Especially when manures or fertilisers have been used, bedding up is generally adopted.
As is to be expected in a country like America, the very best and most approved methods of cultivation are followed, hence the old system of sowing seed by hand is discarded, and seed-planting machines are now coming into general use. The distance apart which the seeds (about five or six in one hole) should be set, is still a moot question, but it is generally admitted to be unsafe to plant at greater distances than 12 inches. When sown, a light covering is put over, and in a few days--about twelve generally--the tiny plants make their appearance. Two or three days after, another leaf is seen, and it may be said that the real and anxious work of the cultivator now begins. In the Carolina districts this will happen about the end of April. The planting in the more southern States will take place earlier. What has next to be done is very particular work, viz., cutting down and thinning the plants, which, if allowed to grow, would simply choke one another. Here and there at suitable distances, groups of plants in the same row are selected as "stands" or groups of plants from which will be selected the best plant, which is allowed to go forward in its growth; all the rest being chopped out or weeded out.
Banking up or bedding up is the next process, and this is done running the plough in the spaces between the ridges or practically over the old cotton bed of the preceding season. This will improve the ventilating power of the bed considerably and prevent somewhat the logging of the soil, which is extremely undesirable. The plough is immediately followed by the field labourers, whose work is now to draw the loose soil round the Cotton plants. This last process of "hauling" completes the labourers' work for a time, and is done for the purpose of keeping the plant erect and preventing it from falling down. This hauling process is repeated until July, when only one plant is left out of the five or six which were planted originally. After four haulings, which are completed as a rule by the end of July, the productive processes may be said to be completed. If the weather has been favourable and the soil kept fairly moist, a good crop may be fully anticipated. What the planters like to see during the growing period is a summer in which the sun shines every day, accompanied by those frequent and gentle showers which clean the plant and give the necessary humidity to the atmosphere and soil. Two things are dreaded by the planter--excessive heats and abnormal showers. The bloom appears about the middle of June and a couple of months after this the plants are ready for picking. This operation usually is carried on from the beginning of September or end of August right on into November, sometimes through this month into December. Here are given a few particulars which have been collected by Shepperson bearing on this particular subject.