18ti6.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
133 
Practical Hiuts ou Cotton Raising. 
CV A. N. DEERJW. 
Messrs. Editors : I send a few items for 
tlie American AgrkulUirint, gathered from my 
experience. Upland and lowland cotton arc 
raised from the same seed. Upland is laud 
never subject to overflows, and is generally of 
an uneven and rolling surface ; its substance is 
a reddish porous clay. (I speak of Vieksburg 
and vicinily.) The lowlands, or bottoms, arc 
deposits fr(nn overflowing livcj-s, and are gen- 
erally dark, of a sand.v, loamy, mucky nature. 
The upland produces from one-third to Ihrce- 
fourtlis of a bale per acre, and the lowlands 
from one to two b.ales, of 400 lbs. each per acre. 
Upland cotton grows from three to five feet high, 
and lowland six to seven feet. The lowland 
fibre grows coarser than the upland, hence the 
difference in value. 
Plowing can be done all winter, but the nearer 
it is done to planting time the belter, as the 
rains beat down the earlier plowing. It is ne- 
cessary, however, ou large plantations, to com- 
mence early, and we adopted the following 
plan which we were told was first practiced by 
a neigliboring jilanler, who was cousi(.Iered one 
of the most successful cotton planters in the 
State. Besides oilier advantages, it saves one- 
flfth, or nearly so, of the plowing, which is a 
groat object where hundreds of acres arc to be 
plowed. (Wc plant upland in rows four feet 
apart, and lowland five and sometimes six feet 
apart.) Every four, five, or six feet, as the 
case may be, \>\o\\' two furrows together, leaving 
a portion bcncatli tlie two unplowed. When 
the ground is all plowed thus, then commence 
what they term " breaking out," which consists 
in plowing the ground left between tlic rows, 
and turning tlie furrows toward the plowed ridg- 
es. If late, one gang can break out and another 
follow and plant. 
A ridge, or row, is four or six furrows turned 
together, and the seeds are planted on the cen- 
ter of this ridge. This ridge is harrowed with a 
harrow about the size of a five-tooth cultivator, 
which has handles, similar to a cultivator. Af- 
ter harrowing, a small plow is used to make a 
crease or fnrrow in the ridge in which the seeds 
are planted. (Wc — Yankee-like — improved on 
the harrow by putting a large cultivator tooth 
about one foot in the rear.in the center. It did the 
business as well, and saved one half the labor.) 
One peck of good seed will plant an acre ; but 
being generall}' in abundance, two to five bush- 
els arc used, being scattered in the furrow by 
hand. As cotton grows, each fibre is attached 
to the seed, and in ginning the fibre is broken 
off; hence the seeds have a coat of short cotton, 
so that they might bo made into a ball like 
snow. When seed is scarce, it is wetted and 
rolled in dust, and then it can be dropped as 
readily as corn. The harrow is used by many for 
covering the seed, but a slab drag was thought 
to be the best. It is made of a piece of hard 
wood log, which is half round, or slab-shaped, 
about 30 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 8 
thick, with handles, set in the uark side. The 
bottom is flat, with a notch 6 inches wide, 3 
inches deep at the front, and running back 
lengthwise, about 1 foot on tlie bottom, in a 
point. The shape of this notch tends to draw 
the dirt over the seed, and the flat surface fol- 
lowing, pulverizes and presses it like a roller. 
Cotton, like most other seeds, requires that 
the ground should bo warm before planting. 
The 10th of April is sufficiently early, and we 
have had fair cotton planted the first of June. 
I found the young plant nearly as tender as a 
potato vine grown in the cellar. This was the 
case whether it came up singly or in clusters. 
After the plant is well up, a scraper is run on 
the rows each side of the plant, and merely 
scrajjcs off the weeds. Next a hoe is used to 
thin out the cotton plants, leaving one or two 
plants together, and these ten or twelve inches 
apart. When the plants are about a foot high, 
"a stand" is made, which is simply leaving one 
jilunt in a place, and three or four feet apart. 
Hoeing now commences in earnest. Hilling 
up is best in a dry season. We found nothing 
Ijut the plow and cultivator used to assist in 
hoeing. This is the most critical time with 
cotton, and if the weeds get the start, it is much 
injured, and perhaps lost. Hence it is best to 
have the most improved implements at hand. 
The best horse hoe3 for cotton, hoe both sides 
of a row at once. 
Picking follows hoeing. A Iiag is hung at 
each side, i-ather back, to be out of the ■way, and 
picking is done with both the hands. The cot- 
ton pod, or bole, is in form somewhat like a 
small lemon, and if opened whilst green, will 
divide in 3 to 5 sections, like a peeled lemon or 
orange. Cotton with the seed in, is called 
" seed cotton," and that with the seed out, is 
ginned cotton, or lint cotton. It takes 1200 to 
1400 lbs. seed cotton to make a bale of 400 lbs. 
of lint cotton. Ginning machines, plows, nigger 
hoes, bagging and rope, may be found in any 
village in the region of cotton raising, but at 
Cincinnati or St. Louis they could be bought 
much cheaper for the Jlississippi Valley, (and so 
at New York or Philadelphia for the Atlantic 
States.) Plantation-supply Stores make reason- 
able advances and take the crop, but it is much 
better to have means to operate independently. 
