FARM PRACTICE IN THE CULTIVATION OF COTTON. Oi 
A small 1-horse sweep is employed for the next cultivation. Three 
furrows are required for each row. The entire middle is plowed out, 
throwing the soil back to the cotton. After this, larger sweeps are 
used and only two furrows are required for each row. A few farmers 
use the 1-horse 5-shovel cultivator and the 1-horse spring-tooth 
cultivator, but most of the cultivating is done with sweeps, starting 
with 12-inch or 14-inch sweeps and increasing the size at each culti- 
vation up to 20 or 24 inches. In all, four or five cultivations are 
given. At the third or fourth cultivation the cotton is again gone 
over with a hoe and any weeds or extra stalks are chopped out. 
No cover crops are grown and little stable manure is produced. 
Commercial fertilizer is used by nearly every farmer. The average 
application per acre for cotton on the farms studied is 286 pounds. 
The varieties of cotton are very much crossed and few farmers 
have distinct varieties. Those predominating are Toole, Bank Ac- 
count, and King's Improved. 
The most troublesome and prevalent weeds are coffee weed, beg- 
garweed, crab-grass, Bermuda grass, and nut-grass. 
SURVEY IN LINCOLN PARISH, LA. 
Lincoln Parish is located in the northern part of Louisiana. The 
tillage records for this county (Table XXV) were taken near Ruston. 
The soil is sandy or sandy loam, in either case underlain with a clay 
subsoil. As a rule the land is gently rolling or hilly and is drained by 
means of surface ditches and small terraces. None of the land is tile 
drained. 
The system of farming is such that elaborate barns and outbuild- 
ings are not needed. Less than 50 per cent of the land is cultivated. 
The farms are of medium size and are usually worked by the owners 
or by tenants under the supervision of the owners. No definite rota- 
tions are practiced, but cotton often follows corn or cotton. The 
principal crops grown are cotton, corn, and oats. Cowpeas are often 
planted between the corn rows. The peas are harvested by hand 
and the vines plowed under. Cowpeas are also sown after oats and 
the vines cut for hay. Sugar cane, peanuts, sweet potatoes, truck 
crops, and fruits are grown for home supplies. Cattle and hogs are 
not grown for market. The farm income is almost entirely from the 
sale of cotton. 
In preparing the land for cotton the old cotton or corn stalks are 
cut up with a stalk cutter or broken down with a log drag during the 
winter. 
In the early spring the land is plowed with a 2-horse turning plow 
or with a lister. Beds the width apart the cotton rows are to be 
are made as the land is plowed. Fertilizer is then put in between 
these beds and the land rebedded on the fertilizer with a 1-horse or 
2-horse turning plow. A few farmers break the land level, lay off the 
