St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1896-02-22
FARMER AND PLANTER.
COTTON PLANTING.
An Industry That is of Constantly In.
ereasing Importance, Which Must bs
Net by Intelligent Effort.

/ ! y
An Industry That Is of Constantly In.
ereasing Importance, Which Must be
Met by Intelligent Effort.
With each recurring year the cotton
plant increases In value. The thought
ful farmer is casting about for the best
plan to reduce the cost of its production
county. One of the most effective plans
is the intensive system of farming.
Under this system, well authenticated
| yields per acre in Georgia of seed-cot-
ton are reported, of COLT pounds In
| Washington; 4,5a4 pounds in Troup:
4,500 pounds in Burke and Carroll; 4, 900
pounds in Crawford; $500 pounds in
Bulloch; 2,T00 pounds in Brooks and
Clay; 2, 200 pounds in Coweta and De-
Kalb, ranging from one and a half
bales to Ave bales, OF 45o pounds each,
| per acre. A
| There are other possible lines of I'M
provement in reducing the cost of
growing cotton and getting 1t ready
for market. We avail ourselves of the
opportunity afforded at time between
the season for picking and the season
for planting cotton to suggest that
much time may be economical In the
picking of cotton by arranging for its
being done rapidly and skillfully.
| Plant with an eye to this end. David
Dickson, of Hancock county, Ga, a sue
cessful farmer, regarded cotton pick
| ing as an art. In his System of Farm
ing" he remarks:
No system can prosper without
| teaching all the operatives and labor
ers to be experts, whether agricultural
or manufacturing, or anything that is
done requiring labor. The first thing
rto do, in regard to any of the opera
tions of labor. is to teach the laborers
how to do it; the next thing, to do it
with more ease and efficiency, and to
learn to do better and better work
every day. For instance, take a boil
of cotton. They must be taught, with
the greatest speed, how to throw the
hand into the boil and pull out all of
the cotton with one lick, not waiting
| to see whether any was left in the boil
or not, always having in mind tostrike
but one lick at the boil, and as soon as
| that is done to strike at another boil.
have, in five minutes, taught a hand
| to pick 100 pounds more Of cotton per
day than he had picked on the previous
/ day, and from that point he will con-
tinue TO improve. The greatest eficien-
cyI have obtained in hands picking
cotton was 700 pounds-equal to three
good bags a week.
\ Some men are generals, some me-
/ chanies, some orators, some farmers;
some adapted to one profession and
some to another; but the great mass of
men have to read, study and practice
to become efficient in any calling they
may select; and II they apply them
selves faithfully, and do not rise above
mediocrity, they shonld quit that busi-
ness and try some other. Whatever
has been accomplished by man, can be
done again, and ought to be done bet
ter, with all the accumulated llnowl-
edge of the past before us.
What is a book-farming? It does
not mean to take book in your hand
and go to the field; but it means you
should read and study everything that
You can possibly bring to bear on
farming, and store it away in your
head. But be sure to master
the subject, and learn the true
plan. This is the science of
agriculture. Study bad practice
as well as good. and learn of the latter
the errors, that you may avoid them.
Read books until you become SO per-
feet in theory and the use Of tools and
manure, that you will have confidence
and the nerve to act, and at once, not
lose time running about to yourneigh-
bors to see when to do a thing and how
to do it.
''Book-farning means for the farmer
just what book-learning does for the
i physician. The medical student must
read all the books and attend all the
lectures and the dissecting room until
he can pass, then take his medicine
and instruments, go out to practice
and test his knowledge. So with book
farming. You must read and study
not only agricultural books, but all
books that would apply in any way to
that profession. Southern Guilt
vator.