[SEL] Cotton is in the fields!

[Rex Hinz]

Thanks Curt ;

       I,m from the nort country and never saw a cotton feild until I saw
your pictures , looks like it might taste good with some sugar on it , Just
kidding, thanks for putting up the pics, now I'm a little more informed ,.
what happens if you throw a match in the field (A Lit One) ?
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Curt" <curt at imc-group.com>
 Subject: [SEL] 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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