Sharp County record., 1888-11-08
coTTHERN AGRICULTURAL
Cotton Picking.

"aa We used to estimate inc nn"n Con by
|laa> IA "T "a our individual cotton crop py
Fi& yae'u ~,v = multiplying by two the I toIai
|'a ,ilp,d ia'lsd eut by the first day OF octooer,
sxperience having shown 'n%v o,f % Onr
| uch 'AP P'~asr circumstances one-half our
|yOd ~ m.s usually harvested by that
b o n1p ,p With the constant improvement
wis., ,'t the varieties of cotton in reSpec. 81
|gqA .a;uess .u of maturity, aided BY the
49, ast universal use of concentrated
Iha ,';IS I'd stimulating fertilizers the RUE
|cke, ,l si,l not now hold good The dates ! =. ol
|ana ~ - sppearance of the ''frst bale' 1he
b DIT ~ tive 20 opening Of the cotton season.
| cqS nd I'd the gathering of the bulk OF tne
ron have all been moved back per-
|heal ,ans two weeks as compared "l'n
! ate ,rsnty wears ago. The present crop
|ifD later than usual, and yet we Judge
| Hrs hat more than half of 1t has
|laaj ,oen oathered and half of the remain
|stp @ er is open in the fields. These re-
| Wiz marks apply particularly to tne lal
re ude Of thirty-two and a half degrees,
|e"- - ode TO illustrate the changes that
ave been wrought by improvement
q ! seed and the use of commercial Ter
NJ ;lizers It is remarkable, however
-sh hot no practical device or machine
|dt 'as veil been perfected to aid in the
|'Sh edous work of cotton-picking, and we
| I've tand just where we did forty years
|h h 10 And vet there is no detail OF the
Bee a york Of cotton production which so
| Gill; ,rcently calls for the aid OF inventive
alent as that of picking.
that II has often been remarked that cot
|ligb. IN Is one of the least exhaustive crops
| ver nown to agriculture, provided the
In i aed or the seed meal, be faithfully
|,ne3 eturned to the soil. In direct sense
tr his Is true. The lint of cotton, which
d We the prime object of its cultivation
the ontains, in 100 pounds, only l4poundS
|ho, 4 finorganic or soil elements, or ashes.
ro state it in tabular form, 100 pounds
Won otton lint contain Of
/ but ,hosphoric POUNDS
T.; ,otosh ....,.,,., ''''Uo' pouhus
Il, ime..... ..",,.,,. '..''''...''.''Vio pouiius
| lat fapncsa pounds
Won )fher mineral matters .,O.2o pouhus
|'" Total ashes es......................l l15 pounds
p~ In other words, one hundred pounds
al II lint cotton removes from the soil
|. a. = nly 1.75 pounds of elements, and of
r. I his amount only 0,55 pounds are phos-
)horic acid and potash, the remainder
consisting of lime, magnesia and other
| Ou elements of little or no value on ac-
you 0unt of their usual abundance in the
GUN oil. It would appear, then, at first
pre- dance, that cotton might be grown in
|gNg definitely on the same land without Sc
20 % ious detriment to the soil, so small is
|lan he draft made upon the latter, or that
|aNE he productive capacity of the soil
Oe night be maintained and even increased
he ,y the use of a very small amount of
l0F ertilizer annually. In fact less than
IOH ne-ffth of one pound of phos-
sure ,horic acid and little more than
me ne-third of a pound of potash are
emoved from the soil in one hundred
pounds of cotton lint. But the con-
ray is the observed fact. We know
''r hat cotton culture very rapidly re-
| Il nces the capacity of our soils, espe-
|Tt, tally tho broken lands, not only for
.aI otton, but for any and all crops.
Why is this? The cause is two-fold:
IT,, l. Cotton is summer crop and re-
uires clean culture throughout the
lot months The growth of other
;,.. egetation is prevented, and this
| :, natural means of amelioration and re-
toration is almost entirely cut off,
icing limited to the scant returns in
egetable matter of the cotton plant
'D tself. The effect of the chemical
~, ays of the sunlight on liv-
|1 ng plants is to aid them to
|,", ssimilate the carbonic acid of tho
~ ir and thus build up the vegetable
'u1 tructure but the same sunlight has %
- hrectly opposite effect on the dead
ION isstles and upon the organic matter
nav lready in the soil. These are oxi-
| w lied, or converted into carbonic acid,
Which escapes in the air, and the soil
|'u thus constantly losing its vegetable
| u" natter Or humus by this slow combus-
" Ion or oxidation. The more the soil
| V1 8 stirred, during the summer especial
|% y, the more rapidly this loss goes on.
|e!n, = The principal cause of exhaustion
Fen soils under clean cotton culture is
~ ue 70 the constant teaching and wash
| DIS ng away of the soil Most of this loss
|no. occasioned by the removing of the
| na Oh bodily, and not by dissolving out
Ia teaching of the soluble elements.
| he Ihe object of this little discussion is
per Impress upon farmers the impor-
pm ance Of providing against these tre-
Jog aendous leaks on the farm by the use
Per tne most practicable means for the
p urpose. The first resort is to SOW in
|he mail grain or grass every acre of their
|En oiling cotton lands. This, for present
|nu onsiueratlon. 1t would be well to
iTXA