Arizona republican., 1918-02-17
Growing Egyptian Cotton
 In The Salt River Valley
By E. W. HUDSON Of the Southwest Cotton Company

the land both ways with an orchard cultivator or some similar tool having long teeth. This will bring a gerat many of tEe 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 fallow until the latter part of February.
 Bermuda grass alone is not so hard to eradicate as Johnson grass or a mixture of Bermuda and Johnson grasses. It is possible by shallow blowing during November or Decem- Der, followed by thorough dislling and narrowing, to put Bermuda grass land in shape for cotton If the land is kept thoroughly disked and narrowed during 1 the winter the freezing will greatly aid in killing the roots. Two or three weeks before planting, the land should be plowed from to inches deep and thoroughly pulverized. If regular cul- tivation be kept up during the early part of the growing season, or until the cotton plants become large enough l to shade the ground, the Bermuda grass will not have a chance to estab- | fish itself sufficiently to become a i nuisance.
 It may cost the grower from s6 to S10 an acre to put Bermuda and John son grass land in proper condition for i cotton. The weeds can then be kept down by intensive cultivation, although 1t may be found necessary to chop out the grass in the rows at the time the cotton is being thinned and in bad cases once or twice later in the season
 By this method it is possible for the 1 growers to eradicate both of these grasses within two years and to grow a remunerative crop on the land while this is being done.
 In preparing to plant cotton on alfal- ia land which is not oVerrun with | Bermuda or Johnson grass, the same l general plan can be followed How ever, it will not be necessary to do as much disking and narrowing or cross l blowing as in the case on land infested with Bermuda or Johnson grass. If alfalfa land is plowed 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 l alfalfa land may be prepared at any time prior to the planting season, the best results will be obtained if the
 land is plowed first in October or November, followed by a second blow ing in January.
 In preparing cotton land for planting again to cotton, a stalk cutter should
 be used to chop the stalks into small pieces. Then the land should he
 used to chop the stalks into small
 pieces. Then the land should be plowed, disked and narrowed until in
 perfect tilth. when it may be left until
 planting time. In the absence of a stalk cutter the plants can be dragged down with heavy drag after hard freeze. A great many of the stalks will pc pulled out, and those remaining in
 the ground can be loosened with a mattock. This treatment is inexpen- sive, costing only about $1 or s1.25 per acre. After all the plants are pulled out of the ground, the field should he raked crosswise witH a hayrake and
 the stalks put up in windrows and burned
 Preparation of the Seed Bed
 There will be no occasion to regret the labor expended during the winter in preparing the seed bed, since if this
 IS done throughly a great deal less
 work will be required during the sum-
 mer to grow the crop, and the yield will be correspondingly larger
 It depends upon the kind of soil an6 the condition it is in whether a double 1 ploWlng is necessary to put the lano , Tn good tilth or whether this can be done with single blowing and double , dlsking and double narrowing. Lant ureVlously in cotton or grain, if irri. gated before blowing, can be put il , perfect condition by one blowing Lant r preVlously in alfalfa should be plowet | rr,I In4f
 ruary borders should be thrown u, about two rods apart. Just befor, . planting time. which is between Marcl 2 10 and April 1, the land should b.
 flooded and then disked and narrowed I until in perfect tith.
 t At this time, if the soil is yer, D heavy if may be advisable in rare in ] Continued on Page Ten)