Liberal Republican. [volume] (Dallas, Or.) 1872-1???, 1873-04-26
COTTON CULTURE In CALL
EORNEA.

Letters from California Planters to
the Resources Of California.
HopEToN, MERGED CO., CAL, Jan.
5, 1873.-Geo. L. Sylvester, Seedman,
San Francisco. Ny Dear Sir II am
pleased TO see the interest manifested
by you in the extension Of cotton cul>
ture In this State, Including an attemp
to promote it through the distribution
OF selected varieties of seed | cheer
fully comply with Your request to
furnish you with such instructions
relative to the preparation for planting
and cultivating it, as will enable the
beginner to treat it intelligentIy. Pre-,
in,inary to any directions relative to
planting and cultivation; it may not be
Cnproiltable to indicate the localities
from which satisfactory results may be
expected.
am convinced that cotton may be
successfully and proftably cultivated
anywhere in California between the
lsothermal lines Of sixty and seventy
degrees. Certainly in the valley OF
the Sacramento, San joaquin aud
Kern rivers. | would not risk an ex-
tcnsive planting upon the low land
bordering on the Coast. But upon
dry dryer lands, or On the plains, IN
season Of ordinary rain fall--such as
that Of lh7l-2 was or that of 1928
promises to be-coiton should be tested
thoroughly.
The publications. Of my experiment
in Los Angeles county 1871, lead me
to hope successful results from The
immense regions referred to. Oue of
the result: .! that experiment. was the
domonstrat.on Of the influence # the
>ca all upon s'aple. The seed If the
shortest staple aud current variety
planted in the South, yielded there, u
lint which Eastern planters and
brokers pronunccd equal to sea island
The character of the land selected
for planting should be moderately moist
\ soil from which the moisture is
gradually aud surely exhausted as the
season progresses. Cotton is not u
soracious feeder like corn, and damp.
cold soil in which corn would flourish
is an unhealthy locality for the first
named plant. The crops on the Mer>
ced river. in Fresno and Kcarn coun.
ties were all injured the past year Ly
the excessive moistures in the soil In
other respects, the plact fourishes on
all soils, sands and clay alike.
The ground should be pIowcd early, in
the absence of facilities for irrigation, and
plowed as deeply and thoroughly as
possible, say from eight to ten inches.
After plowiug, the finer the tith to
which it be reduced by narrowing and
dragging the better.
The planting should be finished as
ca rrly as possible after the frosts of
spring cease to fall The cheapest
method of performing this work, is
through the the use Of the planter
Cotton seed planters are made here at
a cost of S25. With this implement
one man and hocse will ,furrow off and
plant eight acres per day. A bushel
of seed 80 pounds-per acre is an
ample quantity.
In eight or ten days after planting,
the cotton will be above ground. If
weeds should spring up between the
row, they should be exterminated
promptly. For this work, the best i'm
plement | have discovered in Strong's
Horse Hoe il the best substitute
w hen In the fourth leaf the pants
should be reduced to stand by thin
thinning them to one plant
for every foot; one plant for
every foot in the row gives perfect
"stand." The rows should be four
feet apart on good land on low, moist
lands, the distance should be from Al
to s feet. As long as the weeds con>
tinue to come in the space between the
rows they should be exterminated by
the horse hoe 1t will not be necessary
to use 1t more than twice in the same
row. So too, the hand hoe should be
used to extnrminnte thnsa that snrinn