12 
BULLETIN 961, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The first hoe work on cotton is generally spoken of as "chopping." 
Chopping means chopping to a stand or thinning out. (see fig. 4.) 
Subsequent hoe work is usually spoken of as ''hoeing." Hoeing is an 
operation primarily intended for removing grass rather than for thin- 
ning to a stand. (See Table XIV.) 
Fig. 4.— Negroes chopping cotton. The plants when they come up are too close together, and are 
thinned out to the proper distance with a hoe. 
Table XIV. — Chopping and hoeing cotton — one man. 
Width of Number 
- vow - reports. 
Average 
acreage 
per day. 
Acreage reported 
most frequently. 
3 feet.... 12 
3* feet... 97 
4 feet.... 76 
3 feet.... 12 
3Jfeet... S2 
4 feet.... 63 
3§ feet... 13 
0.82 
.97 
.99 
LIS 
1.38 
1.10 
1.38 
1 (6 reports). 
1 (47 reports). 
Do 
Do 
1 (43 reports). 
1 (5 reports). 
Do 
/I (35 reports). 
\H (15 reports). 
/I "(IS reports). 
\U (21 reports). 
1 (9 reports). 
Do 
Crew duty at cultivating has been separated according to the 
method employed, for some begin to cultivate without previously 
scraping, while others cultivate after scraping. 
Cultivating middles has been considered separately from other 
cultivating, because there is nothing to interfere with this work, as 
