Thursday, March 11, 1909.
THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER.
Farapinig
How to Make It
O
o
$S00 More a Yesur
X By Making More Money Out of the Cotton Crop
m
O THE AVERAGE farmer the selling of
the lint for a higher price, through some
sort of control of the market, is a much
more attractive means of "Getting More Profit
From the Cotton Crop," than that of Increasing
his profit by reducing the cost of production or by
utilizing the by-product, cottonseed, to better ad
vantage While believing that cotton; Is worth
more than .10. cents a pound to the consuming
world, and that it should always sell above that
figure, and while believing that very mucn may oe
done to increase the profits by better marketing,
we are most thoroughly convinced, beyond a
shadow of doubt, that very much more can be
done by the farmers, Individually or collectively,
In increasing their profits from their cotton crop
by reducing the cost of producing a pound of cot
ton and by properly utilizing the by-product,
cottonseed, than by any influence which it Is pos
sible for them to exert towards controlling the
price of the staple. Not only are we sure that
more can be done in this way than by efforts to
control the price, but we are equally certain that
it can be done much more easily.
By these statements we do not wish to convey
the idea that combinations of speculators, and many
other unjust influences, have not deprived the
farmer of a fair price for his products, nor that
these evils should not be corrected, but the indi
vidual! farmer acting alone, or without the help
or co-operation of others, can very materially re
duce the cost of production, whereas the market
can only be controlled by the united efforts of a
very large proportion of the cotton growers of the
whole country. Moreover, concerted action, espe
cially the holding of cotton to control the market,
Is extremely difficult, if not Impossible, so long as
a large proportion of the growers are not inde
pendent, but wholly dependent on others, whose
interests may be different, for the financial sup
port necessary to continue their farming opera-
er and has made considerable money farming,
says: -1
"I use a rotation of crops that makes my
cotton follow peas that have been sown after
small grain. I cut the peas for hay, except on
the poor spots, and after frost turn under, any
stubble grass, etc., which may be on the land,
with a reversible disc plow. I use the rever
sible disc plow because with it one man and
three mules can do more work than one man
can do with any other plow I ever used. I
follow the plow with a seeding of onerhalf
bushel of rye per acre and harrow In. Next
spring, when the land Is dry enough to work
and before the rye begins to head, I take a
disc harrow and sharpen each disc well, then
set the discs to run about three Inches deep
and run it over the rye. This cuts it up and
Hons.
Reduce the Price of Production.
EELING that It is easier to point out how
our "$500 More a Year Farming" can be
made through reducing the cost of produc
tion and through a better handling of the cotton
seed, the remainder of this article will be devoted
to these phases of the question. The cost of pro
duction may be reduced in two ways: First, by
cultivating a given area for less, and, second, by
making that area yield more. The chief defects
in our methods of cultivation which have increased
the cost of production have been insufficient prep
aration of the land which has made cultivation of
the crop difficult and expensive too great cost in
making, beds, putting in fertilizers and planting.
and the failure to use such methods and tools
in cultivating the crop as would permit the sub
stitution of horse for man labor.
For Instance, the writer is acquainted with two
good cotton growers. One of them describes his
preparation of the land as follows:
"The land having been previously pre
pared by plowing flush, furrows are made
from three to four feet apart with a wide
shovel (plow) as the foundation of the beds
on which the seed are to be planted and the
plants are to stand: The fertilizer is then ap
plied in these open furrows and well mixed
with the soil by running once or twice with
a coulter or long scooter. Then list with two
furrows of a turn plow."
The other, who is a very successful cotton grow-
According to the last census each farmer In the
NORTH Atlantic States earned $984 a year, and each
farmer In the SOUTH Atlantic States only $484 or ex
actly $500 a year less for the average farmer In The
Progressive Farmer's territory than for his brother
farmer just north of him. The object of these articles
Is to set forth the plans by which we may bring up our
Southern farming to Northern profits, the next four
articles in this series being as follows :
Mar. 18. By Better Care and Feeding of the Farm
i . Work Stock.
Mar. 25. By Making More Pork at Less Oost.
Apr. 1. By Starting the Crops Right. ;
Apr. 8. Bv Making Hay a Money as well as a Feed
Crop. ;
This Week's Guide Post, to $500
More a Year.
N OUR territory 2 8-5 acres are re
quired to produce a bale of cotton.
One bale per acre is an agricultural
proposition which any man of average in
telligence and with average land can solve.
One-third of the land in cotton can, in five
years, be economically made to produce as
much as all of it now produces.
While we believe that cotton is worth
more than 10 cents, and that much may
be done to increase the profits of cotton
growing by better marketing, we are con
vinced beyond the shadow of a doubt much
more can be done by reducing the cost of
producing a pound of cotton and by prop
erly utilizing the cottonseed.
