Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1892-10-27
The Surprising, Satisfying, Pleasure Giving Prices.
HOW COTTON IS GROWN.


Much Care and Work Are Necessary In Its
Cultivation.
Cotton is essentially n sun plant.
After sunset, before the shadows OF
night have fallen, the leaves Of the cot,
ton plant turn down and droop toward
the stalk, MS II depressed with the with.
drawl OF their beloved king. With the
earliest beams OF the next days sun
they straighten out and resume their
daily task Of growing and maturing
their wonderful product.
Cotton Is planted in April and the
first product goes 10 market in August.
During the intervening months Il
undergoes many interesting changes
A slender trail of fgrayish-white seeds,
dropped either by hand or by means OF
planter" Is laid In the carefully pre-
pared bed of dark, rich loan, tho
nourishing properties OF the soil having
been greatly augmented by expensive
fertilizers This is done early In the
spring, when the warmer suns and
gently falling showers are persuading
all OF the long buried germs in the
enrth's bosom to come TO the surface
Soon the light layer Of soil is gently
pushed aside by the little tender
sprouts, and rows Of tiny, fat, square
booking leaves appear along the middle
OF the long beds These leaves afterward
become a pointed oval in shape 10 the
plant develops. When the young cot
ton has attained the proper size, while
yet small, hoe hands 60 along and chop
II out, cutting away large clumps ut
regular intervals, leaving only two or
three stalks in each trill. The stronger
of the plants readily absorbs the vitality
OF the Others, and they are afterward
thinned out More than one Is left In
each hill ut first, in order TO secure
what In farmer phrase Is good stand ~
Great care Is then taken TO prevent
every bit Of grass from interfering with
the growth of the cotton. The hands
go over the fields again nnd again, both
with plow and hoe, In order TO kill the
grass which springs up persisse ntly
after each summer shower IL Is a
close contest between nature and mans
perseverfng industry. To chop out a
half-aore task of cotton is considered a
good days job, and good hoe hands are
always In demand and command good
prices.
This portion Of the work is usually
allotted to the women, and great care
and experience are necessary In order
not to cut the tender plants when on
deavoring to hoe out the grass close to
them. All the children in the col
ored families, sometimes in the white
families, too, arc early taught to
use the hoe carefully. Little girls Of 9
and years Of age hoe out many long
row beneath tho burning southern sun.
Large families are considered very de-
sirable under these circumstances
Boys that seem In size too small 10 I'd
just the harness on their horpes or
mules follow the plow for hours almost
Us steadily as their fathers.
About the middle Of June the eottsn
has attained two feet or moro in height
and the plants are thick with foliage,
among which appear the forms"
These are diamond-shaped, small, green
and fiat From these spring blossoms,
like the okra blossom, only instead OF
the rich, velvety, ruby color in the
heart Of tho latter the deep cup of the
lily shaped fowerH contains cream
colored little spirals.
The first day that these blossoms ap-
pear they are cream or pale straw
color, the second day they have ohanged
TO solferino red In shade; the next
they have become q bright purple, the
next still deeper purple, growing
darker and duller in hue, until finally
they shrivel up and fall of, and the
three green acknowledged outer pe-
tails that hold the bright blossom in
their clasp close their fringed edges
lightly over the tiny, round, hard,
green boil which contains the cotton.
The boil, when the blossom first drops,
Is about as large as a small cherry.
When ready to open II is as large rs a
walnut The outer rind or external.
surface Of the boil is plugged like an
orunge-which 1t resembles In form
and as the sun shines warmer and |
warmer upon H. urging 1t TO open, one
by one these plug-liks parts Of the
small sphere turn back, exposing to |
view the filmy, hbrous little mass In
each particular cell These little re-
ceptacles grow brown and get dryer
and crisper as their treasures mature,
bending away from their snowy con-
tents until only their clean, smooth,
yellow lining u visible, upon which
xUf,B shg htyte tl3sn ygogySJA