St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-10-24

THE COTTON PLANT.

FARMER AND PLANTER.
THE COTTON PLANT.
what Progressive Earniag Has Dose -
Inprovs IL.
The difference in tho results Of good
and bad cotton growing IL not 90 APP
parent in the quality Of the cotton
shipped to market Is in tho yield Per
acre, AMI one must visit the fields IN
order to see what progressive agricul.
t ure has accomplished in half y ceE.
tury, and not Judge from y hasty ex-
amin alton of the bales in the city.
There is as much difference between
the improved cotton plants of to-day,
on which the number of hollis rivals
that of the leaves, and the long joint
ed struggling varieties grown 30 years
ago as there is between the native
Texan steer and the well-bred short
horn. The contrast between these ex.
treme types of cotton plants is made
very plain often by the proximity Of
two plantations, on one of which pro.
gressive, advanced agriculture ID. pur.
sued, and ON the other the old plod
ding. neRlectful methods are still OBJ
served. There is no plant more sf.
fected by its environments than the
cotton plant, and the case with which
it responds to good culture and Inn
proved methods is only equaled by its
tendency to retrogra6e when neglect
ed. Even the best varieties Of to-day
that have been produced by long
years of careful culture will quickly
degenerate into poor. struggling, long
jointed plants If good culture in not
given to them. and in three genera
tons they will reach the point where
their ancestors started half q century
ago.
Only the potato and tomato have
shown the marked improvement
through judicious selection, high feed
ing and cultivation, that has charac-
terixed the development Of the cotton
plant. There is no better time to mo-
tice this difference than to-day, when
the cotton fields are opening their
puffy bolls for the harvesters, and il
ono by chance can run across . repre-
sentative of the old ''pceler" type or
variety and contrast 1t with the mod
ern peerless" he will understand bet
ter than words can explain what pro-
gressive agriculture has done for cot
ton in 5Oyears. The old "peeler" va
riety is now wild scrawny plant.
with comparatively few hollis Of cot
ton opening on the ends Of ungainly-
looking branches, while the peer.
less" is a compact, thickly-growing.
symmetrical bush, with hollis Of cot
ton seattle red SO freely over 1t that 1t
distance It looks almost like . mass
OF white snow. The yield from this il
naturally several times greater than
from the former, and it takes no more
fertilizer to produce 1t than the old
variety.
The work Of improving the cotton
plant has been going on actively for
many years. and the progressive grow
ers have NO idea that the limit Is
reached to-day. The seeds from the
cotton plant reproduce typos quite
similar to tho parent stock. but ~
there is ALWAYS . wide difference be-
tween the best and poorest bolls on .
single plant, there is always the pos
sfbility Of producing types that arc far
below or above the standard. If these
mixed seeds arc used for tho next sea.
sons planting the crop Of cotton il apt
to have q great many inferior prod
pets, but If the seeds from the best
oils only are selected for planting.
there is an apparent improvement In
the plants. This has been the secret
ut getting . good cotton crop. and It
was the first and continuous step to-
wards the improvement of types.
The other important agency In i'm
proving the varieties of cotton plants
was superior cultivation. According
to the old system the plants were al
lowed to grow 20 close together that
they could not reach normal develop
ment. They are now planted far
enough apart to give them plenty Of
room, and each individual plant is con-
frequently made more perfect The
physical conditin of the soil was
studied SO that the plants in time had
The best possible shsnce of growing to
perfection. After quarter OF . CEN
fury of study and experience the best
cotton-growers begin to understand
how to feed both the soil and the
plants, to keep the former from degen-
Grating and the latter from starving.
All the physical and chemical condi-
tons favorable to the growth of the
plants are supplied on tho best planta-
t;n1c ou1 tho ovor. an . 4 I, f,,1 o,.x - a..
farmer detects any variations in. the
types which may lead to further im-
provement of the varities by selection.
All of these improvements of tho cot
ton plant, however. did not effect the
fiber of the cotton to any extent. and
the cultivators had to employ other
agencies to accomplish this result. The
plants were improved in form, and
their productiveness more than
doubled. Then the upland short-sta-
pie species. Gossypium herbaceum,
was ny bridized with the long. or
Sea Island, &. barbadense, and the
length and fneness of the staple great
~ increased. This improvement was
obtained at q slight reduction in the
productiveness Of the improved vari-
cites OF short-staple plants, but, owing
to the Improvement in the lint, the
actual yield per acre was greatly in
creased. The value Of the cotton was
also enhanced.
The implements and fertilizers used
for cotton farming are SO much SUI
perior to those in use 80 years ago that
special attention should be called to
their Importance. Under the old sys-
tenn of cultivation the roots of tho
plants were often cut and displaced by
the cru(le cuftivatOra and the nrnf1uc-