The chief defects in our methods of cul
tivation have been insufficient preparation
of the land, which has j made cultivation
of the crop difficult and expensive, and
the failure to use such methods and tools
as would permit the substitution of horse
for man labor.
We know two cotton growers. One goes
once or twice across the field to mix the
fertilizer with the soil and then twice
more to form the bed; the other, a more
successful farmer, goes f only once to do
what the first takes three or four trips to
accomplish.
The time to lay by depends on the stage
of growth and weather conditions, not on
the day of the month.
works it into the land. In about one week
I run the harrow in the opposite direction,
setting the discs to run about five inches deep.
In many instances two harrowings will do,
but sometimes, and on some lands, it takes
three. This is all the work that is necessary
before putting in the fertilizer, when I open
a furrow put in the fertilizer and cover with
disc harrow, throwing all the dirt to the cen
ter. This at one trip makes the bed upon
which the cotton is to be planted."
Note the difference. Here is one man who goes
once or twice across the field to mix the fertilizer
with the soil and then twice more to form the bed;
whereas the other, goes only once across the field
to do what the first makes three or 'four trips to
accomplish. ,
Different methods will, and should, be used un
der different conditions, but one thing is certain,
that right here is one place at which the cost of
production can be very materially reduced on the
average farm.
The Preparation of the Seed Bed.
S STATED, the land is not usually suffici
ently well prepared before planting to
make the use of labor-saving tools practi
cable in the cultivation of the crop, and hoeing and
man labor, the most expensive factors in the pro
duction of a cotton crop, qannot be reduced to a
minimum, which should always be the aim.
As an illustration of how one very supcessfu
cotton grower, Dr. W. J. Mcxenaon, oi Anson
Co., N. C cultivates his crop with a minimum
of man labor,? and consequently with a minimum
of expense, we quote the following description of
his methods. !i He first states that he uses an
abundance of; seed on light lands from one to
one and a half bushels per acre, and on stiff lands.
two bushels, and then says:
"When you see the ground begin to crack
along the rows, then commence the culti
vation. Do not wait for the cotton to come up.
Where you Shave a crust formed by rains, run
across the5 rows with a light iron-tooth
smoothing narrow with teeth set so they will
not drag up the cotton. In four to six days
run diagonally across the rows again, and re
peat in a few days, going in opposite direc
tions; now take the weeder arid run it
straight across the rows, then diagonally in.
both ways.l going over once a week until the
cotton is four or five inches hign. If this
work is well done, it needs no hoeing up to,'
this time, jj Now, go over with hoes, thinning
to stand and clearing all grass left by harrow
and weeder. On light lands and where there
is no i crust, use the weeder from the start.
After hoeing, if your land is such that cultiva
tors can be used, by all means use them; cul
tivators that will work a row at one trip:
use these as long as you can straddle the cot
ton, then finish with the open and shut kind:
they will plow a middle at one trip. All cul
tivation should be shallowr. deeper when the
cotton is small, using great care not to break
the small feeding roots as they extend
through the land. They are doing the work
for you, searching for plant food in every
square inch of soil, so break as few of them
as possible. Keep the middles clear of grass
at all times."
J
When To Lay By.
HE absurd practice, so common all over the
Cotton ; Belt, of stopping cultivation on a
certain date instead of basing the length of
time the crop should be cultivated on the stag
of its growth and the weather conditions, is par
tially responsible for our small average yield. In
many cases the yield can be much increased or the
crop saved from great injury, by breaking the
crust and preventing the evaporation of the wa
ter; that is, by saving it for the roots of the plants
instead of permitting it to go off into the air.
Of course, suggestions can be offered or plans
made only for normal conditions, and if from any
cause the grass and weeds get a start, the weeder
and the harrow will have to be laid aside and oth
er tools used, but the methods of cultivation best
suited to economical cultivation that is, the use
of the weeder and harrow are also the best tools
for preventing the grass getting a start either In
wet or dry 5 weather.
I
How We Waste Our Cotton Seed,
N OUR discussion of the better utilization
of the cottonseed we shall indicate how
much more stable manure can be obtained;
and in our previous article on fertilizers the lines
along which a more intelligent fertilization are to
come were pointed out. In our article on "Better
Seed" we called attention to the increased yields
of certain varieties over the average varieties
planted,1 but we cannot refrain from again calling
attention to the great importance of every grower
obtaining the best varieties for his section, and
then improving their yield by proper selection.
The tests of varieties made by the Experiment
Stations are the most extensive and most carefully
conducted and are therefore the most trustworthy,
and we insist that any man who is in real earnest
In his effort to get "$500 More a Year" from his
farming cannot afford to neglect to get the two
leading varieties in the tests made by his Experi
ment Station and test them in comparison with the
variety he is now planting. By this means alone
a good share of that "$500 More a Year" may be
obtained. i