There are three species of cotton: tree-cotton, shrub-cotton, and herbaceous cotton. The tree-cotton is cultivated to considerable extent in northern Africa, and produces a fair staple of cotton for commerce; being produced on trees from ten to twenty-five feet high, it is not so easily gathered. The shrub-cotton is cultivated in various parts of the world, particularly in Asia and South America. Growing in the form of small bushes, it is convenient, and the staple is fair. But these are both inferior to the herbaceous cotton. This is an herb growing annually, like corn, a number of feet in height, more or less according to soil and season, and producing the best known cotton. Under these species there are many varieties: we need speak only of the varieties of herbaceous cotton. Writers vary in their estimates of varieties; some say there are eight, and others put them as high as one hundred. This is a question of no practical moment. The sea-island cotton, called also "long staple" on account of its very long silky fibres, is the finest cotton known. Its name arose from the fact of its production in greatest perfection on the low, sandy islands near the coasts of some of the Southern states. It does well on low land near the seashore. The saltness and humidity of such locations seem peculiarly favorable to its greatest perfection. It yields about half as much as the "short staple" called Mexican and Petit gulf cotton, and known in commerce as upland cotton. But the sea-island, or long staple, sells for three or four times as much per pound, and, hence, is most profitable to the planter, in all regions where it will flourish well. The Mexican is very productive on most soils, and is easily gathered and prepared for market. There are quite a number of other varieties; as, banana, Vick's hundred-seed, Pitt's prolific, multibolus, mammoth, sugar-loaf, &c., &c. The sugar-loaf is highly commended, as are some of the others named. They have had quite a run among seed-sellers. Most of these varieties are the improved Mexican. It is well to get seed frequently from a distance; but any extravagant prices are unwise. Improvement of cotton-seed is an important part of its most profitable culture. While much said about it by interested parties is doubtless mere humbug, yet there is great importance to be attached to improvement of seed. This is true of all agricultural products, and no less so of cotton than of others. Two things only are essential to constant improvement in cotton-seed—selection and care. Select from the best quality, producing the largest yield, and maturing early; pick it before much rain has fallen on it after ripening; dry it thoroughly before ginning, and dry it very thoroughly after it is clear of the fibre, before putting it in bulk. Cotton-seed, without extra care in drying, has moisture enough to make it heat in bulk, by which its germinating power is greatly impaired. It is this, and the effects of fall rains, that causes seed to trouble planters so seriously by not coming up: this makes it difficult to obtain good even stands, and causes much loss by diminished crops. Care in these respects would add many pounds to the acre in most cotton-fields of the land.
Preparing the Soil for Planting.—On all land not having a porous subsoil, plow very deep; it gives opportunity for the long tap-root of the plant to penetrate deep, and guard against excessive drought. The usual custom is to lay the ground into beds, elevated a little in the middle, and a depression between them, in which excessive moisture may run off; also to increase the action of the sun and air. The surface of the soil to be planted should be made very fine and smooth. This is true of everything planted—it should be in finely-pulverized soil; it comes up more readily and evenly. Soil left in coarse lumps or particles gives the air too much action on the germinating seeds and young plants, and retards and stints their growth. Deep plowing guards alike against too much or too little moisture. Too much water has room to sink away from the surface and allow it to dry speedily. It also forms a sort of reservoir to hold water for use in a drought. The seed should be planted in as straight a line as possible, from three and a half to five and a half feet apart one way, and from fourteen to twenty-five inches the other, according to the quality of the land, and the growth of the variety planted. Rich lands will not bear the plants so close as the poor. Many are great losers by not securing plants enough on the ground. Straight lines greatly facilitate culture, as it can mostly be done with the plow or cultivator. Turning land over deep, just before planting, is the best known remedy for the cut-worm; it is said to put them back until the plants grow beyond their reach. The best planters generally cover with a piece of plank drawn over the furrow in which the seed is dropped. It would be far better to roll it, as some few planters do; the effect on the early vegetation of the seed and rapid growth of the young plant would be very great, on the general principles given on "Rolling." The object of cultivation is to keep down the grass, which is the great enemy of the cotton. Plowing the last thing before planting aids this, by giving the cotton quite as early a start as the weeds or grass. Cultivate early, and the grass will be easily covered and killed. Always plant when it will come up speedily and grow rapidly; this is better than very early planting, and certainly much better than very late. Thin out to one in a place, as early as the plants are out of danger of dying. Gathering should commence as soon as bolls enough are in right condition to allow a hand to gather forty pounds per day. It is better and cheaper than to risk the injury from rains after the crop is ripe.
