The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1908-05-06
"UNCLE JOHN" AND
HIS FARMING Il
A Mighty Fine Old Gentleman but His
Method of Raising Cotton is Far
Behind the Times,

coiill 10 a llllC, Olu, COllScTNdIlNc
farmer, as good and true as men are
made, but he cannot help looking at
things just as he did when he was a
boy, and when he was a boy farming
was done with the plow and the hoe run
by hard muscle. No one ever thought
of attaching brains to them. AS we
entered the field Uncle John remarked,
"4ou see my stand is not as good as |
wanted. | planted a full bushel of seed
and a little thrown in extra. 1t was
good cotton seed; | got it from the gin
and the plants came up thick enough in
most places to raise the crust, but in
some places they did not come up at all.
A good many of the plants died, though
gave the crop a good hoeing and kept
the grass out. | believe in clean cult
walton, and for this there is no nipple
ment that quite equals the hoe"
My dear uncle" | replied, "you are
worth your weight in gold and if you
would change some Of your old methods
of raising cotton you would soon make
enough money to buy yourself and re-
CiIc from business.
''ln view of this unpromising crop l
want to tell you several things that will
be helpful. The world knows a lot
more about plant life than it did TWEEN
ty-tive years ago.
"Your first mistake was that you did
not thoroughly prepare this land for
planting. 1t should have been worked
until the soil was like an ash heap, 3 or
d inches deep. You did not drain the
rows SO that there would be no wet
spots, ever with a heavy rain. Look at
the long spaces where there are no
plants. If the soil is properly prepared
there is little danger that there will not
be moisture enough for the seeds to
terminate, but in most climates and
soils there is always danger of too much
water in the soil. Standing water is
dea.h to cotton and corn.
''Your next mistake was in getting
gin-run seed and planting too many per
acre. If you wanted a clean, vigorous
and thrifty family you would not go and
get a lot of gin-run boys and girls"
"What do you mean by 'gin-run boys
and girls?'" rather sharply i%nterposed
Uncle John.
81 mean" | replied, "boys and girls
picked up in the homes of the orphans,
without any knowledge Of their parent
age, and you would not get five times
as many as you intended to raise, judg-
ing that enough of them would die of
natural weakness or consumption or
from other causes to leave the proper
family. Yet that is what you did with
your cotton; but we will talk more of
this another time.
"You planted too deep and there was
hardly strength enough in the little
plant to reach the air and itdied before
it could draw support from the soil.
The plants were in the main too
crowded. They lacked food and air.
That crust on the soil should have been
broken. 1t shuts out the air essential
TO termination and growth and aids
evaporation. Delay planting till the
weather is warm. Cotton is a tropical
plant. Prepare a fine seed bed; plant
shallow not ove 1 inch deep, if that
depth reaches moisture-and the plants
sYill be up in a few days.
run the smoothing harrow two or
three times diagonally across the rows
as soon as the seed is planted and again
when the plants are 2 or 3 inches tall.
This should be repeated, removing a
tooth from the harrow and going astride
the rows, as in cultivation, till the
plants are 6 inches high. The harrow
prunes the roots a little, which tends to
give the plant a lower and Timber
habit of growth; it opens the soil to re-
ceive air; it promotes growth and de-
strOys weeds.
"The hoe is the natural enemy of the
cotton planter. 1t kills some weeds,
but it fnallykills the planter financially,
and as generally used it does not prop
crly air the soil, which is the chief end
of cultivation.
"While the cotton plants are small,
thoroughly work the spaces between
the rows two or three times to a depth
of at least a inches. T%fs leaves a fine
seed bed for the roots to occupy later
when they are racing about to find food
and water. All later cultivation of
plants and middles should be shallow
not over an inch and a half deep. This
Keeps a dust mulch, which checks the
rising soil moisture and plant food just
,t q deOth where there are the most