The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1872-03-16
3arn,, Garden ann 6onsebola
Thoughts for the Month.
ErOm the Southern Guilty

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often leaves many points not quite de-
cided in his own mind; such, for in
stance, as the number Of acres to be
planted in this crop or that-how much
OF his best land must be taken from
cotton and given to corn, &C., &c. Be-
fore reaching Il final conclusion, he
wishes to have all the light which jan
uary and February can throw on the
SUBJECTIVE wishes to see as we'll as he
can, the effect of the winter on the
small grain crops-What the price of
cotton will be by the first of March,
how his crib and smoke house will
stand-What arrangements he can make
about labor, and if he has employed Il
new set of hands how they are going
to work, &C., &c. But the time has
now come when he can no longer delay;
his decisions must be formed ut once,
the work of putting them in practice
begun and complexion given to the
whole years operations.
CORN.
Corn claims the first place on his
docket this month-in the extreme
south the crop should be planted and
in more northern localities the land
should be prepared and ready for plant
ing by the LIST of April. We have often
expressed the opinion that unless grown
on bottom land corn is the dearest crop
raised for stock feed. Its cost may,
however, be diminished by two things
ono within the reach of all, the other
within the reach of many--wc alllltlc
to deep blowing and thorough pulvc-
rization of the soil and to irrigation.
BY deep blowing we mean nothing I'M
der eight inches, measured from the
surface which has not been llushcl.-
Where the soil is proper Ni0,wc do not
advise of course that land Especially in
spring. should DC turned over eight
inches or more deep. Our experience
IS against bringing up too much of the
clay to the surface at o,ace, especially if
the land is to be subjected Immediately
to further plowings as in cultivating Il
crop. In the case supposed let Il subsoil
follow the turn pillow or scooter; break
deep but keep the soil above, that it
may make good filth easy and possible
all through the summer. But to return.
Droughts are almost sure to occur when
the corn Is ready to ear, and if it's roots
are confined to 4 thin superficial layer
OF soil heated and parchcd by the sun,
1T is inevitably doomed to fail. Give
1t on the contrary Il deep loose bed for
its roots to ramify in, and they will run
down and away from the excessive
heat of the surface, following the reccd-
ing moisture latlcncd with supplies OF
nOirishmcnt.
On Il majority PROBABLY, of the farms
in the South, facilities exist for irrigat-
ing more or less land. With very little
trouble or expense branches might be
conducted along the sides of the ada
cent hills and the slopes below them
kept we'll watcred. Every acre thus
insured against drought might be heav-
lily manfred without danger, and its
yield be made equal to that Of 10 or IL
acres of ordinary upland. Irrigated
upland is more valuable even than bot
tom land, because the latter is liable to
become too wet, whilst the former is
not. On an acre of irrigated upland
the farmer might with certainty count
on from - to 100 bushels of corn, if he
manfred without stint and cultivated
well. How few of such acres would be
needed to supply most farms with the
corn they needed.
We prefer to plant corn carly, but
not before the ground is warm enough
to make it come up promptly. In early
planting, cover quite shallow, from one
to two inches. On flat lands plant on
beds; on rolling lands do not ridge UP
but plant on Il level (somc of our best
J i''' 'A'N'D 'stS III VIC NsttcI luErOW) SO
that tho after cultivation may be on a
level and the land left level when the
crop Is laid by. On dry uplands give
an abundance of distancc-lct each stalk
have from l6to 20 square feet of surface.
Where manure is used put little with
the seed to give Il start, but put the
larger part we'll below the seed. Take
seed from towards the butt end of the
car; after it is shcllcd stir in just enough
tar to give each grain the thinncst pos
siblc coating of this substance. This
will check the raHn~,,s of birds and
! worms.
trrrb\.
AS soon rs the corn is disposed of,
push the preparation of cotton land
bed up when the ground is in good or
der, but avoid blowing when too wet
cotton wants Il mellow bed. For this
work we prefer the ShoVel-it pulvc-
RIGS the land more thoroughly than
the turn pillow. Lay Oft rows with 4
large long shovel, put on an extra stout
stock and drawn by two mites, scatter
manure in the furrow, {u cotton planter
like the Dow Law will be found excel
l., g,,,.Il J, D..