The Mena weekly star., 1912-01-25
HOW POLK COUNTY
BOY WON PRIZE
Ed0ar Peters Tells of Methods That
Secured for Him 2209 Pounds of
Seed Cotton and $50 Premium
On an Acre of Wand.

Al the request Of our friend and
president of the Polk County Boys
Corn and Cotton Club for the year
1911, will give you an outline Of
the way ! planted and worked my
acre of cotton.
broke my land about March IS,
picking up all the stalks. Then |
narrowed the land.
About April % took single
stock and broke it again, as deep
as | could, and narrowed again.
Then sent for one-fourth bushel
of mlre bred cotton seed of the
Lone Star variety, ard May | took
the single stock and laid off my
rows feet 9 inches apart. Then
used 200 pounds of fertilizer in the
rows. then laid off the land again
and planted the seed by hand
dropping il about 4 inches apart in
the row. then covered with a board.
ANY of your fathers can tell you
how this is done. | planted this
way on account of the small
amount of seed ] had.
AS soon as my cotton was up
narrowed il and in another week
took the double-shoVel and put
two small plows on and plowed as
deep as one horse could pull the
pillow. and then run the middles out
with single stock. Then ! hoed
my cotton, and, finding that in
places did not have any plants.
III decided TO try TRANSFORMING
from tile places where ! had more
than stand, not wishing to spoil
Smy good seed by replanting with
#common seed. | dug holes where
there were no plants and took the
Fire shovel, and where ! found a
stalk of cotton to spare. dipped up
with about handful Of dirt on the
spoois and put il in the holes al
Sready prepared.
guess some of you may think
sths is too much trouble, but in all
i was moi more than one day doing
aihe work. | would begin late in
the evening and work until night.
About the time my cotton was IL
inches high | took 100 pounds OF
sotton seed meal and 100 pounds
of corn fertilizer and mixed them
and took the distributor and put
this mixture in the middle ] hoed
my cotton three times, il taking me
sone-half day each time, making
one and one-half days to do the
hoeing. narrowed my cotton
seven times, about once every
seven or eight days, il taking me
about a half day each time. ! have
counted up the expense of the
work and the cost of the fertilizer,
and allowed IS for land rent, and 1T
all amounts to about S22.95. The
2209 pounds of seed cotton raised
on this acre brought about 800,
the $50 ] received as a prize max
ing about $3.50 in all
Some of you may want to know
what kind of land | had. 1t is up
land of a black loan, with clay
suhsoil.
Well, boys, I would advise you
all to send to the agriculture de-
7partment and get Farmers Bulle-
lin No 1872 on Barnyard Manure;
also Farmers Bulletin 406 on Soil
Conservation; bulletin "A on Com
mercia Fertilizer, 48 on Manuring
of Cotton, D on Management of
Soils to Conserve Moisture, 364 on
A Profitable Cotton Farm. These
bulletins, if you will study them,
will be a great help to you in your
farming. | will be glad if our
newspapers will print the rules for
the Cotton Club next year, as !
am going to plant 10 acres in cot
ION and see if can't do as good or
better than did this year.
Respectfully,
Edgar Peters.
board Camp. Jan. 10, 1912.