Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1868-04-08

up the. piles, and one to pack tnem III
carefully, so as not 20 -tangle them. The
stacking is done by about four OF the
most careful hands,i one. upon the stack,
and the three others folding the vines to-
gether in lunches and throwing to the
stacker, carefully, so asto avoid tangling,
Stacks should be tapered from about two
feet of the top and capped off with straw.
have, for the last ten years. been
slowing them in houses, after they had
remained in the stacks ten or fifteen days
in the open air, for the purpose of season
ing or drying, to prevent moulding or
turning dark, when packedinahe houses.
This method, of.putbingin houses, l have
found a great advantage, more than COM
pensating for the expense of buildings
packing them away, &C., as it not only
prevents destruction by birds, but bptfEr fEen' y
ders the quality Of the pea very much
better, keeping them from becoming black
orspeckled, which Injuries the sale mate
rally.
'fhc houses used, are about thirty by
sixty to seventy.five feet long, andsixteen
to eighteen feet in height-built by put
ting post oak of7light-wood posts, in the
ground, covered neatly with good shin, shin
g!es, ana weatherboarded-with ten
foot passage leading through from end to
eud. allowing wagons to pass through
until both sides are filled up; then filling
the passage up to- the top of the house.
The picking and preparing for market;
is a tedious aud. troublesome process, as
The best hands wifi not clean more than
two toifonr bushels per day, and those
who are inexperienced, not more than
half of that. lahave, however, a ma
chine or thresher, driven by steam) which
was invented, on my plantation, about
twelve years ago, bya q. young ran3liv.
ing in this place, who patented the same,
and has lately built several to go by
horse power My machine will thresh,
in good, dry weather, two hundred bush
els per day, aud has thrashcd as high as
three hundred. when in good order.
The vines or tops make excellent forage
for mules and cattle. Ordinarily the sand
in them makes them rather Objectionable
as food for horses they are, however,
USED even for that. Mules and cattle
prefer them to any other forage, and my
opinion is, that they are quite as good, il
not preferable to the best clover hay.
We bale the vines from the machine
with common hay press, pack them
away for use, and feed abundanily with
them through the winter aud piow seasons
What is rot eaten is tramplcd by the
stock, making a rich manure for the com
post heap. The cleaning OF the fields
after harvesting, is valuable for fattening
hogs, sows and pigs.
have been thus particular in enumera
ting all the litt!e details Of soil and mode
of planting, gathering, &c, &c, because
haye received innumerable letters
of inquiry, from persons at "a dis ance,
and from ell points in the South, most OF
whom, perhaps, have never seen crop
of ground peas, and to whom an attempt
to engage largely in this crop without ex
perience or directions in regard to the
points above named, would, perhaps
prove hazardous, if not ruinous. My
opinion IS, however, that it can never be
made staple crop for the South, as it is
not an article of prime necessity, and the
production of it could soon be made to
exceed any demand that might ever arise
The exports from Wilmington, N. G..
from the crop of the past season, will
probably range from eighty:five to one
hundred thousand bushels. Prior to the
war, think, the largest crop reached be
tween one hundred and forty to one hun
dred and fifty thousand bushels.
The yield of land suited to this crop
varies from thirty to fifty bushels to the
acre, though there are many acres planted
whichtail far below the first figures: Now
while this may seem nattering to the
producer, considering the price obtained
per bushel, yet there are other matter;
which should be taken into the account
and which may modify the many advan
tages of thi crop, some of which | should
mention, or would be recreant to my
trust.
In addition to the preparation of land
labor necessary for its culture, and the
tedious and uncertain process of saving
and preparing for market, know of nc
crop which IS more exhausting to lane
than this, and, unless assisted by the ap
plication of manures, 4 crop, even one
year in two, would at last, if not very
soon, exhaust lands so that they woulc
not pay the expenses of cultivation. i,
The system which have pursued, foi
the last ten or fifteen years, has been II
get but one crop of pea nuts in three
years.. following it with q crop Of rye
three-tourths Of bushel sown to the acre
and plowed in during December or Janu
ry, at farthest. BY the time the Alarcf
winds commence it is sufficiently SCI tc
prevent, to u considerable extent, th'
blowing off of the soil,- which happens
when landsa are bare and light, snch as upol
the coast, and is almost ruisous. The
next year after the rye, being the thIrt
year, the land remains fallow.
By pursuing this mode, and by on'
good manuring, the year prior to the pes
crop, lands may be sept up; and, although
this may be considered an expensive out
lay, receiving but one crop of pea nuts
and one crop ofsrye, for three years ant
the expense of one good r1anuring during
the time, yet | know of no other methoc
by which our lands car be kept up to the
standard of fair and remnnerative crop
Should the above remarks, either ii
whole, or in part, be of service or benefit
to any one, into whose hands they may
chance to fall, shall feel amply compen