The Tupelo journal., 1907-05-10
CORN AND cotton.
Some Practical Suggestions For an
mediate Application.

Comparatively few nave yet
Caught on to the use of the harrow
or weeder during the very early stages
Of the life of the cor and cotton
crops, especially the latter. But these
few, as a rule, have found that there
is no detail of surface culture that
costs less of labor and is at the same
time more effective than The stirring
of the surface soil, the mere breaking
of the thin crust that is formed on
plowed land after every rainfall.
Most farmers, Or at least many. ap-
preciate the Importance of using a
cutaway, or a smoothing harrow, i'm
mediately following the broadcast
breaking of land, in order to get the
surface into better condition for sub
senuent operations. The use of the
smoothing harrow, with the teeth
slanting backward, or some one of
the several weeders now available
continues the narrowing process after
the first rainfall on the newly planted
crop.
Many years ago the writer con-
ceived the idea and adopted the
practice of ~"chopping out" his cotton
ahead of the pillow, the seeds having
been covered with a two-row drag,
which left the cotton beds perfectly
smooth and fiat and very inviting to
the use of the hoe before disturbing
its by blowing. This chop
ping before blowing (siding) involved
the delay of the latter operation a
week or ten days. 1t was o on cb-
served hat cotton did not grow off"
so well when the blowing was thus
delayed until the chopping was done
This was more than forty years ago
before the day of weeders and of
the common use of smoothing har-
rows in southwest Georgia. If the
plan of surface narrowing the plant
ing fields after the first downfall of
rain had been put into my head and
then applied to the surface of the
fields It would have been of great
practical value. AS it was, however,
the old slow plan of siding the
corn or the cotton with two burrows
and her hoeing was again resumed.
1t was a case of "backsliding"-as
some church folks have it-into the
old ways.
When a good heavy rainfall &C.
ours after the corn, and especially
the cotton, has just been planted, the
immediate effect of such downpour
is the formation of a crust on the sur
face, while at the same time the grass
o.l r,ool -0AI- ILL., IL 49,
beneath, the surface terminate. This
crust largely excludes the air from
the soil, but-to the surprise of many
it is asserted-greatly facilitates the
escape Of the soil moisture, so often
likely to be deficient during the month
of May. At the same time the grass
and other weeds spring up and com
mence to choke the young plants
whose growth and development is our
object.
What is wanted, then, is to break
up the surface left by the shower
and prevent the formation of the thin,
compact crust. At the same time the
effect of stirring the immediate sur
face is to either prevent the germina-
ton OF weed seeds, or their immedi-
ate Observation-Disclosures the young
weeds and grass shall have had time
to get a firm hold on the soil. This
breaking of the surface may be most
quickly done by the use of a slant
toothed smoothing harrow, or a weed
err. 1t is necessary only to run a small
steel tooth every two or three inches
and TO a depth of one-half to n
inch. \ four or five-foot section of a
smoothing harrow can be drawn, for
this purpose, by an ordinary mule,
and Will go over nine or ten acres in
a day without much effort. An eight
foot weeder may also be drawn by a
good horse or mule, and will accom-
plish sixteen to eighteen acres a day.
The operation should commence as
500 after a rainfall as the land be-
comes in proper condition to stir
without injury (the test being when
the soil crumbles easily from the
teeth of the implement), and with
out waiting for the plants Of the crop
to come up Or to reach a certain size
after coming up.
Whether to run the harrow or weed
err in the direction of the rows or
squarely across at right angles or d.
agonally across should be determined
by the lay of the land, the character
of the surface and the stage of the
plants if they are up. Generally it
will be best to run across the rows.
either diagonally to the right, we will
say, and next time to the left, so as
to cross the direction first assumed.
If the land was well prepared and
nicely planted, there will often be no
necessity to pillow the cotton in the
common way until after it has been
put to a stand. An eight-foot weeder,
as already stated, will go over, say,
eighteen acres a day. A scooter and
scrape, or a twister, giving two fur
rows TO each row, will go over about
three or four acres a day. So we see
the weeder may go over eighteen
acres a day thrice-a week or ten
days apart4with much less labor than
the pillow would require to go over the
same area once.-R. j. Redding.