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three to one—so away with it. Let us make less
cotton and more to eat, and then we will hear less
of “ Rust.” GOODMORE.
Macon, Ga., Oci. 21 st, 1870.
P. S. —I would state again for fear that I may
be misconstrued, that the failure of the tap-root
of cotton plants to reach the clay before the heat
of summer conies on, is the cause of premature
ripeness and decay—called by many rust. And
that in sandy land the clay is lacking and the
heat is greater and comes on earlier than in clay
soils. In undrained lands the water is an im
pediment, to the rooks. In mulatto land the soil
is often too porous, and when the season is very
warm the weed gets a premature growth and the
depth of root is wanting. In new ground which
lias never been broken deep the substratum is
near the surface and the roots strike it at once. —
In sonic soils the substratum is hard and crusty.
Such lands should be subsoiled but never turned
over. Never bring the crusty substance to the
surface. These arc facts, worthy of every ones
notice. G.
CLOSE AM) WIDE PLANTING OF (JOTTOX.
Editors Southern Cultivator— l will give
the readers of the Cultivator my experience in
close and wide planting of cotton. Last year 1
prepared a small field of cotton, which 1 intended
planting in hills four by two and a half feet
apart, manuring in the hills. My object in plant
ing thus, was that I might plough both ways in
cultivating, which would facilitate the hoeing.
After manuring about two-thirds of the field,
the manure gave out. The land was very poor,
and I was at some loss to know what was best
to be done. To plant land as poor as that four
by two and a half feet, I thought would not do.
The idea was suggested that here was a good
chance for an experiment, in wide and close
planting of cotton. So I planted several rows in
the hill with Jit manure, the same distance viz.
four by two and a half feet. The balance of the
field, I drilled fifteen inches apart On the 10th,
of September my neighbor and friend Dr. Wm.
L. Mathews and myself, walked out to ascertain
the results of my experiment. Recollect these
rows were four feet apart the wide way—we got
between the last row planted in hills, and the
first row planted in the drill; steped off ten steps,
and counted the stalks on the hilled row which
were thirteen, and on these thirteen stalks we
counted one hundred and forty-eight bolls. We
then counted the stalks on the drilled row, which
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR,
were twenty-four—and on this drilled row we
counted one hundred and twenty-four bolls;
there were twenty-four stalks in the drill against
thirteen in the hill—there was a balance of
twenty-four bolls in favor of the hills. And had
wc have weighed the cotton, the difference in fa
vor of the hilled row, in my opinion would have
been more. I must confess the result of this ex
periment did not prove as I expected it would,
when I planted, although 1 am an advocate of
giving good distance for either corn or cotton. —
But in this case, I was of the opinion that the
land was too ]kx>i for such wide planting (four
by tw o and a half.) But these arc the facts in the
experiment.
Farmers, give your experience, we are often
deceived in our judgment, but experience is not
apt to deceive us. And in experimenting, it is
best to weigh carefully and not risk our judg
ment founded upon eye-sight—often our own eyes
deceive us. For instance if Dr. Mathews and I
had decided on the above experiment, by simply
looking at the stalks of cotton as they grew, we
would have decided in favor of the drilled row ;
as the stalks seemed to be as high on the drilled
as on the lulled row. Give your experience, and
I know' of no better medium to speak through
than tlie Cultivator. I have tried experiments
this season with several different kinds of fertili
zers, and will give the results as soon as all the
cotton is picked. I will also give my experience
in topping cotton. GEO. C. DIXON.
Cameron , A s kriven Cos., Ga.
SHEEP.
Editors Southern Cultivator.— Either
“ Sand Hill” or his informant in your October No.
makes a queer mistake. Any treatise on sheep
will tell him that for fine wool he must breed the
Merino—that for mutton, along with a medium
quantity of coarse wool, the South down is the
best. And that in small flock's and on rich pa h
tures , the Cotsw'old yields heavily in long, coarse
wool and large carcase.
But if he intends to improve his flocks, let him
buy and read “ Randall’s Sheep Husbandry for
the South," a book recommended by the most em
inent wool grower of this state as “ the best he
ever read.” Indeed it is the standard work on
the subject. By-the-bye, he will probably find
one shearing a year, yield as much as two.
C. B.
Spring Hill, Tenn., October 10 th, 1870.
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