Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-06-21
AsHELBY COUNTY FARMER.
whar He Has Done and How He Ac-
cOmpItshed H.

Editors ApDeGl-From observation
during my sightseeing rambles in
nearly every State In the Union, /
have for years suspected that taken
all in all, our Tennessee is nothing
less than the garden spot Of them all.
Previous to the last two years I had
some doubts On the subject of agricul-
ture, and not knowing the difference
between a one and tWO-hOrse plOW,
timothy and sorghum, 1 held my
peace on that part Of the question. But
having since then carefully perused
nearly all the standard works and
leading periodicals treating on agri-
culture, and having devoted my time
exclusively to practical farming, and
having met with a success which has
called forth the unqualified praise of
some Of the very best Eastern, Wes-
tern and Southern farmers, / presume
/ may begin to speak about it. Be-
leiVing as ] most firmly do, that the
conversion of vegetation, especially the
grasses, into animal tissue is the pOr-
fion which brings the net profit into
the farmers strong box. l wish, first,
in this hurried note, 10 call public at
teution to the transparent fallacy Of
the suDpOsitiOn that grasses viii not
grow well in Onr State. From my OBJ
ServatiOns hitherto, and from my re-
cent trip 70 Kentucky and back, and
my individual efforts, contend that
Tennessee, especially that portion
composing the two lower tiers OF cOun-
ties west OF the Tennessee river, is the
finest forage grass and clover growing
country on the continent. Now for
the proofs: / have just cut from a
scant half acre Of the steepest, yellow
est, hardest, poorest old hill side ever
worn out by cotton in Shelby county,
thfrty-tWo immense mOWs Of clover
and orchard grass mixed, estimated
bv farmers to contain not less than
fip0 and q kalf tons Of dry bag. All
the fertilizer this had was the rem
nants Of plaster Of paris left from re-
pairing my house. ! have four
patches Of oats, not manured at
all, an acre Of one OF which
has stalks, with magnificent heads OF
grain, which average the hight
Of an ordinary mans chin.
have had timothy, herds grass, wheat
and barley over two acres OF my
place growing as thickly and as finely
As one could wish, shoulder high, on
very poOr land, once plowed and half
subsoiled, spring Up unsOWn from q
tight dressing OF livery stable manure.
L had il cot and put away, and all
hands pronounced Il excellent feed.
MY corn, planted amongst my trees
and vines and in my clover, appears
better than any one else's on the
same character Of land. My whole
place Is most unfortunately rolling,
wOrn-out, old cotton field. The supe-
riOrity of the corn. and, perhaps, the
grapes, and such leguminOsa as clover
and peas, is due mainly to my plOWs
and a strong team.
/ inclOse you some specimens Of my
grasses and my clover. You will see
rich blue grass two feet high and
forming q layer four inches thick on
the soil below the seed stems. This
grass has been growing here aud
there, out Of the way Of the pillow, ever
since the seed was sOWn twenty years
400. Nv father had a most luXuriant
woods lot pasture OF it, some eighteen
acres in extent, which lasted from one
sOCfng fifteen years. during ive OF
which Mr.. David COckerel pastured
II constantly with an average Of not
less than twenty horses and as many
hogs, aud some COWS. Il held its own
until the forest was cut away and the
land pisnted in cotton. Ask fifty
cotton planteFs II blue grass will grow
in Shelby county and forty-nine will
tell you nc.
/ have already set out six hundred
peach, six hundred and fifty pear,
one hundred and fifty early apple,
one hundred and fifty plum, and
several other sorts of trees; seven
thousand assorted raspberry, one
thousand five hundred assorted black
berry, and thirty thousand strawberry
plants. ] propose 70 put out three
hundred thousand more strawberry
plants this TALL, and hope to give the
good folks in the city plenty Of nice,
cheap fruit, Just so soon as j can get
NV land subsOiled ana enriched. Ny
two thousand grape vines give prom
ise Of increase to twenty thousand,
and insure some OF my friends, in the
future, an occasional present Of a
demiiOhn OF pure wine.
Respectfully,
sILAS 4. GILBERT, NJ. d.