The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1873-01-23
For the anderson Iatellisencer.
The Fence Law.

policy in raising stock. This department of
rural economy is of surprising interest and
Importance. Good and highly improved stock
has ever been regarded as proof of high order
of civilization; and nothing contributes more
largely to the material welfare of individuals
and of nations. Inclosing the stock would lead
at once to the introduction and cultivation of
the grasses. They would become necessity,
and no crop ever pays so we'll.
The Enclosures for stock would of course be
selected with reference to their adaptation to
the growth of grass. The question here arises,
are there any grasses suited to our soils and
climate that can be relied on to support our
stock7 answer this question in the afirma-
tive, and defy contradiction. Of these, the
first and most valuable is the Bermuda grass,
so.highly esteemed in the West Indies that it
is there called Goods grass" 1t grows with
remarkable luxuriancy in this country; it is
but slightly affected by the most protacted
drought of summer-it is literally sun grass;
it will prosper on the poorest lands, even on the
sides of gullies. Besides, it is eminently nntri-
tious, and is greedily devoured by all kinds of
stock, nor can it be destroyed by any number
that may be put upon it. And it has been
proven, by observation and experience, that it
furnishes ample grazing for from two to four
head of cattle per acre, according to size. This
summer; it is literally all we want.
All Enclosures for stock should, if possible,
contain running water and may be made to
inclose such portions of the adjacent swamp
lands as may be too wet for cultivation, and
which always produce nutritious grasses
Around the margin of these wet lands suf-
ficent quantity of upland should be inclosed,
and set in Bermuda grass, to meet the wants of
all the stock. The cost of this highly remuner-
ating arrangement would be simply the setting
out of the grass, in single spears, in checks Of
two or three feet apart, and inclose the grounds
with substantial fence from the superabun-
dant rails on the farm. The pasture is then
ready for use stock should be put on it at
once. By grazing it from the start weeds are
kept from shading the young plants, and their
runners lie so closely on the ground that they
are not reached by the cattle. In two or three
years the entire surface is densely covered, and
an ample supply of this invaluable grass Sc
cured for half q century.
Such being the nature and character of the
Bermuda grass, and such its admirable adapta-
tion to our wants, it is to be expected that the
question will be asked, If all this be true, why
has not this policy been adopted long ago, and
benefits? The answer is simple and conclu-
sive: Since the war the people of this country
have been afflicted with malady, which
choose To designate "cotton on the BRAIN"
This head disease is obstinate and perhaps in
curable. Its action is like that of the tabled
Upas, it sheds the dew of death upon all out
side enterprises, comforts and Improvements.
I know of but one solitary individual, in this
section of our country, who has adopted this
plan and made it available, the Hon. R. F.
Simpson. Some twenty years since, he planted
an old field of near thirty acres in Bermuda
grass. The earth was soon densely covered
with it. All the cattle, sheep, hogs, goats and
colts were turned into it, and they have never
been turned out of it, from that day to this,
during the summer months. The writer has
watched the result of this experiment with alb
sorbing interest, and can testify to the fine con-
dition of the stock, the ample supply of milk
and butter, and fat lambs and kids that have
made his festive board 80 attractive to his many
visitors. But the most convincing proof of the
value of this grass and its superiority over all
Others is, that this pasture after period of
twenty years, all the time closely grazed by
large amount of stock, evinces no symptoms of
decline, and it is regarded by the owner as the
most paying portion of his estate. This single
instance of thrift and enlightened economy is
a convincing proof of the great advantages of
inclosing stock, and that its benefit can be at
tanned by all classes of society. 1t is clearly
god-send to the poor man. The grass will cost
him nothing, and the rails required for the in
closure simply will be, perhaps, ninety per cent.
less than the number necessary to fence the
whole farm. Good old fields, waste lands as
they are now called, are assessed at from fifty
to seventy-fve cents per acre, and at these
prices, should they continue, every honest and
industrious freedman may become landlord,
and the owner of at least one hundred acres
But if the present fence law is continued, these
poor men will be compelled to buy enough
timbered land to fence their whole farms, which
can only be done at heavy cost.
In addition to the Bermuda grass, We have
the Japan clover, which is valuable as sum-
mer grass, and the red and white clover and the
oat grass that are valuable both in summer and
winter. Phe oat grass grows with great lux
uriancy on good land; it defes the most in
tense cold of winter, and puts forth in the
gentleman of great experience pronounces it
the forwardest and the latest of all the grasses.
1t has not been properly appreciated in this
country, nor have | any doubt but that by
proper attention it may be made almost as
profitable to us during the winter months as
the Bermuda is in the summer time.
But there are still other advantages. Every
one can see the benefits that may be secured
by attaching cow pens around the sides of the
stock Enclosures, into which the cattle may be
driven at night, and in which they are fed
during the winter. These pens, thus enriched,
would yield heavy crops of turnips and other
valuable roots, and rye and barley on which to
Craze the mich COWS during the winter.
If the policy of grazing all our stock in in
closures set in grass has the sanction of reason
and common sense, Che folly and nfatuation OF
country, at cost of many millions of dollars
annually, and the destruction of our valuable
t;mhar ia annallinp And for what reason is