Cowpeas or peanuts are often 
planted between the corn rows at the last cultivation and used as 
pasture for cattle or hogs in the fall. Cowpeas are. also sown after 
oats and the vines cut for hay. A few farmers grow tobacco, but 
not extensively. Nearly every farmer grows a few sweet potatoes, 
watermelons, and cantaloupes, and some garden truck. Not enough 
fruit is produced for home use. Some cattle and hogs are marketed, 
but the principal source of farm income is cotton. 
The tillage methods with cotton in this county are very uniform. 
The old cotton and corn stalks are cut up during the winter months 
with a stalk cutter or disk harrow, or with both. The plowing is 
done in the spring with 1 -horse or 2-horse plows. About half the 
land is broken level and the other half thrown into beds when broken. 
If the land is rough or cloddy after breaking a disk harrow is some- 
times used, but this is not often necessary. If the land is broken 
level the rows are laid off with a 1 -horse turning plow, using two 
furrows to the row, or with a 2-horse middle buster or lister, which 
requires only one furrow. The fertilizer is then placed in the bottom 
of this furrow with a distributor (in between the ridges, where the 
land was bedded as broken) and a ridge made on the fertilizer by 
throwing a furrow from each side with a turning plow. The cotton 
is planted on this ridge with a 1-horse planter. The average width 
of rows is 4 feet, and, after thinning, the stalks are left in the rows 
from 15 to 18 inches apart. 
In cultivating after planting, a weeder (fig. 13) or spike-tooth har- 
row is often used just before or after the cotton comes up. After this 
practically all the cultivating is done with a 1-horse sweep or scrape. 
For the first cultivation an 8-inch sweep is used, running one furrow 
on each side of the row. The cotton is then chopped to a stand, 
leaving one stalk every 15 or 18 inches. For the next cultivation a 
12-inch sweep is used and the entire middle plowed out, which requires 
70799°— Bull. 511—17 4 
