\ \ \ \\\ \ The Cover Picture A tractor-mounted cotton stripper and extractor developed by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station is shown stripping the last two rows in a field of cotton near College Station. Notice the small amount of cotton lost by the stripper on the ground in both the foreground and background. Detail description of the construction of this stripper and discussion of the perform- ance of such machines are given in Texas Station Bulletins 452, 5ll, 580, 683, 686, and also in this bulletin. Single copies of these bulletins are available for free distri- bution, with the exception of No. 51 l. Our supply of that bulletin has been exhausted. Preface 3 Outstanding progress in the mechanized production of cot- i: in Texas has been made since the introduction of the row- ‘f1 tractor less than 25 years ago. Early settlers produced v n with the hand hoe and the sweep stock. Riding mule- I: planters and cultivators Were not introduced until the and 1890’s. Tractor-mounted middlebreakers, planters cultivators were developed for the row-crop tractor about ‘i! Progressive cotton farmers were quick to visualize and J e the advantages of these tools in the mechanized produc- of cotton. j: Realizing the great need for information on the various luction problems of cotton, the Texas Agricultural Experi- f: “Station has for many years devoted much of its research > s toward cotton production. Bulletin 26, entitled “Cost of i’ n Production and Profit Per A-cre,” was published in 1893. erous bulletins, circulars, progress reports and scientific , which contain information on the production of cotton been published since that time. gAgricultural workers have, for many years, felt the need T ' ing together and summarizing the best recommended fees used in production of cotton. This publication, there- ‘i is an attempt to summarize the information on “where We cotton mechanization in Texas. CONTENTS Page Introduction ................................................................................. .. 5 Disposal 0f Crop Residue .............................................................. ..5 Preparation 0f the Seedbed ....................................................... .. 8 Planting ........................................................................................ .13 Factors Influencing Stands ............................................... ..14 Planting Equipme-nt .......................................................... ..21 Fertilizer Application ................................................................ .22 Thinning and Spacing 0f Plants ........................... .................. ..24 Cultivation .................................................................................... . .25 Cotton Insects .............................................................................. ..28 Machines for Applying Insecticides ............................... ..29 General Recommendations ................................................ ..30 Defoliation of Cotton Plants ............................... .................. .30 Harvesting ................................................................................... . . 34 The Mechanical Cotton Stripper ........................................ .35 The Mechanical Cotton Picker .......................................... .53 Publications on Cotton Production ............................................ .63 BULLETIN 704 SEPTEMBER 1948 Mechanized Production of Cotton In Texas H. P. SMITH, Professor of Agricultural Engineering, College Station, Texas D. L. JONES, Superintendent, Substation No. 8, Lubbock, Texas Self-reliant, progressive cotton farmers have been quick to visualize and utilize the advantages of mechanized cotton pro- duction. The first successful roW-crop tractor was introduced and proved practical in the Corpus Christi area in 1926. This was really the beginning of the present era o-f cotton mechani- zation in Texas. Since that time the increase in the number of tractors and various labor and time-saving tractor attachments have decidedly affected the mechanization of cotton and other crops. The latest estimate shows that there are over 200,000 tractors on Texas farms. It is not assumed, of course, that all y of these tractors are used in the production of cotton, but surely the majority are being used on farms producing cotton. The production of a cotton crop can be divided into nine operations: disposal of crop residue and cover crops, preparation of the seedbed, planting, fertilizer application, thinning and spacing of the plants, cultivation, insect control, defoliation and harvesting. A considerable part of Texas cotton, however is produced without the application of fertilizer, insect control or defoliation. DISPOSAL OF CROP RESIDUE The proper disposal of previous-crop residue and winter cover-crop residue is essential if planting, cultivating and har- vesting are to be done at the best times with a minimum amount of interference by undecomposed residue. The stalks and roots 6 BULLETIN 704, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT S'l‘.