Manures.—Perhaps this is, at the present time, the greatest question for cotton-planters. The application of all the most approved principles and agents of fertilization would do more for the interests of the cotton crop than anything else. Cotton-plantations are sometimes said to run down so as to render it necessary to abandon portions of the land, and select new. Instead of this, land may not only be kept up with proper manuring, but made to yield larger crops from year to year. The following analysis of the ash of the cotton-plant will indicate the wants of the soil in which it grows:—
| 1. Potash | 29.58 |
| 2. Lime | 24.34 |
| 3. Magnesia | 3.73 |
| 4. Chloride | 0.65 |
| 5. Phosphoric acid | 34.92 |
| 6. Sulphuric acid | 3.54 |
| 7. Silica | 3.24 |
| —— | |
| 100.00 |
This analysis shows that the soil for cotton needs much lime, bones or bone-dust, and wood-ashes, besides the ordinary barn-yard and compost manures. All the preparations and applications of manures specified in this work, under the head of "Manures," are applicable to cotton. The usual recommendations of rotation in crops is, perhaps, more important in cotton culture than anywhere else. Judicious fallowing, on principles adapted to a Southern climate, is another great means of keeping up and improving the land. This is also the only effectual means of guarding against the numerous enemies and diseases of the cotton-plant. The health of the plants is secured, and they are made to outstrip their enemies only by the fertility and fine tilth of the soil in which they grow. This is confirmed on every hand by the correspondence of the most intelligent planters of the South. Let cotton-growers go into a thorough system of fertilization of their soils, and attend personally to the improvement of their cotton-seed, by selection, as recommended above, and the result will be an addition of one eighth, or one fourth, to the products of cotton in the United States, without adding another acre to the area under cultivation. When this comes to be understood, men of small means will cultivate a little cotton by their own individual labor, as the poorer men do corn and other agricultural products, and thus improve their condition. The above suggestions are the conclusions to which we come, from a thorough examination of what has been published to the world on this subject. We recommend the careful perusal of "The Cotton-Planter's Manual," by Turner (published by Saxton and Co., New York), and increased attention to the subject, by the intelligent, educated, and practical men with whom the cotton-growing regions abound.
COWS.
The cow occupies the first place among domestic animals, in value to the American people, not excepting even the horse. From the original stock, still kept as a curiosity on the grounds of some English noblemen, cattle have been greatly improved by care in breeding and feeding. Those wild animals are still beautiful, but only about one third of the weight of the ordinary improved cattle, and not more than one fourth that of the most improved. Improving the breed of cattle is a subject by itself, demanding a separate treatise. It is not to be expected that we should go into it at length in a work like this. But so much depends upon the cow, that we can hardly write an article on her without giving those general principles that lie at the foundation of all improvement in cattle. The few suggestions that follow, if heeded, would be worth many times the value of this book to any farmer not already familiar with the facts. The cow affects all other stock in two ways; first, the form of calves, and consequently of grown cattle, is affected as much by the cow as by the bull. The quality and quantity of her milk, also, has a great influence upon the early growth of all neat stock. Cattle are usually named from their horns, as "short horns," &c. It is a means of distinction, like a name, but not expressive of quality. The leading marks of a good cow are, medium height for her weight, small neck, straight and wide back, wide breast—giving room for healthy action of the lungs—heavy hind-quarters, and soft skin with fine hair, skin yellowish, with much dandruff above the bag behind. A smart countenance is also expressive of good qualities; there is as much difference in the eyes and expression of cattle as of men. Select only such cows to raise stock from, and allow them to go to no bull that has not good marks, and is not of a superior form. Another important matter is to avoid breeding in and in. This is injurious in all domestic animals and fowls. Always have the cow and the bull from different regions: attention to this would constantly improve any breed we have, and by improving the size of cattle, and milking qualities of cows, would add vast amounts to the wealth of farmers, without the necessity of purchasing, at a great price, any of the high-bred cattle. We have observed, in our article on calves, that abundant feeding during the first year has much to do with the excellence of stock. Unite with these regularity in feeding, watering, and salting, keeping dry and warm in stormy, cold weather, and well curried and clean, and a farmer's stock will be much more profitable to him. But this brief mention of the general principles must suffice, while we give all the further space we can occupy with this article to—
