[SEL] RE: Cotton is in the fields!

[Bruce Younger]

As farm-y as this country is, we see very little cotton around here.
Believe it or not, a lot is now grown in Utah, of all places.  Your
explanation of how the farmer defoliates the plant explains the
disconnect between the old pictures I've seen of growing cotton, and
what it now looks like. In the "old days", if it was a wet year the
plant stayed leafy and green. That must have made the picking - by hand
- much more difficult. 
Thanks for the pictures and explanation, Curt! I will be waiting to see
the after-picking pictures.
Duckems' grandma, who was born and raised in the bootheel of Missouri
and who picked a lot of cotton as a child, once looked at my hands, and
scornfully remarked that I'd never done an honest day's work.
She's right.

Bruce

-----Original Message-----
From: slick-request at toltbbs.com [mailto:slick-request at toltbbs.com] On
Behalf Of Curt
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2005 3:15 PM
To: SEL; SEL (Oldengine.org); OFES
Cc: slick at toltbbs.com
Subject: Cotton is in the fields!

I work in a non-metropolitan area that sits in the middle of farmer's 
fields. They generally rotate the crops between soy beans and cotton. 
This year happens to be cotton and it is a good year. After seeing 
several tourists stopping at the fields edge this week, it dawned on me 
that perhaps our friends to the north and in cooler climates might not 
have seen cotton growing in the fields. So a few minutes ago I went out 
front and snapped a few pictures.
This first one is just outside the front door of the plant.
http://www.oldengine.org/members/holland/images/Cotton/P9300044.jpg

Here is a little closer view. The picture doesn't do it justice as it is

so white it looks like fresh snow.
http://www.oldengine.org/members/holland/images/Cotton/P9300045.jpg

In this view you can see the rows. When cotton plants are growing 
(before budding) they are deep green and have very heavy foliage. I 
struggle to tell the difference between cotton and soy beans when the 
plants are young. Once the bolles begin to pop, the farmer sprays a 
defoliating agent on the plants to make the leaves fall off. You would 
think this would kill the plant, but the plant continues to thrive and 
this makes the yield of cotton much better as the nutrients go to making

cotton rather than foliage.
http://www.oldengine.org/members/holland/images/Cotton/P9300049.jpg

In this close up view you can see very few leaves remain yet the bolles 
grow larger every day now. Cotton has been genetically engineered to 
grow in the worst drought conditions. This cotton has not seen rain in 8

weeks now, yet is is as healthy as if the fields were wet. Truly
remarkable!
http://www.oldengine.org/members/holland/images/Cotton/P9300047.jpg

In this last view you see a close up of the cotton that has popped from 
its' boll and is swelling as it grows.
http://www.oldengine.org/members/holland/images/Cotton/P9300046.jpg

It won't be long before the cotton pickers will come along and do their 
thing. The best machines use rubber rollers to pull the cotton from the 
boll. When done it looks like there is a lot of cotton left, but in 
reality they get a lot of it. Later I'll try and get a picture of it 
picked....

Hope you enjoyed these.
Curt Holland
Gastonia, NC
Cotton Ginning Days Oct 14, 15 and 16th.


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