The Mena weekly star., 1917-07-19
HELP WIN THE WAR
 WITH YOUR COTTON
Present indications Are That 1917 Crop Will Be No Better Than
 Crops of Two Previous Years.
By w. E. Ayres, University of Arkan-
 sas Experiment Station.

The world must have cotton. Dixie furnishes about 57 per cent of the worlds supply. The production of this staple in the South was about 20 per cent below normal in both 1915 and 1916. Present indications are that the 1917 crop will be no better than the crops of the previous two years. The reserve supply will be practically ex- hausted before the 1917 crop is on the market. Our country and our allies will in all probability demand thirteen and one-half million bales from this country next year. There is every reason to believe now that the crop can not, with best of care and favor able weather be made to reach this figure, and there surely is not the slightest chance of producing a sar- plus. The prices for all products of the cotton plant will undoubtedly be satisfactory.
 Must Produce Maximum Crop.
 The present cotton crop has been late from the start, and has improved very slowly. Its condition is now has begun his work in many sections, and will do his "bit" to curtail produc- ton. It is imperative. therefore, that Arkansas farmers use every known economical resource in stimulating growth and bringing the per acre pro duction to the maximum. The South must well nigh clothe the soldiers and the civilian population of both this country and the Entente, in addi- tion to supplying them with fibre for high explosives for their armies and navies.
 Why Arkansas Should Be Greatest Cotton State.
 Our state can, for two reasons, help than can the average Southern state. In the first place, we are not so de- pendent upon the supply of potash salts which can no longer be obtained as are many of our sister states which have greater areas of Coastal Plains soils which are deficient in potash. In the second place, our climate is such that larger percentage of our heavy cotton producing areas is not yet suf- ficiently infested with boil weevH ts curtail production materially.
 | Shallow Cultivation Essential. | Shallow cultivation often enough to keep down weeds and grass and pre- serve a mulch is always to be recom- mended, but 1t Is essential to the na- tion's welfare" this year. For the sake of economy of labor a two-horse oultivator should be used until the plants are too large, after which a large scrape-heel sweep behind a short shovel is perhaps best for mulch ing and destroying undesirable vegeta- ton.
 Early Laying By Must Be Avoided.
 Early laying by is especially to be avoided this summer. Cotton is very late, and should be cultivated prop eriy until late into August. unless the plants are locking in the middles Grass and weeds in cotton mean loss in three ways CD They reduce the yield by using plant food and water which would otherwise be used by the cotton plants; CD they increase the cost of picking by becoming entangled with tee cotton. causing the burrs to rot, and by hindering in general the progress of the pickers; (3) cotton grown amongst weeds and grass al ways carries more tinges. stains and trash and has a poorer general ap- pearance than cotton grown In prop erly cultivated field Such cotton is graded lower and is bought at a lower price than that which is produced un- der more favorable conditions. The loss to the state from laying by too early can reach five or six million dollars without receiving any partic- ular attertion. This leak in the profits bag" should be stopped. |