In conclusion, cotton-raising is as simple as 
corn raising. To raise one hill, it is — plow, 
plant, hoe, gather and sell ; and to raise a 
thousand acres it is but one iiill many times. 
The product of a hand is ten bales, but some 
will raise twenty bales. Cotton is not a sure 
crop, as I had formerly supposed. The Army 
Worm, Boll Worm, Blights, Mildew, etc., are 
some of its enemies. Of 300 acres which we 
cultivated in 1864, the Armj' worm left us but 
19 bales, and from 300 to 300 bales had been 
raised on the same ground in good seasons. 
Three good crops in five is as much as can be 
safely counted on. There is hardly a negro in 
the cotton region but knows how to raise cotton 
by the common method, but enterpiising and 
ingenious men may make vast improvements. 
Coal Tar for Preserving Timber, — Valu- 
able Experiments, 
Fourteen years ago I read in an English 
journal the result of various experiments made 
by some scienlitic gentleman or association, to 
test the preservative qualities of coal tar; those 
experiments led to the opinion tliat no decided 
benefit could thus be derived from its use. Not 
satisfied with their experiments, I tried the fol- 
lowing: I procured four pieces of 4-inch pine 
joist, about two feet in length; No. 1 received 
no tar at all; No. 3 was boiled for half an hour 
in coal tar; No. 3 and No. 4 were coated with 
hot coal tar with a brush. I set them up to 
dry, but No. 4 fell down into a heap of sand, 
and before it could be got out, was completely 
covered with sand. It occurred to me that this 
might possibly be a benefit; so in a few days, I 
gave it another coat of tar and sand. I buried 
the four sticks in the garden, covering them 
about four inches in depth, and two feet apart; 
they weighed, when buried, tibout as follows: 
No. 1, Gi lbs. ; No. 2 and 3, about 7 lbs. each; 
No. 4, 7^ lbs. Two years afterward I dng them 
up. No. 1 weighed 11 lbs. ; No. 3, 8 lbs. 3 ozs. ; 
No. 8, 9 lbs. ; and No. 4, 11 lbs. Five years after- 
ward, they were dug up again; No. 1 weighed 
9i lbs., and showed dccideil signs of decaying; 
No. 3 was also slightly decayed, and weighed 
lOi lbs. ; No. 3 was sound, and weighed 8i lbs. 
At the end of nine years, they were ag.'iiu ex- 
amined. No. 1 (without tar), had rotted away 
and disappeared; No. 3 (coated with tar), liad 
also rolled very much, but still, retained its 
form ; No. 3 (boiled in tar), showed signs of de- 
cay, and weighed about 11 lbs; the one coated 
with tar and sand, M'as still sound, and weighed 
8 lbs. 1 oz. They were examined again a year 
ago, (13 years in tlie ground) ; no trace of the 
one coated with tar could be found; the one 
boiled in tar crumbled in pieces ; but the one 
coaled with tar and sand was to all appearances 
as sound as when placed there, weighing about 
8 lbs. 4 oz. The tar and sand had not harden- 
ed into stone as I had hoped, but still the sun 
did not soften it when exposed for a long time 
to its rays. I have buried it again, confident 
that it will remain in its present condition for 
many years ; in fact, if decay is superinduced by 
moisture mainly, I see no good reason why this 
stick should rot at all, for it is thoroughly coated 
with the tar and sand, through which the mois- 
ture can with difBcultj' penetrate. That it has 
done so in a slight degree, is, however ajiparent 
from its increase in weight, but then tliis is very 
slight in proportion to what the others absorbed. 
About the same time I prepared four similar 
blocks of wood in the same way, and placed 
them in an exposed position on the roof of an 
outbuilding, standing them on end ; it was sum- 
mer, and the one coated with tar and sand, lost 
the greater portion of its covering by its run- 
ning oflT, and in autumn it was coated again. 
Two years afterward I found that the one coat- 
ed with tar and sand, had decreased in weight 
about two ounces ; the one boiled in tar, about 
an ounce; the one coated with tar, nearly one 
pound; and the one without tar, a pound and 
three-quarters. Five years after they were exam- 
ined, and all appeared sound. The one with- 
out tar weighed two pounds and a quarter less 
than when placed there ; the one coated with 
tar about the same; the one boiled in tar, a 
pound less; and the one coated with tar and 
sand, a quarter of a pound less. Nine years 
after their being placed on the roof, the one 
without tar was partially decayed and weighed 
nine pounds; the one coated wilii tar was de- 
cayed almost as much, except that it retained 
its shape; the one boiled in tar, was to all ap- 
pearances sound; and the one coated with tar 
and sand, was certainly so. They were examin- 
ed at the same time the others were last year. 
The one without tar had rotted and blown 
away; a portion of the one coated with tar still 
remained, but rotting rapidly; the one boiled in 
tar, was slightly decayed and weighed ten 
pounds; the one witli tar and sand, was 
pertectly sound and weighed seven pounds, 
about its weight when placed there. 
From these and various other experiments I 
have made, I have come to the conclusion that, 
while coal tar may contain little by itself that will 
preserve timber from rotting, it may be so mixed 
and combined with other substances as to pre- 
vent moisture from penetrating the pores of tlie 
wood, thereby preventing or arresting decay 