-\'l'ION Figure l—Ro||ing type stall: cuffer cutting two rows of cotton stalks. Note the height of the stubble and the long uncut sections of stalks. of cotton, corn and sorghum and other bulky crop residue should be thoroughly chopped so they can be completely disposed of by the use of the tool best adapted to the particular region. The chopped residue should be plowed under and thoroughly covered with soil. Bulky parts of crop residue will seriously inter- fere with cultivation operations and hamper the cotton grower in his planting. Undecomposed roots and stalks left on the- surface near the plants hinder the smooth operation of har- vesting machinery. When collected in sufficient quantities with the cotton they tend to lower the quality. The tractor-drawn rolling stalk cutter is the most generally used implement at present for processing crop residue. Further improvements are needed in machinerv to adequately meet the necessary requirements for better disposal of this residue. Tractor-drawn stalk cutters: When farmers began to use tractors for the production of cotton, a need was created for heavier and larger stalk cutters than those designed to be pulled by horses and mules. Consequently, the rolling cutter was developed. Most factory-built rolling stalk cutters will chop the stalks on only two rows. Two or three units can be hitched squadron fashion if a large tractor is available. As there are no factory-built four or five-row cutters, many farmers have them built at local blacksmith or machine shops. A four-row stalk cutter pulled at four or five miles per hour should cover 5O to 7O acres in a 10-hour day. In exceed- ingly heavy crop residue this type of machine fails to thoroughly chop all the vegetation. In Northwestern Texas, the 4 and 5- l? MECHANIZED PRODUCTION OF COTTON IN TEXAS row stalk cutter is the accepted tool for chopping up crop residue. Tractor mounted stalk cutters: A two-row tractor mounted power driven stalk cutter-shredder was used on the Brazos River Field Laboratory at College Station in November 1947. Two cylinders of blades or knives are suspended from a cross shaft in front of the tractor. The rapidly revolving knives pass between stationary knives cutting the stalk in a standing position. The stalks are cut and shredded into short sections ranging from two to four inches in length. These sections are spread uniformly over the ground leaving only the stubble one to two inches above the ground. If the stalks are medium to large, the tractor is operated in either second or third gear. The tractor could be operated in fourth gear in cutting small, dead stalks. If the cutter is mounted on a tractor with sufficient power, the middles can be broken out at the same time the stalks are being cut. Tractor mounted disks: A machine consisting of several disks clamped to a tool bar attached to a tractor has been found to have many uses, among which is the cutting and turning under of green winter cover crops. Other devices: Disks harrows are sometimes used to har- row down cotton stalks, green cover crops and other crop res- idue. When tractor tandem disk harrows are used on tall and spreading cotton stalks, it is usually necesary to operate the harrow in two directions, with and across the rows. This is necessary to do a satisfactory job of cutting the stalks because Figure 2—Special "squadron" hitch tor hitching two two-row grolling stall: cutters together to make a tour-row unit. 8 BULLETIN 704, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION at the first harrowing many stalks will pass between the harrow disks and not be cut. Disk harrows are used behind the rolling tractor stalk cutter to further cut the stalks and at the same time harrow the ground and partially cover the stalks. Both moldboard and disk type plows are used to plow under crop residue. Grain drills for sowing small grains can be operated satisfactorily when crop residue is plowed under. PREPARATION OF THE SEEDBED A warm moist, well prepared, well drained and firm seed- bed is essential to obtain the proper placement and coverage of the seed, and to obtain good germination and stands of plants. Extensive studies in the western part of the State have shown that listing to a moderate depth in late winter or early spring has been the best kind of preparation and is the accepted metho-d (45th Annual Report, 1932). At College Station in East Central Texas, plowing 6 inches deep has produced as large average yields of cotton as 3.9 and 12-inch depths. Plowing has given larger yields than disking with a disk harrow (45th Annual Report, 1932). Most cotton is planted either on ridges or beds or in the lister furrow. Cotton is planted on beds in the more humid areas where heavy rains are likely to occur about planting time and before the plants are a few inches tall. When the seed are placed in the beds, the surface above the seed is slightly higher than the middles between the rows. Therefore, water from rains has a chance to collect in the depression of the middle. The surface of the bed dries out more rapidly and there is less possibility of the rotting of freshly planted seed. In areas having an annual average rainfall of 25 inches or less, cott-on is planted in the lister furrow to get the seed in moist soil. The undistributed beds protect the young seedlings from windblown sand. Where irrigation is practiced the land is bedded so that water can flow down the furrows between the beds. Very little cotton is planted on flat broken land because Water from rains will collect in the furrows made by the planter seed furrow opener. When the water is absorbed by the soil, a heavy crust forms hindering the emergence of seedlings. Weed control is more difficult on flat broken land. If newly flat broken land is being bedded, the lister bot- toms break out a strip about 14 inches wide and throw soil upon the plowed soil between the rows to form the beds. If stubble land is being bedded, the middles are broken out and the ground MECHANIZED PRODUCT ON OF COTTON IN TEXAS <. Figure 3—B|ac|