The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1908-03-31

clal Fertilizers are used annually.
sometimes as much as 1900 pounds
to the acre. In one section of South
eastern Georgia, where considerable
quantities of this variety of cotton
are grown, the best soil for its pro-
duction is a soil having a surface OF
fine gray or yellow sand or light gray
to yellow fine sandy loan to a depth
of about twenty-four inches, with a
subsoil of sticky, yellow sandy loan
or sandy clay.
The Sea Island cotton plant is
more vigorous grower than the Up
land, or short staple variety. and has
a tendency to fruit scantily. Long
cultivation and selection of seed have
overcome this tendency, though It is
much less prolific than the short
staple, and has made the plant an an
nual instead of a perennial. 1t some
times grows TO height of eight feet.
The leaves are more deeply lobed
than the short staple, and the bolls
have only three segments, instead OF
four or five, and are sharp pointed,
making it more difficult to pick. The
flowers are always yellow in color.
The lint, or staple, is longer. finer
and stronger than that of the Upland
variety. While the lint of the Up
land is only from one-half to three
fourths of an inch in length, that of
the Sea Island is from one and one
half to two and one-half inches. The
upland cotton is always almost pure
white in color, and the Sea Island a
creamy yellow. On account of the
greater length and finer quality of
the lint the long staple sells for about
double the price of the short staple.
1t is used in the manufacture Of
thread, fine hosiery and the finer
quality of dress goods. The produc-
ton of the long staple rarely exceeds
the demand and consumption, and on
account of its being used for fabrics
in which the short staple cannot be
substituted, its price is not affected
by the f1uctuation in yield and prices
OF the latter.
Through the efforts of the United
States Department of Agriculture
there has been developed a variety
known as the upland long staple.
This variety of long staple cotton is
a hybrid, or cross between the ordi-
nary upland and Sea Island varieties
The lint of this new variety is me-
dunn in length, being about half way
between that of the two parent varie-
ties. 1t can be used in making some
of the finer fabrics, but in no way
supplants the regular long staple va
riety
The lint of the cotton plant is not
the only valuable part of the product,
although it is the most important and
the primary part for which the plant
is grown. The other valuable parts
are really by-products, and the in
come derived from them is n premium
for saving and marketing them. The
cottonseed and products manufac-
tured from it form not small item
in the income from the cotton plapta-
tons of the South. In the first place,
it has considerable value for use as
seed, especially if the planter Aas an
exceptionally good strain ard uses
care in selecting his seed to maintain
good length of staple and good
more seed is produced than could
possibly be used for planting, and
most of the surplus is sold to the
cottonseed oil mills. In these mills
the seed is hulled and the meats or
kernels are crushed and pressed, thus
extracting the oil of the seed. This
cottonseed oil is used in the manu-
facture Of soap and other articles,
and when refined and purified comes
into your home to take the place of
other oils and of lard sec,:.eu from
the fat of swine. TIL residuum after
the oil is extracted is ground into
meal and used for stock food. Cot
tonseed meal is also used as a fer
tilizer. Very often a ton or more of
it is used an acre on the tobacco fields
in the Connecticut Valley 1t supplies
the nitrogen necessary in producing
a luxuriant growth of fine cigar wrap
per leaves. 1t has been demonstrated
that the woody stalk of the cotton
plant would make an excellent quality
of paper, but this has never been
demonstrated except in an expert
mental way. The stalks are either
cut down and chopped up into pieces,
so as not to interfere with subsequent
cultivation, or are gathered into piles
and burned. This latter method
should never be used except 1t be to
destroy insects which the old stalks
pTotect.-New York Tribune Farmer.