Show oot cot COTTON ton AND ITS CULTURE DT JIT r UTAH having recently visited the cotto cotton n growing di districts il of southern utah and add having gleaned cleaned fro flo from m the most reliable sources I 1 some sortie information on this subject theresil the resist lt chiti chiefly fly of personal bonal observation and experience inthis in this territory I 1 cheerfully present it for consideration the first efforts to raise cotton in utah were made at fort clara on the santa ranta clara river upwards of miles south of great salt lake C city 1 tri i in n the year 1855 about thred three quarts of P old oid 1 d a seed e 1 I were obtained from various quarters most of which upon the of a gentleman prof professing profession essin a knowledge of cotton growl growing ng was soa soaked e ih new m milk k of this not one eseed seed beed came up of that which was wag not milk is soaked 0 aked about plants grew from which were ie raised 75 ibs seed cotton in 1856 the santa clara ciara colonist renewed their efforts planting one and a balf half bushels seed peed in five acres or of ground from this they realized but about 00 lbs ibs seed cotton not greatly greidy dis heartened they determined 1 ned if r possible the next year todo to do something in cotton raising and planted fifty acres which was almost a total failure throy bad seed lack of water the river having become dry and bad management the whole I 1 crop y yielding 0 only ibs lbs seed cotton colton the p present re s i eni year yea 1858 at the same locality they have planted nearly 20 acres in cotton and their crop was reported at about half a stand this is a decided improvement and it if the anticipations of the planters are re realized will throw into our bands the handsome quantity of pounds of seed cotton in the meantime efforts to raise cotton hae hare been made in ather sections at washington the present season acres of cotton were werd reported and this quantity considered a fair stand which if realized resized will yield beld ibs lbs i seed cotton it must not by be e understood however that these figures represent the whole number of acres of cotton planted canted at this thia settlement such success would jib jle e too flattering probably there have been in the region of four foun hundred acres planted fore afore lore than two thirds as has been shown Is a failure and this chiefly from salt and other mineral in the soil however if they can raise even one third of a crop the planters of utah feel more than satisfied at huberville He berville a pioneer coony colony organized last spring under the superintendence of br jos horne home and sustained by frosts B ngung V H C kimball D H wells G D grant A carrington and feramorz little located on the rio virgin 9 miles south of ft clara there are 33 acres in cotton for which half cistand a stand considered a safe eafe estimate which would give an aggregate of about bs the seed cotton cot toli toquerville is another settlement formed this spring lying in the narrow bottom of ash creek about three miles abo above veits its junction with wish the rio virgin and nearly neally 20 miles south east of harmony harmody here they planted eight eil acres in cotton cotlon which bade fair for a good pod yield but by a hail bail storm in june it was mostly cut down and tho stunted and ragged looking alpez appeared tred more re regular ular in the rows than any elsewhere noticed f this in connection with the fact that th the e rio virgin has its source to the eastward ot of ot of Tooti erville and continues nearly westward till it passes pa es He berville and be being ilg sheltered by high mountains immediately on n the north and ope open to the gouth south is one indication that al all ali t the 1 arable land on or near its banies banks where water can be conducted as far up tip as the st stream reali will justify ius jus tik can call be made avail ab lefor raising cotton A tract of about acres has been bean discovered some six miles above the mouth 0 ash creek to which it is said to be lm impossible possible to construct a wagon waon road I 1 it is thou thoo thought ht billat illat that the nauseous if not noi poi bonous qualities of the the rio rig virgin have influence all in causing the mineral in the so soito solto ito be more de destructive S ori on ve vegetation 0 elation if this thib be true a plantation toabe to the eastward will ili iii klic ilic rue sue 1 aeed best for it hasteen has been ascertained that about abou t five m miles iles lles above the mouth me uth of ash creek there are poisonous springs 9 the ibe be virgin above which the water so ill lil tasted below is more wholesome t the settlers settler sat sab at berville huberville He f for or a ione lone longtime b fim tim e were compelled to drink this nauseous water the they dug a well wely but bui bu ucb unhappily appely ap found no better water Finall yin yi in ahe latter part parl of the fhe geason reason season their ony relief was in findan finding asar a spring ing of better water in the dry bed of the e santa clara cara which they thoy were und under erthe the necessity of hauling about three mile mlle I 1 it will ie be seen that there arti are many serious obstacles to oppose cotton growing rowin n but when we consider the disastrous s failures that have attended led similar attempts in nother bother othe i r countries as alstin this territory lin in kaisim rai ral raising sim other craps cropf we cannot annoe bu congratulate ourselves thus