In many cases, previous to the war, crop after crop was grown upon the same land without any thought of returning those elements, in the form of manure, to the earth, which it so much required. But immediately after the conclusion of the war, the conditions of labour were changed and it became a matter of absolute necessity to find something which would give life to the land, hence the introduction of fertilisers. It is stated on the authority of Dr. White of Georgia, that it would be "difficult to conceive how cotton culture could have been continued or sustained but for the use of such manures." In a work of this kind it is impossible to describe in detail the various methods of cultivation adopted in the several cotton States, but the following will give a fair idea of what actually takes place on a large cotton plantation, assuming that the land is well drained. It should be said here draining has not received that attention which it ought to have done, and many of the failures put down to other causes are now known to have been due entirely to bad drainage. As an alternative to proper drainage, the practice of raising the Cotton plant beds and cultivating them to greater depth, has been followed. Most of the planters are too poor to drain properly, and so adopt the banking method, though in the long run this is the more expensive of the two. Let us assume that the cotton crop has all been gathered. We have an immense quantity of old cotton stalks which need removing. This is usually done before February. As a rule, the litter is gathered into heaps and burned. Ploughing and harrowing next follow, and ridges are formed which in the elevated districts are not quite so far apart as in the low-lying areas. We can see that in the latter districts the plants will be much more prolific and grow to a better state of perfection, hence more room must be allowed for them. These ridges lie, in some cases, 3 feet apart and in others 4 and 5. Especially when manures or fertilisers have been used, bedding up is generally adopted.