The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1868-06-13

We find in the Memphis Christian AdUo-
cate the following article, from a gentleman
who is one Of Our most intelligent practical
farmers. His object to reduce the amount
Of labor required when adequate labor is so
difficult to be obtained, is Of the first i'm
portance. That his other object, to increase
profits, viii also be realized by his proposed
plan we have not doubt IF we have any
doubt it is as to the practicabiIity Of using
the harrow at the time and in the manner
proposed, at the same time leaving the corn
crop clean at a period sufficiently late for
/ full yield That attention to grass here will
pay eminently well is sufficiently ascertained
by the experiments Of many. We have
seen a specimen of grass from the farm of
Mr. Adams, which, if a far sample Of his
ground, win yield two tons Of hay to the
acre. And we have also been shown heads
Of wheat from the same land, as long and
heavy as can be produced on the continent
The following is the article alluded to-:
/ I promised a few days ago to give you
| some of my views with regard to plan ]
/ propose to adopt the present season, and by
! which / think ! can retire from one-third to
/ one-haIf of my land, and thereby dispense
! with nearly one-half Of the labor ! now r.
quire.
My plan is simply to use harrow in lay
/ ing bv corn, In place of a turning pillow, so
as to level the land, and in the month Of
| September or October, to seed it all down in
herds grass and timothy seed. This will
require no additional labor, as l will only
exchange the turning plow the last blowing
/ for a harrow, and l do not care how much
crab grass may be upon the land when I
| SOW my grass seed, as 1t viii be beneficial IN
protecting the grass from the sun, which
sometimes kills young grass, if unprotected.
/ By this system, you Will perceiver can
retire large portion of my land for FIVE or
six years, and yet makeit equally profitable,
| and dispense with about halt my labor
think an acre of ground In grass is as profit
able as an acre in cotton, as the average pro
duct in cotton is about one third Of a bale to
the acre, and IL you get one hundred dollars
bale for it. you have first to divide your
hundred dollars with the laborers, and one
third Of your remaining fifty is only sixteen
and two-third dollars as your profit On the
other hand, in grass, the lowest calculation
you can make Is, that your land will yield
one ton TO the acre, which is always worth
from twenty to thirty dollars per ton and the
difference IN favor Of the grass viii perhaps
pay for all the labor of moving and stacking
In the cultivation of grass, the profit how
ever is not alone in the amount of hay yoI
may get from it, but it is chiefly in the sever
months grazing it gives you, thereby con
/ verting your grass into beef, mutton, pork
etc, and giving to all your stock its benefits
l know there are many farmers In GU
midst who imagine we cannot grow gras
successfully upon our lands, but l think it
great mistake, as ! have seen as fine gras
and clover grown here as l ever saw any
where, and | have myself cut two and
half tons to the acre here from lands tina
had no fertility of any kind upon it.
] think all that Is necessary here to max
this section equal to any country that know
Of Is, first, to make ourselves selfsuppUrt
, ing, and to adopt the same ways and mean
that other sections do in developing thei
resources.
/ have been experimenting for the last tel
years in grass, and l find that can grow
all kinds successfully except blue grass, ant
as a substitutes I SOW orchard grass i
? woodlands, which, think, suits our soil an
2 climate very well, and grows here YER
finely.
shall perhaps, in another article, shortly
; allude to the advantages, as a country, "
g possess, in climate, in furnishing the Mort
r with early wheat, fruit, vegetables, etc.
, NATHAN ADAMS.
STANTON, Tenn, May q. 1868.