far tar upon aloon our oar success I 1 saw about ili 14 acres ot 0 cotton at washington on ori the upland for which the cowper told m me eb he e va would uld ngn no accept ope one thousand pounds of ginned ir ned cotton 1 1 about the middle of july the plants were in nearly every st stage age some soine blesson pods just farming some in first days blossom some in red second cond day others with bolls faiming foi fol ming half termed full fiill size and hard cotton commences about the first of september ond and nd continues coat cont inies luies till frost comes the seed comes up best hest when planted not more inore than two ivo inches deep dee care being taken to td have sufficient of mois mols moisture tufe in the sui to brine brins it up tip the seed sied should be planted from april lat let to the middle of may the lows Tows rows should be three feet apart each seed about one foot apart its av average rage he height ight when matu mature re is from two to four feet feit this however need not be cons dered any detriment for theAl themi the hinest finest nest artcle article grows growa onibe on ahe smaller sizel sied sled ji pia pla lants rits extremely large farge 1 plants plaits field a coarse cotton and frequently yield leid botein no nothing thin tEin t the green grien seed variety bas bag superseded all ail others experience as yet having proved that it isbert best adapted to our climate and at berville huberville He it is 13 estimated hat that there are about COO goo acris acres acres of land suitable for tor cotton besides that already under cultivation f P the plant when oung young is extremely tender does rot require much water and is often injured injured by too early earty and arid top frequent ir irrigation the water should not be ip applied plied piled lin in the dhenin opening 61 of the season till the show they need it and then care should be taken to keep it from the steaks stem by so doing not orly odly will the plant escape injury from water but it will be less liable to be injured injure dby by its worst efimy enemy the mineral I 1 I 1 have observed on land where there is is considerable sid erable mine mide mineral ial lal that thit when water is applied so that it reaches the stem of the plant pant its effect effects sare are disastrous disa diba stroub but in rows ridged so that that the water could soak to the roots without to touching the stem the plant wap wae was wab healthy and strong in some places place upon the application of water the surface was changed change dinto into a cement caused by a superabundance of lime in in th the e soil 1 coot nights and parching winds have been somewhat detrimental two or three times hoeing is is beneficial but while abile the plants are young too gret ireat treat caution cannot be used lest they be cut or bruised with the hoe wounds produced by the hoe are called sore shins by which the plants are permanently adjured Dju ared red some species of cotton are perennial al na ana all pil 11 varieties ars are very veny hardy after the pianta planta aye are haij half grown r i the construction of durable dambis dams is of great importance by a slight rise in in the ahe river a dam at He berville that cost 1000 was swept away in the season when irrigation was most needed thus periling pe riling a whole seasons labors at washington two or three dams have been destroyed desti oyed by a similar cause the common enemies and diseases t to 0 which cotton is 13 subject in the southern states have caused little or no alarm here our chief ebern enemy y has been the mineral in the poll soi boi which by the adoption of modes of culture to the soil soll so may to some extent be toe overcome in spots where the plants have been destro destroyed el by mineral the present sea sorl sort jet let there be e planted some of 0 f the esculent roots impervious to ille lile effects of mi mineral aeral by such a course the land most impregnated may be b made madd suitable for cotton then th en by the seed on low ridges where the water cater will not reach the stem of the plant the surety of or the crop may be much increased As near as I 1 am able to dete detelj determine rj ne he under strata in in this section of country la 0 of temporary in horary formations of a loose conglomerate on the soil itself heing being comp composed ased of sand ahe washings s of oi the fiver diver river at high water the standard stan daid dald price for ginned cotton has tie been n 75 cents pr ib the yield of seed cotton 0 tobi tofi pr acre may mak maybe be Bet set down at 1200 lbs ibs th the eed seed s is is said to average two thirds of the whole weight the cost of preparing it for market i is 1 probably 10 or 15 pr loo ibs iba I 1 aver A very y small water oer power roller gln gin at abc tr ft clara cleans ibs lbs pr day A larla largen larger eyer eyen 5 one is in progress at tva iva washington ashington sh ington t I 1 may progress ere add tha in all these se settlements battlements the soi sorghum sucre sp succeeds deeds well at washington ily ity ington ton I 1 saw several kinds c cf tobacco toba c ed b idding 6 f fair air for a good crop A variety brought blought by 1 mr I 1 r moore from N new e w zeal zealand appeared very fine y vC cotton scotton otton is by some entitled entitle dKing king shall not utah share i in rl ils its benefits ev even en tho thol its cultivation ii 13 attended with so mar bary mar mary y disadvantages and losses s i i 1 e i mcknight G 3 L cg CITY oct 1 1 S ai |