The Greenville enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1870-1873, 1870-02-23

atFtho ti.ne of bedding, ,Swas now,
thrown sout with q large shovel,
covering up the grass, and forming
ta large wafer fnyfow. The first
and second working were rfyen
kwithaope Of Ames' Eve teeth side I
harrows, running as close to the
cotton as possible, throwing oall
the clods and grass into The water
lfurrow. u The hoe. followed, :frst
tplowihg, and, reduced the cotton
to q stand, leaving from one to
three stalks to the hill, and some
twelve TO fifteen sinches apart
The last plowing was done with a
cotton scraper, Or sweep, three
|sfurrows to the row, and 4insa few.
days the hoe followed, cleaning out
all the grass, when the patch was
declared alaid by" The weath.
er being favorable throughout
lJune and July, or q part Of tho
latter month, the cotton grew rap
idly, and soon became ss high as
the waist, and in many places in
terlocked accross the rows. It
fruited heavily, but the drouth in
August caused great many of the
forms and Young bolls to wither.
and fall. Topping was tried upon
part of the lot about the tenth of
August, bnt I think it was an in
jury, the portion, topped appear
ing to suffer worse from the drouth.
Picking commenced as soon as it
opened sufficiently, and continued
until all was gathered. Now for
the result. Nine hundred and
ninety-eigbt pounds Of good white
cotton, and three hundred and
twenty-nine of stained or inferior
cotton, making thirteen hundred
and twenty seven pounds from an
acre. This was the weight at the
gin after it had all become thor
oughly dry, IS. 3 }gJf$55 Z; -. -
This experiment is not made
public because there is anything
remarkable or original in the pre-
lparation, cultivation or result, (al-
though it was very good for such
a dry year, it IL made in the hope
that it may stimulate others to
give the result of their expert
ments, SO that, by comparing
methods, We may attain that which
is most profitable. The general
plan Of preparation and cultiva-
ton was derived from Mr.. Dick
sons letters; the double .plow for
covering, and the harrow for cul-
tivating, being substituted for his
board or harrow and sweep. ~,
We prefer the double plow to
cover with, because it throws the
seed to the centre of the furrow,
causing them to come up more
regularly and in q straight line,
leaving a little ridge to be knocked
off, which cleans off the grass and
gives q fresh, smooth bed for the
plants to come up upon, and also
leaving the burrows as guide by
which to run round, enabling the
plowman to run close and evenly
to the cotton with case and rapid
ity. The board or harrow, will
necessarily scatter the seeds to
some extent in covering, and if
there should occur a heavy rain
before the plant is mp, the ground
bakes, and often there are defective
stands; 1t also leaves the cotton in
bad condition to be run round as
being scattered, the plowman can
not run as close and as rapidly as
when the plants are in a straight
line and guide to run by. The
advantages claimed for the har-
row, are, that II pulverizes the
ground more thoroughly, and kills
the grass better than the sweep, as
it destroys the grass by tearing It
up and rolling IL to the center of
the middles, whereas the sweep
cuts it up, but leaves 1t where it
grew-and should a rain occur, it
will not die. Then there ia no
danger of cutting the lateral roots
which run near the surface with
the harrow, as is often done with
the sweep. This is de batable
ground, so I will not press, the
matter further. sz.yryer. @a@H
The only mistake which I think
l made, was in placing the rows
fonr feet apart. Three, or three
and a-halt, / think, will do better.
The plan of leaving the cotton
thick in the drill, is, I think, best,
as II checks the growth, and causes
it to iruit earlier. Topping may
do good in very seasonable years,
but I think is an injury in dry
season. With good seasons, 1
think, the lot would haye made
eighteen hundred pounds Of seed
cotton. rasf r+ - ''gss-a. ..id e"
Let MS hear from our farmers in
regard to their experiments, for in
this way we can be Of service to
each other. -sss J. p. M. -
H.