Agriculture for beginners . - for the pro-duction of this latter variet). The seeds of the sea-islandcotton are small, smooth, and black. They are so smoothand stick so loosely to the lint that they are separated fromit by roller-gins instead of by saw-gins. When these seedsare planted away from the soil and air of their ocean home,the plant does not thrive. FARM CROPS 183 Many attempts have been made and are still being madeto increase the length of the staple of the upland types. Themethods used are as follows : selection of seed having a longfiber ; special cultivation and fertilization ; c
Agriculture for beginners . - for the pro-duction of this latter variet). The seeds of the sea-islandcotton are small, smooth, and black. They are so smoothand stick so loosely to the lint that they are separated fromit by roller-gins instead of by saw-gins. When these seedsare planted away from the soil and air of their ocean home,the plant does not thrive. FARM CROPS 183 Many attempts have been made and are still being madeto increase the length of the staple of the upland types. Themethods used are as follows : selection of seed having a longfiber ; special cultivation and fertilization ; crossing the short-stapled cotton on the long-stapled cotton. This last process,as already explained, is called hybridizing. Many of theseattempts have succeeded, and there are now a large numberof varieties which excel the older varieties in profitable new \arieties are each \ear being more widely Fig. 1S5. CoTTu-N ready h\iR Ikkixg Every farmer should study the new types and select theone that will best suit his land. The new types ha\e beendeveloped under the best tillage. Therefore if a farmer wouldkeep the new type as good as it was when he began togrow it, he must give it the same good tillage, and practiceseed-selection. The cotton plant is nourished by a tap-root that w ill seekfood as deeply as loose earth will permit the root to penetrate ;hence, in preparing land for this crop the first plowing shouldbe done at least with a two-horse plow and should be deepand thorough. This deep plowing not only allows the tap-rootto penetrate, but it also admits a circulation of air. 184 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS On some cotton farms it is the practice to break the landin winter or early spring and then let it lie naked untilplanting-time. This is not a good practice. The winterrains wash more plant food out of unprotected soil than asingle crop would use. It would be better, in the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectagriculture, bookyear
