Arizona republican., 1919-02-20

more than bale to the acre and these all parts of the valley indicating the possibilities of increasin- the average very materially
 On the other hand. there arc records of near failures on land which one would have a right to presume would produces a maximum yield. Some of these failures are probably due to lack of cultivation and others to the meth ods of irrigation. There are instances frequently reported where the plants dropped the fruit after an irrigation. This fact emphasizes the necessity for studying the need of the plant and tlS importance of care in applying water.
 Few cotton growers in the Salt River valley have given the subject more thought or careful investigation than the young philosopher farmer, Warren Parker of Phoenix. He has had under his immediate supervision something like 500 acres of land this past sea son; a considerable portion of which has been in cotton. His best yield is OH a seven-acre field, which last year pro- duced 2200 pounds of seed cotton per acre and this year 2100 of seed cotton. This would be classed as fine sandy loam. The field has been in cotton TOT ! four years. This was plowed nine to ten inches deep. disked, dragged and ridged, then instead of the ridges being dragged down, the cultivator was run over them just ahead of the planter which broke them down veE nearly ! level. The advantage of this being that cultivation would start immediately after the planting. running in the slight depression left between the rows | of cotton. The seed bed by this method. leaves a loose soil. and well saturated with water The cotton was planted in rows three feet. six inches apart and at a depth of two to two and one -hali | inches. A two-row middle burstel planter being used. This cotton was | planted the latter part of March and the first of April. Cultivation began l immediately following the planting ano continued every two Or three weeks as long as it was possible to get teams | through Tn the matter of irrigation
 water was held off as long as possible | MT. Parker finds it advantageous to hold off the water until the plants be- gin to show there is an apparent need Of water. The depth of the water table
 on this place is seven to eight feet
 hence more irrigation is needed thar
 where the water is closer 10 the sur face. The plants are thnned when eight
 to ten inches high by both pulling ant chopping. The idea Of thinning as late
 as possible is 10 suppress the growtl
 of vegetative branches. Later cultiva
 ton is planned by running cultivator,
 six inches deep after each irrigation
 and thinning enough to keep a fin
 dust mulch at all times-a one -hors,
 cultivator being used at the last culti-
 vation. After irrigation was once com
 menced, an effort was always made {,
 prevent the cotton suffering for wan
 of water. The picking was delayed unti
 early in November and three picking
 practically cleaned up the crop.
 Mir. Parker states that one of th'
 prime essentials is preparation Of tn,
 soil. An important factor in the preDa
 ration of the soil is to loosen it a l deeply as possible to secure a deel
 penetration of water and to create capacity of the soil for holding water With this object in view. he leaves tn
 land in a course condition so as to al
 low the water to readily penetrate int
 the soil. He irrigates twice befor planting. four days to a week apar , after ridging. This irrigation helps | , settle the ground so that the runnin , of the cultivator over the ridges leave
 it in a very desirable condition for tn , planter. He emphasizes the fact tha 1 it is important to secure firm con