The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1873-03-12
Cotton-To Obtain q Perfect Stand

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EplroRs SOUTHERN CULrlvAroR.-
Ii soa have room for an article ou
ofyfts proper season, I,wepld like, to'"in
teryiew'~ Middle Georgia, Alabama
&c, who seem to know not how to ge
a stand Of Cotton. 8 oan give then
some general principles of my owl
practice by which I have never hile'
ina long course Of planting, to obtain
perfect stand Of cotton; and have NJ
recollection of ever having failing O.
having to plantoxer one acre of eOtte'
1 have beent planting: on"myn own &C
count And the principle I wish t.
inculcate is, never to aim to "bring up
a stand of cotton,, But let It come a!p Q
itself naturally. Cotton ought to come
up in its season rs naturally as a cuckl'
bur, which is sure to come up in goot
stard and grow fine and thrifty. on Mis-
sissippi or Red river POTION lands, i
let. alone. But If I wish to use any ar
or ~"high culture m cotton, I aim as
much as possible to assist a natural
operation of vegetation. .. j. -. r..
In the first place I thoroughly pre-
pare the land by breaking up as early
and as deep as possible, and ;theasbefore
planting, re-break or re-bed again, on
the first ridge4throwing up as high
''bed" as possible, and then pulyerize by
running harrows on" the top of the
ridges, which ought to be perfectly loose
and soft. Then open aztreneh with a
coulter and block,:four inches wide,
rounded on the under sides, running two
inches deep, which leaves a round
smooth trench the length of the row,
The seed are sowed BY hand as thick as
they can lie without waddingin the bot.
tom Of this four inch, trench, and al
least foot on each side. Iawould not
give one cent for a King or Dow La"
Cotton planter merely to save time fol
free negroes working on shares, to throw
away fishing and hunting, when the
work.ean be even as well; if not better
done by hand. + then cover with an
Iron Toothed Harrow, the teeth, sharpe.
and stirring the ground as deep as. the
seed, thoroughly mixing them to- the
depth Of, the trench, with the earth, and y q
.leveli1g down to one. inch, deep, ]
would not have cotton to come through
more than one inch of earth, as it is not
strong and vigorous if it does-the
proper depth is the thickness of the
seed imbedded in the ground. gen
orally have stand all over the bed,
that in the furrow and on each side, all
vegetables after the first good rain. The = e
best rule is to SOW the, seed. down early
enough to come up in time for stand
whether, covered or not-say from
March 2Oth to, April 10th, which is as
late as I would plant cotton on or. be-
low 80 degrees N. My rule for plant
ing is 10th March and have never had
a stand killed by frost yet-though
some times partially ykilled out, there is
always enough left and still coming up
to ! make a stand, and although early
cotton does not grow off as thrifty as
later planted, it is sure to- bear better
and mature earlier. But if. you work
freemen, and more particularly on the
share system, it is much more difficult
to save stand of cotton than to get il
up. I always commence on q bole bole
stand at the beginning, from four t.
twelve inches wide, and Ishave it off L
three inches wide in drill, and direc
them to leave it 6 inches apart IN th'
drill or as close as the hoes passing
through VIII, admit, Give: sno
|as half feet is the proper distance foll
any land capable Of producing a bale
of cotton per acre). I direct them tc
chop out leaving from two to four stalk
in the hill as most convenient-a goot
hand can chop out to two stalks nearly y
every stroke of the hoe. My order
are, not leave less than one nor NOR
than four stalks in each hill, but the.
sure to get it spread TO at least twelv
inches apart or wider the first goin!
over. The next two workings ought t.
be in rapid succession, and not over'l
Edays apart the whole season; through
The second hoeing I leave two stalks i
each hill and double stand of hills
the third working I reduce it, to, on
stalk, still leaving the hills. twelve inchF
apart-if am so fortuate as to hav
them; the fourth working if the hill
are too close I chop out every alternat
hill, or every second hill or third, as th
object isto have it as thick as you cal
not to be too much crowded, but by .th
: fourth working I more often fnds IL ii i ts &
, thin than too thick in the bill, an
vacant spaces, ten feet wide or mo-
where first therewas perfect stand. Tw
| y II Il loxo