The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1880-10-21
agricultural
THIN AND THICK PLANTING.

The Columbia ,. W Register
saws: What is the use of crowding
the cotton so as TO destroy the value
of the individual stalk, so that it one
ly brings to gathering few starv-
cling hollis of not more than half or
three fourths size, when, by giving
room for the plant to breathe, the
stalk would maintain from two to
three times as many bolls, with
twice as much cotton to each I
There is a very great deal in the
variety, too, and what is suited to
one locality or pitch of soils is not to
anothsr. A cotton tina: will open
we'll on dry hill lands may not do at
all in bottom lands. so there are
varieties putting out numerous pods,
bat these pods may be of small value
in the cotton given to the pod
There is as much difference in the
varieties of cotton in this regard as
there is between pop corn and ordl
nary field corn. So there is much
difference in the earliness of varie-
ties. We have not the least doubt
that with proper selection cotton
can be put a fortnight ahead 10
"openiug." In fact, we know this
TO be true. This may be of much
advantage in one locality, whilst la
ter cotton might have more than
compromising advantages in other
localities.
There is but one safe way of max :
ing reliable selections, and that lie
when we have found a stalk of ex'
traordinary value to plant that one
itsef-for instance, 10 the kitchen
garden - and then to take the stalk
nearest the original one from that
planting; plant that one by itself,
and so continue until we have fixed
the characteristics of the selection.
By planting the seed raised on the
garden patch each in a field patch
the seed saved from one individual
stalk will soop plant field. But
there is always a prediposition IN
the selection to run back, 30 it we
wish to maintain a profitable variety
the selection must be always kept
up; and it will always pay, as il
costs only care and attention land in
wolves literally no expense.
What the gardeners do constantly
to get their valued varieties of plants
which have made fortunes of many
men, careful planters may repeat il
their fields. And this soon becomes
a most fascinating and deeply inter
estiug study. We can change thu
length Of the staple and its quality
the quantity of lint to the seed, thu
number of bolls to the st Il on tn
same land, to some extent the heigh
of the plant, the size of the plant
the size of the leaves, the size of tn
seed, the color of the bloom and al
most anything, by selection. Ye
we must take care that this selection
is made With judgment and if we fin'
that we have been mistaken in on
selection on account of balancing
qualities of defects not at first seeI
il is better to take another stalk 0
marked value and not allow our
selves to be welded to our frs
choice.
We are not writing from theor,
or speculation, but from what W
have seen with our own eyes an
seen put in practice and put 10 prac
tiCe Ourself
Mr.. James NJ. Crawford, a pro
gressivo farmer of the vicinity, fol
lows up these suggestions by CON
munication, in the course of whicI
he says:
Ia 1869 | planted one field of fv
acres The rows, were laid OF
three feet, seventy rows to the acre
| picked from these five acres ID,
$50 pounds of seed cotton. Wher
sealed it weighed 300 pounds
bales, each weighing 420 pounds.
la 1870 tried three and a hal
feet, sixty rows to the acre. From
this was picked 1000 pounds
The next experiment was the plan
suggested by Jordan and Lockett, o
Georgia, by which they made five
500 pound bales to the acre.
bought bushel of their seed, plant
ed and worked by their directions
had fifty rows, four feet apart
When the cotton WIS chopped out,
had 10000 stalks. The plants stood
a fraction less than foot apart the
headland made the difference of the
fraction. Off this acre was pick ed
3, l25 of seed cotton, making two
bales $50 pounds of esch-a little
over one half made by Jordan and
LOCkelL,
The next experiment was with
the Cheatham seed, for which pre-
MUM Of $500 was offered by Cheat
ham seed, for which premium of
$500 was offered by Mr.. Chestham
far the largest yield on one acre
planted with his seed. | gave him
forty dollars for one peck, with
which | planted the acre. After
the ground was the thoroughly pre-
pared | laid off my rows four feet
apart, then with three foot compass
laid off for the seed this was follow
ed with hoe, making a hole as
marked by the compass, in which