Arizona republican., 1916-11-17
REIGN OF KING COTTON ESTABLISHED IN SALT RIVER VALLEY

] the fields dry out in spots during
 August and September and in order ] to avoid injury to the cotton it will be necessary to irrigate these spots sep arately, thus causing much extra work The best grade to be given will depend somewhat upon the character of the soil, a sleeper grade being pos sible in light soils into which the water sinks readily than in heavy soils which will not become thoroughly wet un- less the water stands for some time. Where alfalfa land is plqwed up in order to plant cotton it is often ad- visable to irrigate the cotton in a diff ferent direction from that used in 1 irrigatng the alfalfa, in order 10 se- cure lighter grade.
 The first stage in the preparation of
 the land depends upon its condition, whether weedy or clean. and upon the
 nature of the preceding crop
 i In preparing land which is overrun
 with Johnson grass for cotton, the best plan is to blow about two inches deep during August, allowing the soil to 1 dry out thoroughly, then to disk and harrow thoroughly. dragging as many
 of the roots to the surface as possible. A spring tooth harrow may be used to advantage in this work. During No vember or December the land should again be given shallow blowing and pulverized by disking and narrowing. | At this time it may be well to go over
 the land both ways with an orchard cultivator or some similar tool havi-g | long teeth. This will bring a great
 many of the roots to the surface, and
 if in sufficient quantity they should
 be raked up and burned or hauled off [ the field. The land may then be left 1 fallow until the latter part of Feb ruary.
 Bermuda grass alone is not so hard l to eradicate as Johnson grass or d mixture of Bermuda and Johnson l grasses. It is possible by shallow blowing during November or Decem- Dre. followed by thorough disking and i narrowing. to put Bermuda grass land in shape for cotton. If the land is kept thoroughly disked and narrowed 1 during the winter. the freezing will i greatly aid in killing sthe roots. Two
 or three weeks before planting. the land should be plowed from to 6 i inches deep and thoroughly pulver- ized. If regular cultivation be kept
 up during the early part of the grow | ing season, or until the cotton plants
 become large enough to shade the l ground. the Bermuda grass will not ! have a chance to establish itself sui | ficiently to become nuisance.
 It may cost the grower from S6 to ! $10 an acre to put Bermuda and John-
 son grass land in proper condition for | cotton. The weeds can then be kept l down by intensive cultivation, although 1 1t maye be found necessary 10 chop ! out the grass in the rows at the time the cotton Is being thinned. and in bad ] T..ta Ia. By this method 1t is possible for the l growers to eradicate both these grass
 es within two years and to grow a
 remunerative crop on the land while this is being done.
 In preparing to plant cotton on al-
 falfa land which is not overrun with | Bermuda oT Johnson grass. the same general plan can be followed. How
 ever, it will not be necessary to do as
 much disking and narrowing or cross
 blowing as is the case on land infested
 with Bermuda or Johnson grass. If
 alfalfa land is plowed two inches deep
 early in the autumn and turned up to the sun until thoroughly dry and then later in the season plowed to 6
 inches deep. there will be very little
 trouble from the growth of alfalfa
 during the following season. While , alfalfa land may be prepared at any time prior to the planting season, th' best results will be obtained if the lanC ? is plowed first in october or Novem- Der. followed by a second blowing ir 5 January.
 3 In preparing cotton land for plant s ing again to cotton, stalk cutie
 should be used to chop the stalks into = small pieces. Then the land should Q be plowed. disked, and narrowed unti . in perfect shape. when it may be lief 1 until planting time. In the absence 0
 1 stalk cutter the plants can b t dragged down with a heavy drag aftel
 1 a hard freeze. A great many of thu 1T stalks will be pulled out, and those re- , maining in the ground can be looseneC ]! with mattOck. This treatment is in U expensive, costing only about $1 O ' s125 per acre. After all the plants arr 5 pulled out of the ground, the fiel, il should be raked crosswise with a hay . rake and the stalks put up in windrow! I and burned.