The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1874-04-23
Cotton Growing.

A correspondent of the Sumner coun-
ty Press, in speaking of cotton-grow-
ing, says:
have been engaged III planting and
culiivating cotton. almost exclusively
for the past twenty-five years, l beg
leave through Your columns, to give Il
brief outline of The best method of
I preparing the ground, planting and
cuIiiyating cotton. The ground should
/ be listed: that is, two burrows drawn
/ together so as TO lap and form ridge.
! This is usually done about two or three
weeks before planting time, i'll order to
give time for the ridge To settle and
/ become compact. Before planting
! throw two more burrows TO the list
with tine breaking plow. This is ne
cessaiy to cover up the grass and weeds
/ that have commenced to grow. II, al
ter this is done. any of the middle re-
mains YOU may turn it out with
shovel plow after the cotton is planted.
! The object in breaking ont the middle
is TO have furrow in which TO cover
/ the weeds and grass when the growing
cotton is scraped. The ridges or lists
! should be about three and half feet
apart. Open the ridge with a very
small shovel plow. have often used "A
harrow tooth for this purpose, fasten-
/ cd to forked limb, one of which was
! cut long enough for 4 beam, while the
| other was cut near the fork, so that the
harrow tooth rested against ii, while
/ the top was fastened in 4 mortise i'll the
! beam. These rude implements are
used in lieu of cotton planter and
answer the purpose admirably. The
seed should be planted from one to two
inches deep, and covered by dragging
block over the furrow. This pulver-
lies the earth and covers the cotton
sufficiently to insure its speedy growth.
The seed may be drilled along the row
BY hand or with the cotton trill. In
the south, were seed is no object, we
usually plant from two TO three bush
els per acre: but l have often planted
but one bushcl to the acre and got
good stand. After the cotton plant
has appeared the first work is to scrape
it, Ii you have no scraper, use the
turning plow; bar off as shallow as
possible. aid as near the cotton as you
can without causing the cotton to fall
down too much. The scraper must be
loIlOn Ct w tlIt
cutting out about the width of plan
tation hoe, say seven or eight inches.
Dirt the cotton as soon after punching
rs possible. so that it will not be beaten
down by rains, and covered by subsc-
Quent plOwings. 1t should first be cul-
tivated by smal. shovel: then hoed
and cut out so as to leave one stalk for
every twelve inches space. Then run
the sweep, an lS or 20 inch shovel in
the same furrow the small shovel made.
Continue to use the sweep as long as
the cotton requires work, or as long
as YOU can 90 through it without
breaking the branches.
Cotton should be plowed with the
sweep almost continually up to picking
time. Use no other pillow after the cot
ton is knee nigh, as great care must be
exercised, lest the little roots or feed
crs be cut and the growth of the cotton
retarded. Also be careful not to fire
your cotton when the earth is too hot
and dry. There is no danger, however,
of doing this before the cotton is about
knee high. While very small the hot
dirt is just the thing to make it grow,
especially after good rain. When it
is ready for picking, gather it as free
from trash as possible. After frost
you may find some of the top bolls not
grown to maturity, but which will
open and be what is called stained cot
toll. Keep that to itself and have it
ginned separately.
If one farmer has not enough to make
a bale. let him join with his neighbors
and make bale of stain cotton. The
seed from the first picking is generally
best for planting. Keep the seed you
wish to plant dry and do not let them
heat.