Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1862-05-23
Direction, for tn. CULTURE Of the Cotton Plant,
BIZ JOHN H. KLIPPART


Soil Select if possible dark COL
ored sandy, or sandy loam soil, with
a southern exposure if possible. 1t
Should be well puIvcrized therefore
it should be plowrd rather deep, twice
at least and then narrowed. Ii should
then be plowcd IN ridges, and the cot
ton planted on the ridge, so that the
water Of the spring and simmer rains
will not stand about the roots of the
plant, but will flow away as soon as
possible.
a drouth will check the growth of
the plant and the bolls will not develop
but will flow off; a wet season is O
qually perniciou5. =
Time and manner of planting. in
the Southern States cotton is planted
from the lst Of March until the 1st of
JUNO. according to circumstances, as
corn is planted here in Ohio from the
lst of May until the 1st Of July. The
object in planting in March appears
to be to obtain time to attend to otI-
cr farm work, as well as to realize the
entire amount Of cotton, should the
season prove favorable. But even in
Georgia and Alabama TIE March
? anting is frequently cut off by FROST
On account of the comparative short
ness of our seasons, it should be plant
ed as carly as possible, so as to avoid
the spring and early fall frosts. 1t does
not bear transplanting as well as to-
bacco docs
After the ground has been prepared
by plowiRg and narrowing, it is then
ridgcd or furowcd out; the ridges be-
ing from ! to feet apart one way,
and about feet apart the other Some
planters ridge one way only, and then
plant the seed u or Is inches apart;
others ridge both ways and plant the
seeds Iii rows, say feet by 5. There
arc generally four or five seeds plant.
cd in a hill, and these are esubscquent-
ly thinncd out, 50 as to leave 2 OF at
most stalks in a hill. r..-.
Soaking the sccd.--Mr. NJ. W
Phillips, one of the most successful cot,
ton growers in Mississippi, recon-
lnends that the seed be thoroughly
soaked with salt and water, or in
brine made by sleeping stable manure
in salt and water for ten days before
using or until fermentation has en-
sued. The seeds are then dried off
with ashes or lime or plaster-the lat.
ter IS preferred becadse it makes the
perfectly white and they can be more
carefnllv planted. When fhe seeds
arc planted they are lightly covered,
that is to say, covered from half an
inch to an inch deep with the SOIL.
Cotton seeds arc about the size of
white beans, and the quantity Of seed
FOR any given plot Of ground is
much tic same as that required for
field corn.
After Culturc.-Thea after culture of
cotton is much like that of corn; it re-
quires TO be kept perfectly free from
weeds and grass.
The crop of cotton can be gathered
at several times; first from the lower
bolls, these ripen first. In many in
stances the lower bolls are gathered
before the upper or top ones are in
bloom. Some days, and in many in
instances weeks even, after the first
bolIs are gathered the middle ones
will be ready to be harvested, and if
the season he long and favorable, quite
late in the fall the upper or topmost
bolls may be gathered; but it is very
seldom indeed, even in Georgia and
Alabama, that the topmost bolls are
gathered; they generally are caught
by the frost before ripening.