The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1853-02-09
From tie Soil of the South.
Glover at The South---Crab Grass.
TUSCALOOSA, Oct. &c. 1872.


Mr.. EDTToR: As YOU solicit iuforna-
ton upon the culture of clover in the
South, submit, for your consideration,
few observations that may be of service
to those who take any interest in this
branch of agriculture.
For thirty years past have cultivated
this grass in the ncighborhood of Tus-
caloosa; and this long period of attention
to 1t has satisfied me that our climate is
not unfavorablc to its growth. A suitable
soil, properly prepared is farmer
material to the quality and quantity
of its yield, than the particular climate
or parallel of latitude in which it NAV be
grown; nor is it important whether the
soil be red, black, or mulatto; if it be a
sufficiently rich and calcareous earth, it
will produce abundance of rich hay. If
lime is not naturally, it must artifciallv
be made IN ingredient of clover land
for of all the constituent parts of rich soil
perhaps no one of them, singly, is so
necessary as it is, TO the growth Of clover.
In preparing ground for this gras, it
should DC first subsoled as deep as posi-
bic, then compactcd with a heavy roller,
followed 10y harrow. If it is not tho
roughly pulvcrizcd 10y this process, it
should be plowcd lightly with a scooter
or bull tongue, followed second time bv
the roller and harrow. The seed should
be sowcd by the middle of February, or
earlier, and never brushed or narrowed,
but imLeddcd with the roller. 1t is fatal
error to SOW clover with any Of our small
gralns-tor if overshadowcd and checked
III its incipicnt growth, it will bc overrun
and destroyed i'll the spring 10y crab grass,
result that will always follow its con-
junction with grain. 1t will do well sowed
with orchard or tall meadow oat grass,
Sngy or conformity, and perhaps with
other grasses. When sowed alone, six
quarts Of seed should be put on an acre;
II IN connection with any other grass, four
quarts sufficient. If infested by weeds,
they must be moved down, and if bushes
spring up, shrub them. These latter at.
tentIons caunot he omitted without serious
INJURY to the crop, us no grass can flourish
or be moved and propely cured among
weeds and bushes. | have now given You
the best method of cultivating clover in
the South that have been able to collect
from long experiencc-a strict adherence
to which, has in every instance yielded
me an abundant crop.
1t does of late seem to me, however,
that the object of Southern agricultursts
III their efforts to grow clover and other
foreign grasses, to the utter neglect, and
even abandonment of every Indigenous
grass, is not only an unauthorized infringe
ment upon home products, but in itself
impracticablc.
tits certainly as well to experiment
with the grasses, rs with the fruits and
grains of other climates, many of which
when tranSplantcd here, seem not to de-
terioratc by the change; but incline to
think the aim Of many of our husband
men is to discover grass that will make
rich hay in large quantities on poor land
1t would be an enterprise quite as rational,
and in the end no doubt as successful, to
search for and import an exotic soil,
which, without rest or manure, would
yielded hay III perpetual exuberancc.
There is no escaping that first necessity
of vegetable production; it is not only as
fixed as the laws of vegetation or graviat-
ion, but it Eis imprinted and may be read
upon the surface the world over, that the
first indispensable thing for good crop
ofhay or any other product, is rich earth,
the second a rich earth, and the third a
rich earth. Yielding strict observance
to this law Of every land, | must say, after
fair trj"' o' " the foreign grasses of any
celebrity, would not give our own fam-
liar hOmc.growing crab grass for them all
hot including lucerne. If properly cul-
tivated, 1t will yield more hay of good
quality than any other grass ever grown
in the South
Very respectfully,
BENJAMIN WHITFIELD.