How does cotton growing affect soil texture?
Cotton growing wastes soil humus and therefore injures soil texture by making the lighter soils more loose and open, and the heavier soils more dense and compact.
How does cotton growing affect soil water?
By wasting humus cotton growing injures soil texture and so weakens the water holding and water pumping power of light soils and weakens the water absorbing power of heavy soils. Therefore the continuous cultivation of cotton weakens the power of the soil over water, that most important factor in crop growth.
How does cotton growing affect soil ventilation?
Continuous cotton culture, by wasting humus, injures texture and therefore injures soil ventilation, causing too much ventilation in the lighter soils and too little in heavier soils.
How does cotton culture affect plant food in the soil?
Continuous cotton growing wastes plant food:
Because it wastes organic matter which contains valuable plant food, particularly nitrogen.
Because by wasting organic matter it increases the leaching of the lighter soils and the surface washing of the heavier soils.