The Infallible Marks of the Milking Qualities of Cows.—M. Francis Guenon, of France, has published a treatise, in which he shows, by external marks alone, the quality and quantity of milk of any cow, and the length of time she will continue to give milk. These marks are so plain, that they are applicable to calves but a few weeks old, as well as to cows. Whoever will take a little pains to understand this, can know, when he proposes to buy a cow, how much milk she will give, with proper feed and treatment, the quality of her milk, and the length of time she will give milk after having been gotten with calf. If the farmer has heifer-calves, some of which he proposes to send to the butcher and others to raise, he may know which will make poor milkers, and which good ones, and raise the good and kill the poor. Thus, he may see a calf that his neighbor is going to slaughter, and, from these external marks, he may discover that it would make one of the best milking cows of the neighborhood; it would then pay to buy and raise it, though he might have to kill and throw away his own, which he could see would make a poor cow if raised. Thus, all extraordinary milkers would be raised, and all poor ones be slaughtered: this alone would improve the whole stock of the country twenty-five per cent. in as many years. Attention has been called to this, in the most emphatic manner, by The New York Tribune—a paper that always takes a deep interest in whatever will advance the great industrial interests of the whole people—and yet, this announcement will be new to a vast number of farmers into whose hands this volume will fall. To many it will be utterly incredible, especially when we inform them that the indications are, mainly, the growth of the hair, on the cow behind, from the roots of the teats upward. "Impossible!" many a practical, common-sense man will say. But that same man will acknowledge that a bull has a different color, different neck, and different horns, left in his natural state, from those he would exhibit if altered to an ox. Why is it not equally credible that the growth of the hair, &c., should be affected by the secretion and flow of the milk on that part of the system where those operations are principally carried on? But, aside from all reasonings on the subject, the fact is certain, and whoever may read this article may test its correctness, as applied to his own cows or those of his neighbor. The great agriculturists of France (and it is no mean agricultural country) have tested it, under the direction of the agricultural societies, and pronounced it entirely certain. This was followed by an award, by the French government, of a pension of three thousand francs per annum to Guenon, as a benefactor of the people by the discovery he had made. The same has been amply tested in this country, with the same certain results. It now only remains for every farmer to test it for himself, and avail himself of the profits that will arise from it. Guenon divides cows into eight classes, and has eight orders under each class, making sixty-four cows, of which he has cuts in his work. He also adds what he calls a bastard-cow in each class, making seventy-two in all. Now, to master all these nice distinctions in his classes and orders would be tedious, and nearly useless. Efforts at this would tend to confusion. We desire to give the indications in a brief manner, with a very few cuts; and yet, we would hope to be much better understood by the masses than we believe Guenon to be. We claim no credit; Guenon is the discoverer, and we only promulgate his discovery in the plainest language we can command; and if we can reach the ear of the American farmers, and call their attention to this, we shall not have labored in vain.
The appearance of the hind-part of the cow, from a point near the gambrel-joint up to the tail, Guenon calls the escutcheon. The following cuts show the marks of all of Guenon's eight classes, the first and the last in each class. The intermediate ones are in regular gradation from the first to the eighth order. Each class is divided into high, medium, and low, yielding milk somewhat in proportion to their size. We give the quantity of milk which the large cows will yield. This also supposes cows to be well fed on suitable food. Smaller cows of the same class and order, or those that are poorly cared for and fed, will, of course, give less.
The names of all these eight classes are entirely arbitrary—they mean nothing. M. Guenon adopted them on account of the shape of the escutcheon, or from the name of the place from which the cows came. But cows with these peculiar marks are found among all breeds, in all countries, and of all colors, sizes, and ages. These marks are certain, except the variations that are caused by extra care or neglect.