| Show how cotton is grown and prepared for market I 1 xe we publish the following folin wing from the american agriculturist being of the same series from which we extracted an article on the growing of sugar cane and sugar making at the south written by one of the editors of that excellent journal who is now on an extended tour of observation through thi thel southern states many nany of our readers will doubtless feel fee an interest in perusing this series the fa rallar proverb cotton Is king kings shows the importance of this crop in our agriculture and in our financial exchanges exchanged ex changes chanRes though interior to some other crops in pecan pecuniary lary value it Is 1 more mora largely exported and its influence Is to more immediately relt felt upon i the tia fla finances auces ances of the country meats breadstuffs bread stuffs and forage crops are largely consumed la in the tha immediate vicinity where they are pro dudd while cotton la Is almost exclusively sent gent abroad for a market so few a are re tho the cotton manufactories manu factories in the southern states that the amount consumed con umed by them would hardly hemi bemi he hempseed missed seed form the aggregate about three fourths of the crop are exported to europe of which england Is much the largest purchaser purchasers and the balance la Is milney 1111 manufactured la to the northern states this feature of the cotton crop has a marked influence upon the whole region producing it As it Is all sent bent there are no home markets fostered by this kind of husbandry and the region Is more exclusively agricultural than any other part of the country the cotton region though much larger than the sugar district Is still eull a narrow belt of country not over I 1 three hundred miles across and lying on both sides ol 01 the thirty second degree of Df latitude in passing down the mississippi it Is reputed to begin at Columb columbia laj in arkansas and to extend about down to the mouth et of the red bed river in this region little else Is cultivated except partial supplies of corn sweet potatoes and bacon for the forces upon the plantation to the south ot of this region sugar Is the main crop though considerable quantities of cotton and other articles are raised cotton Is also raised largely north ot of this belt but it takes its place with other crops as corn tobacco cos wheat bacon and hemp in inthis this narrow belt the th climate seems to ibe the be exactly adapted to the wants of the plant and cottons of the finest quality are raised CAPITAL CAPITALI BUILDINGS AND MACHINERY much less capital Is needed to work a cotton than a sugar rugar plantation the beat of forest lands for this plant in the state of mississippi can be bought for from ten to thirty dollars an acre and in the newer states for a much less use price lands much wom worn are frequently sold for five to ten dollars an the dwelling upon the cotton plantation Is a much less expensive affair than the farm house ol 01 the north it Is often made of logs rudely finished nini fini sheds and almost invariably without any cellar the chimneys are often mado made mad of mud and sticks and as a rule upon the outside of the building in the case of very wealthy proprietors the mansion Is of course more expensively built and furnished the dwella dwellings n 9 a of the tho t h e a slaves la v e a are still more rude generally consisting of one small email room and without any other provision for lighting the apartment pertinent a than the door and a window in the rear c closed by wooden shutters the gln gin house and mill for grinding born corn are generally generall y under one roof and the machinery in both cases Is moved by mule or horsepower horse power As the timber Is furnished upon the spot the principal part of the expense Is for the machinery which Is generally limited to a few hundred dollars and rarely exceeds a few thousands the barns and hovels for the mules and stock are generally general lyof of homb home manufacture and do not require a large outlay the largest part of the capital Is almost invariably in slave siave 6 lavefy ana ani as these are usually born on the plantation plantations inherited or gained by marriage marriages the planter Is prepared ta to grow cotton in a new region regions without any very large extra investments As soon as the buildings are put up the process of girdling and ana clearing commences SELECTION AND OPENING OF plantations the favorite sites for building buli bull ding are bluffs or elevated spots near bottom lands the planter who has opportunity for selection Is guided somewhat by the character of the umber timber upon the land oak and nd water oak indicate a soil rather too cold and heavy for his purpose the pines indicate a soil too light to yield many crops without manure the beach whiteoak white oak whitewood white wooda wood or I 1 poplar the magnolia and the white and black gums gu ms are the surer signs of good cotton lands the reed cane a and nd the cypress also grow upon rich lands landsa but these generally want more or less drainage to fit them for cultivation the moving almost always takes place in winters winter and the fir farst first t work after building Is the girdling of the primitive forest trees the small trees and underbrush are cut down and either cither burned upon the spot or saved for firewood A few of the large trees white oaks oaky and poplars splitting freely are also cut and rived for fencing the trees frequently put out after girdling but the hot suns of july and august generally finish them the ground Is plowed and planted either with corn or cotton the first season and about a halt crop only Is expected on account of the shade the second winter a few more mere of the dead trees are cut down for rail timber and others are blown over by the winds many of the limbs aso ago also algo rot and fall and the crop for two or three years is a good deal injured from this source decay goes on much more mole rapidly than la to our northern climate and after the fourth season few shrubs or trees are left to interfere with the tho cultivation it Is thought to be much more economical to allow decay and the winds to prostrate the treeby trees than to do it with the ax though the falling trees and limbs i often do extensive injury to the growing plants in the rich bottom lands cotton Is frequently planted six bix or eight years in succession and where rotation Is attempt attempted ea corn alternates with cotton preparation OF or THE SOIL AND PLANTING after the plantation has been cleared of its timber timbers the preparation fora fors tor for a new crop beat begins n very tery soon boon b after the h e old Is gat gathered hered there Is very little frost or cold weather in a ordinary seasons to interfere with outdoor out door labor iho tho I 1 cotton Is almost invariably planted upon ridges about nire fire feet apart they begin to prepare these ridges in february and march by turning two furrows together if it Is an old cotton stubble the ridge is 13 marked in the middle middie of the last years rows thus giving the crop a 11 little littie t t I 1 a change of soil in uneven ground care Is taken to run the furrows as nearly level as possible around the sides of hills to prevent washing the soil of the best upland plantations Is a loose friable clay easily removed by the action of water grass is not at all cultivated and there Is nothing to hold the surface of the soli soil when it lles lies fallow tallow but brown sedge nimble will and weed weeds with the best precautions a good deal of it Is washed off ani ana all the rivers river are as turbid as a mud puddle for the larler larger part of the year atter after the ridge Is prepared by plowing in april a light barrow Is run over the top to break all lumps and to level it then a drilling tool or marker Is drawn hy by a mule upon the top of the ridge making a narrow furrow f U aro W i two or chrt e inches deep A hand band dimmed I 1 immediately ate ly folota folO foi fol bows Tg scattering the seed as uniformly as possible inthe in the drill putting in at least ten times the quantity that will be suffered to grow another follows the covering the seed this Is sometimes done with a hoe boe sometimes with the toot foot and again with a sort of scraper drawn by a mule cotton seed planters are beginning to be introduced en on the better class of plantations and thy make a great saving of seed and time they open the drill drop drep the seed and cover it as rapidly as a mule can walk thus saving the labor of two hands handt and insuring a much more even distribute distri distribution but ion of the seed y crop Is more bene fitted by manure than cotton and aud yet it Is not dot ot until quite recently that cotton seed one of the best kinds of manure mantere for the plant has been saved this Is now bow pretty generally centrally applied in the upland districts to be ibe continued |
