The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-04-24
GROWING COTTON TO DEFEAT
WEEVIL
Suggestions as to Time, Methods Of
Of Planting, Spacing ard Guilt
waiting the Soil

Clemson College. April 20.-To
grow cotton successfully in the pres
ence of the boil weevil more attention
must be given to time and methods of
painting, spacing and cultivating, says
Prof C. P. Blackwell, agronomist.
who warns against the danger of
planting too early, suggests delinting
the seed for prompt and uniform
termination, and advises relatively
close spacing and rapid shallow cult
vation. He says:
"The time of planting which gave
best results in the previous years will
give best results Under boil weevil
conditions. The best time for plant
ing varies according to the season.
Cotton is a warm weather plant. IT
will not make healthy growth until
the soil is reasonably warm and dan
ger of frost is past. Then it is well
to plant in a we'll prepared seed bed
seed which have been delinted with
sulphuric acid This should give
prompt and uniform termination and
should allow the cotton to get started
before the weeds come. Cotton which
is planted too early while the soil IS
yet cold will not make a quick growth
and the weeds will have an oppor-unl-
" to begin growth at the same time
the cotton does. thus making the crop
more difficult to cultivate and fre-
quently resulting in a poorer stand.
"In order for cotton to make good
start the seed should not be planted
in direct contact with heavy applica-
tons of commercial fertilizer. Where
heavy applications OF commercial fer
tilizers are made, some kind of shove
plow should be run through the fur
row ahead of the cotton planter to
mix The fertilizer thoroughly with the
soil before planting. If the cotton Is
planted in direct contact with the
fertilizer. there may be no injury If
heavy rains follow the planting and
prevent the concentration of the SOIL
solution. But if dry weather follows
the planting, the soil solution becomes
very concentrated and the young roots
Of the plant are killed This may re-
suit in a poor stand of cotton by kill
ing off many of the young plants, or
it may result in a stunted crop by de-
laying the early growth OF the
plants This has not been such an
important matter in the past. as there
has usually been a long growing sea-
son and the cotton has had plenty of
time to mature. Under boil weevlI
conditions. however. it is q matter Of
prime importance. as earliness is very
essential to success in beating the
boil weevil, careful attention to this
point may prevent serious loss.
Value of Delinting Seed.
Another factor in planting under
boil weevil conditions which deserves
careful consideration at this time is
the spacing of plants at time of plant
ing. BY planting delinted seed it is
any interval desired, and by planting
several seed in each hill a good stand
may be secured. This makes it profit
able to cultivate cotton with a spike
tooth harrow or row harrow at an
early date and to keep the weeds
| down and thereby save much labor
and expenses in chopping.
Farmers have frequently been ad-
vised to space their cotton far apart
in order that the sunlight may get
| in between the plants and kill the
weevils in the squares which fall to
the ground early in the season. This
method is reasonably successful in
the western part Of the cotton belt,
where there are many long periods
summer months But it is not sue
j cessful in South Carolina because
there are no long periods of dry, hot
weather. There have been many *
Deriments to determine the best Spac-
| ing of cotton plants, but there are SO
many factors entering into the con
sideration that it is impossible to set
q definite spacing which would be best
for all the 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 arl
al factors which should be consid-
cred in spacing cotton. As a general
rule. experiments have shown larger
yields from the relatively close spac-
ing. At the Pee Dee Experiment Sta
ton best results have been gotten py
planting in 4-foot rows. With plants
not more than ten to twelve inches
apart in the row. This on compara'
lively fertile soil. yielding about one
and one-half bales per acre as an av-
erage.
Cultivation
THE primary object Of cultivation