Woodruff County news., 1909-03-11
Good Cotton Farming Methods.

worthless. Now, how are we to over- come this labor problem, cultivate our lands and hold the monopoly as a cot ton country?
 To the solving of this problem let Us now direct ourselves. The first step in cotton culture, under existing conditions, is the proper preparation of the land. Say We have our lands divided into sections, and we wish to use one section for cotton next year, then begin the preparation by grow ing small grain of some kind, follow ing with peas, using 400 pounds of ash element per acre, put in broad cast Or with drill, and one to two bushels of peas per acre. When the peas are beginning to ripen, if you have stock or can purchase some to consume the hay, cut the peas and feed to stock, taking good care of the manure, and apply to land This is the most profitable way to use the pea crop; but if you have nO stock, and won't buy, then turn under after frost all the peas, grass, etc, thus putting into your land vegetable mat ter that will be converted into cotton and pay a large dividend on the in vestment. Never, under any circum- stances, mow the peas from the poor places in the field. Your purpose should be to have your fields of a uni form fertility, producing cotton of equal size and fruitage upon each acre; so look carefully after the poor spots.
 Use as much fertilizer as you are willing to buy, based upon the amount of vegetable matter turned under and the general fertility of this soil, not to exceed 1000 pounds per acre, un- less the land is rich. Poor land de- void of humus will not bear heavy applications of commercial fertilizers. Quite a large amount of fertilizers is lost each year by such methods.
 Cotton rows, as a general rule, should be about four feet apart. Open furrowS and on sand land put about half the fertilizer in drills and apply the remainder during cultivation of crops. On stiff and clay lands the whole amount can be used before planting When more than 600 pounds of fertilizer are used I prefer to use two-thirds of the amount broadcast and harrow in before laying off rows; balance in opening furrow. Cover with disc harrow, throwing all the dirt to the center. This at one trip ri ton is to be planted. This can be done with a reversible disc harrow. It does all the work that a non-re- versable one will do and many other kinds a cotton grower is in need of.
 Any good planter is all right; use on sandy and light lands form one to one and a half bushels of seed per acre; on stiff lands use two bushels. The variety of cotton you plant should be determined by character of soil and location.
 When you see the ground begin to crack along the rows, then commence the cultivation Do not wait for the cotton to come up. Where you have crust formed by rains, run across the rows with a light iron tooth smooth ing harrow with teeth set so they will not drag up the cotton. In four to six days run diagonally across the rows again. and repeat in a few days, going in opposite direction; now take the weeder and run it straight across the rows, then diagonally in both ways, going over once a week until the cotton is four or five inches high. If this work is well done it needs no hoeing up to this time. Now, go over with hoes, thinning to stand and clearing all grass left by harrow and weeder. On light lands and where there is not crust use the weeder from the start After hoeing, if your land is such that cultivatorS can be used, by all means use them; cultivatOrS that will work a row at one trip; use these as long as you can stradle the cotton, then finish with the open and shut kind; they will blow middle at one trip. All cultivation should be shallow deeper when the cotton is small, using great care not to break the small feeding roots as they ex- tend through the land. They are do- ing the work for you, searching for plant food in every square inch of soil, so break as few of them as pos sible. Keep the middle clear of grass at all times.
 How late we can cultivate cotton depends upon the season. Sometimes the last week in July, at other times up to the middle of August. Every man must be saved from ruin at times by breaking the crust and stopping the evaporation of the water allowing the cotton roots to get it instead of the air.
 We have given a plan for the cul- tivation of a cotton crop of normal year. this will have to be changed un- der unusual conditions; for instance, if you have much rain about and just after the cotton comes up, and the grass gets two or three leaves, then