Arizona republican., 1920-03-15

with firm and moist soil beneath. It is not advisable to plant cotton and irrigate it up" because of the difficulty often encountered with the baking of the ground over the sprouting cotton | seeds.
 Planting
 The time of planting cotton will vary somewhat with the kind of soil and With the locality of the state in which the planting is made. Recom- mendations differ greatly in this re- gard, but the concensus of opinion of the practical cotton growers is that the best time for planting in an aver age season is during the last ten days of March and the first ten days of April. Farmers handling sandy types or soil can plant one to two weeks earlier than those handling heavy or adobe types of soil. It pays to plant aA soon as the ground is sufficiently warm to insure good examination and thrifty plants. Early plantings when the ground is cold often result in a thin stand and weakened plants: like ! wise early planting in cold ground particularly if the days are warm and the nights cold, fayors the develop ment of the disease called "sore shin.'' Late plantings do not allow sufficient time for the plants to set and mature a large crop. The sooner the cotton can be planted after the ground is well warmed and danger of frost is past, the better the average results that will be secured. Cotton should De planted as shallow as possible and still get the seed deep enough into most ground to insure good germin nation"
 The authors of the bulletin are of the opinion that the distance to which cotton plants are to be thinned should be governed largely by the soil. Heavy rich land will stand thick pIantines of cotton. Thin, light land should have 1 cotton spaced relatively far apart. The average cotton grower with typical cotton land of the Salt River valley VII space his cotton from 12 to IS incnes apart in the row. with rows three and half feet apart. On this. poor land 1t may be advisable to in- crease the spacing to 2l to 30 inches.
 Cultivation of Cotton
 The cultivation of cotton should be- gin as soon as the plants are through the ground well enough to mark the row. and be continued every 10 to I5 days, till the plants are too large to permit the use Of regular cuiliyator, sometimes the cultivation can be con tinued by the use of a one-horse cul-. tivator, especially in the wide. spaced rows and on heavy soils tnat tend ro 4 bake. Early cultivation checks eyap oratlon, warns the soil and will Kill weeds and grass at the stage at which they are most easily destroyed It will also eliminate much hand work. or hoeing. For the most part. the early cultivations may be comma atiyely deep and reasonably close to the plant. Late cultivations must be shallow in order to avoid cutting and breaking numerous cotton roots.
 Irrigation of Cotton
 -"The proper irrigation of cotton is the most important single item in the crrnyx -fv.<r zf though all other conditions are right if the irrigation is wrong the yields will not be satisfactory. Over -irriga- ton stimulates plant growth, and to a certain extent prevents the forming of cotton squares and the setting of bolls; while light irrigation encourages the setting of fruit and the dwarfing of the plant, which are highly desirable especially in the earlier stages of growth of American Egyptian cotton. However. this dwarfing of the plant is neither necessary nor desirable on light desert soils deficient in both ni- frozen and humus. When a plentiful supply of water is suddenly applied, following a period when the plant has been suffering for water, it will cause quick stimulation of growth and the plant will shed or drop much of the young fruit already set. It is best to withhold irrigation after planting as long as possible and still keep the plants in a growing condition.
 sCotton will not be injured by wilt ing slightly in the middle of the day, provided it fully recovers it's fresh ap- pearance by late afternoon or early evening, and provided there is enough moisture deep in the soil to encourage deep root penetration. As long as there is sufficient moisture in the ground to permit transportation 10 maintain the leaves in a cool condi- | nf ha do fha plant is not suffering, but when the leaf feels warm to the hand irrigation must be immediately supplied. After cotton begins to bloom the moisture supply should be kept as uniform as possible. Cotton should be kept grow ing steadily, but excessive growth \ should be prevented. If examination during the blooming stages shows that the vegetative growth has practically stopped and the cotton is blooming to the top of the plant, water has been withheld too long. In other words the terminal bud should be kept growing slightly in the lead of the flowers on the fruiting branches.
 Prior to fruiting the desirable meth cd is to give as little water as possible forcing roots to penetrate deeply for soil moisture stored prior to planting The system changes/after the fruiting begins. and the purpose then is to maintain 8 thrifty and uniform though not rank growth.
 I Picking and Topping
 "In Arizona cotton picking is usually begun during the last half of Septem- ber- It does not pay to begin picking until sufficient cotton is open to allow the gathering of 300 to TOO pounds of seed cotton per acre at the first pick ing. Tn nearly all cases it will be ad- visable to pick the field two or three times before the gathering of the crop is complete. Care should be taken in picking to see that dirt, leaves, sticks other trash gets mixed with the fiber. It is extremely diffucult to separate the dirt from the fiber in roller gin, and dirty cotton always brings a low price.
 "The topping of cotton. or the pinch ing or cutting off the terminal buds, has been advocated by many as means of preventing excessive plant growth and as means of stimulating the formation of Nbolls. The results se- cured from this practice have been conflicting. In some cases, particular