The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1920-04-19
Cotton Planting Under
Boil Weevil Conditions
Time and Methods Of Planting
and Cultivation To Beat
The Boil Weevl.

Clemson College, April ia great
many farmers are asking about the
time Of planting cotton under boil
wssvil conditions. The answer tc
this question, says Prof. c. P. Black
we'll OF the asronozny division, is that
the time OF planting which gave best
results IN the previous years will
give best results under boil weevi
conditions. The best time for plant
ing varies according to the season
Cotton is a warm weather plant. II
will not make Q healthy growth until
t:s soil is reasonably warm and dan
,.'' c: frost 10 past. 90 Il 10 general
ly bsst not to plant until the sell 10
warm. Then 4 10 we'll 10 plant in q
we'll prepared SEED bed seed which
has been dehnted with sulpnuric
acid. This should give prompt and
unifsrm termination and should al
low the cotton to get started before
the weeds como. Cotton which is
planted too early while the soil Is yet
cold will not make Q quick growth,
and the weeds will have an opportun'
ity 70 begin growth at tho same time
ths cotton does, thus making the
crop more difficult to cultivate and
frequently resulting in poorer
stand.
Msthsds Of Planting
In order Tor cotton 70 make . sood
start tho seed should not se planted
IN direct contact with hAavy applisG
tions q eonnsrolal fertilizer. Where
heavy applications OF soanmeroial Ter
ttli.er are made, some kind q sAo~sl
plow should be run tassasa tAs fur
row ahead Of the cotton pssatsr to
mix the fsYtililsr thoroughly with the
soil before planting. II the sstton -
plaatsd IN direct contact win the
tsrtiiisss, tAsrs may be no injury II
heavy rains follow the planting ana
prevsat he concentration d tns con
solution. But II dry wsatAsr follows
the planting, tho soil solution BE-
comes vsYy concentrated and the
young 1oo<s of tho plant ars Killed
This may result in . poor stand o.
cotton BY killing OF many Of the
youag pfants, q II may result Ia \
s.untxd crop BY dsiayinE the cary
growth sf che plants. fAts has not
besn susA sn important sassssr n ne
past, ss there has usually been .
long growing season ana he cotton
has had plenty ot time to mature
Under boil wssvfl conditions, how
s,s,. Il 10 q matter Of prime tnpert-
anee. - sarlinsss u very essential
to success In beating the boil wsevil.
Careful attention to this point may
prevent serious loss.
Another factor IN planting under
boil wssvil conditions which d.
serves careful consideration at this
time is the spacing OF plants at time
Of planting. Dy planting d'''nted
seed Il 10 pesslble to drop the sesd at
almost any Interval desired, and BY
pIantine several seed In each hill a
GOOD stand may be secured.
This makes It profitable to cult
vate cotton with a spike!tooth har-
row or q row harrow at an early
date and to keep the weeds down ana
thereby save much labor and exTsnsa
IN ehopping.
Spaolns
FARMERS have frequently besn ad
vised to space their cotton far apart
IN order that tho sunlight may get IN
between the plants and kill the We.
evils IN the squares which fall to, tho
ground early in the season. 1his
method is reasonably successful IN
the western part Of the Cotton Belt,
whore thsre are many long periods OF
DRY hot weather during the early sum-
mer months. But it IS not sue
cessful IL South Carolina because
thsre are no long periods Of dry hot
weather. There have been many ex-
periments to determine the best spac-
ing Of cotton plants, but there are so
many factors entering into the con-
sideratien that 1t Is impossible to
set a definite spacing which would
be best for all farms.
Each farmer needs to study his
own conditions and use the spacing
which gives best results on his land.
The fertility Of the soil, the amount
Of rainfall. the kind Of cotton planted,
and the amount OF fertilizer used are
all factors which should be consider
o. n spacing cotton. As 4 general
rule, experiments have shown larger
Yields from the relatively close sPae.
Ina. At the Pee Dee Experimant