Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-04-06
THE FIELD, FARM AND GARDEN.
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aIfh


AOAlOG.
Recently / spoke of the advantages Of
checking cotton. 1 know very well that
it will be a long time before such a prac-
tice will become common. The more in
telligent farmers, and especially those
having level land, no doubt will be led to
adopt the practice, but the majority Of
small farmers will doubtless 90 on with
the practice they have always followed
drilling it and leaving twenty to thirty
thousand stalks to the acre and taking a
crop just half what the land ought to
produce. The plan of crowding in the
drill has been pursued and recommended
by some able farmers, and their example
has had, and still has, wide influence
In the past ten years, however, numerous
successful farmers have been led to de-
part from the old custom, and have found
more profitable results from a much less
number of stalks than what was deemed
proper twenty years ago. The largest
Yields have been made of late with five to
eight thousand stalks per acre, and more
than this it seems is not desirable. Good
land will make better crop with this
number of stalks than with more, and
land so poor as to make more with double
to treble this number generally, will not
pay for cultivation. l have seen land
planted to cotton and the cultivation so
poor that only one to three bOlIs matured
to the stalk, and the crowded rows had
stalks with as many bOlls as stalks that
were less crowded, but this land never
produced any clear profit at its very best.
1t won't do to overcrOwd it.
Another error is oftentimes made in the
manner Of planting late cotton in May
and early June, and this is in making
as high bed0 for it as is done
for the early paintings in April.
There is disadvantage in planting Nav
and June cotton on high beds, and, in fact,
the beds for the early Planting are fire.
quently made injuriously high. 1 have a
number of times planted late cotton after
oats or rye, and have found the following
plan to be economical and give satisfac-
ton. The stubble is turned under with a
good turn-plow and at right angles to the
intended rows of cotton, and the land is
then narrowed either with a smoothing
harrow or common square har-
row, and the rows are laid off with a
small scooter at 215 or feet the rows
need not be so wide for late planting) }, and
the seed planted and covered by another
narrowing or single-scOOter furrOW. If
the seed are dropped in hills they can be
covered with the foot or hoe, but the lat
tiOnable to farmers ON that account. l
have always found, however, in the plant
ing OF cotton, corn, melons and some We
getables, that there was much to cOmpen-
safe for the tediOusness of this foot
covering. l found long ago that the
treading in of certain seeds insured a
perfect stand, where lighter and quicker
covering Oftentimes was so imperfect as
to render necessary much replantlng at
a1rdG 10 2 a.x ref Rrts
/ that Immediately follows planting Wheth-
er there is great gain in treading in, but
it is practice l am thoroughly commit
/ ted tom all late spring or summer plant
/ lngs OF all such crops as are planted in
| hills. Small seeds that are sown cOntinu-
! ously in the drill receive the pressure from
! a roller as being more rapid work and
more suitable.
In our light loamy or sandy soils that
! dry out rapidly after blowing, it is i'm
! pOrtant to guard against the evaporation
of the moisture from about the seed before
/ the process OF termination is complete.
This treading in generally insures suffi-
cient moisture to bring the plant well up
in all ordinary dry weather.
The principle is particularly applicable
4 to late planted cotton, for it is important
that termination be secured as soon as
possible. On one occasion l observed
cotton planted the oath of May that did
not come up until the latter part of June,
except part which was trodden in, and
this latter was up in four or five days and
This cotton, however, made fair average,
crop as late as it was. Pressing the soil
firmly to the seed in some way or another
is certainly of very great advantage.
5. A. G,
Aidtcay, near 1Nlledgeuille.