The Van Buren press., 1872-03-26
Cotton
Mn. EDITOR =

Mn. EDITOR -
Having been appointed by the Agri-
cultural and Mechanical Association to
write upon the subject of the production
Of cotton in our region Of country, !
shall proceed to do so under full sense
of the fact, that every class Of farmers
in the country entertain peculiar and di-
verse views upon this subject and further
| am aware that to recommend certain
implements and machinery as best adap-
ted to its culture, gathering, ginning and
packing, | must expect to incur the dis
pleasure. if not the ridicule, Of as many
as chance to be engaged in the manufac-
ture of such implements Of husbandry.
But presuming that am only called up
on for the expression Of my own crude
and not very well matured views upon
this subject, will proceed to sketch
them upon the subject in the following
order, to-wit Ist, shall try to show
how the soil should be prepared for
planting I'd, How and when planted. in
Guiding the kinds of seed, etc Sd, How
cotton should be cultivated, what kind
Of tools, etc, and 4th, What kind ofma.
chinery is preferable for ginning and
baling And as the time is at hand for
us to prepare the soil to plant, will ap
ply myself to the task:
A question of the first magnitude in
raising crop Of cotton, is to first thor
oughly drain the land--see that no wa
ter stands upon nor within six inches OF
the surface, and to prevent this success.
fully, we should have az many and as
deep and wide bitches cut as becomes
necessary to accomplish the object in
view Aud when the land lies fiat and
low, a high ridge should be thrown up
on which to plant the seed, for otherwise
stand is quite difficult in the spring, and
if you fail to get a stand you cannot
make good crop. And upon the char
acter of land described, if no where else,
the sub-soil plow should be used to the
depth of its capacity, for bc assured that
il your seed wa.er-soak or the cotton
roots are immersed in water, you may
expect the plant when the sun shines
warm 10 wilt, turn yellow and dwarf, but
siak the point Of your plow from twelve
to sixteen inches and the water goes to
the bottom of the furrow, while the fer
tilzing gapes will penetrate as far and
thus render the cohesive impervious sub
stance, an important auxiliary in the
production Of the world s greatest staple
But the question Of how should we
commence to plough for cotton is pre-.
sented Well, this answer depends much
upon the character Of land to be planted
If it should be old land, long cultivated
and therefore much inclined to cement
or run together, ! should first brake As
deep as possible, and remember always
that if you can produce one thousand
pounds OF seed cotton by blowing up
your land six inches deep, you will make
double that amount upon the old, much
worn lands il you plow twelve inches
deep, and more than that proportion with
a protraeted drought in summer as the
deep soil is far more recupera.ive and
your plant will hold its fruit with so
much more tenacity. Aud on such land
thus broken, ] would throw up "a shallow
ridge, harrow it well and plant from the
10th Of April to the lst Of May, depend
ing upon the weather And if plant
early plant one bushel and peck Of
seed, if late, three four,hs of q bushel is
plenty Of the common seed, planted the
old distance, say from four to seven feet
apart. With reference to the distance the
rows are planted apart, that depends up.
on the fertility of the soil and the kind
Of seed planted. For instance, if | were
going to plant common up land with
BOYD Prolific or Dixon Seed, should
plant the rows two and half feet apart
and sixteen inches in the drill. But il !
plant the same seed upon the river or
clear creek bottom should plant three
and half feet apart and twenty inches
in the drill. Whilst. if ! should plant
the common green seed, the Petler or
Petty Gulf seed, | should plant on up
land, four feet apart and twenty two
inches in the drill, or on the bottoms,
five and half to six feet apart by two
feet in the drill And allow me to add,
that the Dixon and Boyd Prolific (genu-
inc seed) will yield in amount Of cotton
fully equal to the excess Of rows planted
to the acre, over any other have tried
in the country. But the foregoing ap.
pies to the manner OF preparing old,
worn land for cotton IT am going to
plant fresh. loose lands. should not
plow it up e., brake the land before
ridging, believing it is time thrown away.
But 90 to work at once, for no time is
to be lost and run with eight inch shovel
by fourteen inches long centre furrow
and throw two fu:rows upon that one
with n good turning plow. and let that
ridge stand until just time enough before
planting to throw out the balance OF the
middle before planting. Then run the
harrow over the top OF the ridge often
enough to efectuslly brake tho clods,
kill all weeds and make new ridge and