The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1874-04-01
Georgia Correspondence.

In my last, I promised, at some
future time, to give your readers
my experience in farming and as
it is, perhaps, more limited than
some of theirs, I do not offer 1t as
a criterion for them, but rather
with the view of an exchange OF
opinions and modes OF farming.
With this brief explanation 1 now
proceed to the selt-impcsed, but
pleasant task
In the first place, I will state
that farming, as much as any other
profession, is an at, and to be
made profitable, must be studied
and practiced in scientific man
ner. We live in a progressive age'
and farming, to succeed and meet
our demands for sustenance, must
move apace with the tlmes-must
discard all its old foggy notions
and experiment and prsctice what
experience teaches to be best Be-
cause our fathers done so and so,
planted this way and that way
and cultivated the other way, is
no reason why we should, provided
we have learned a better way
We once heard story told OF an
old dutchman, who, when he went
to mill, always placed his grain IN
one end of his sack and a large
stone in the other, to balance it on
his horse. He had followed this
plan from boyhood, simply because
his father had done so. After a
while his son JOHN grew up to be
a mill-boy, and he conceived the
: idea of throwing the stone'out and
dividing the grain in the sack SC
Y as to balance. The old man, by
r the force of habit, thought his
! wav was right and his sons very
, foolish idea, so Ne demonstrated
with him. but all to no avail, ano
> finally, his little stock Of patience
q being exhausted, he exclaimed
: "shon, you be von porn fool! Io'
c fadder and grandfather dake da
e sbtone to mill NIT dem and nov
: YOU .dink you git shmart and tr9w
!, , it ava, ,f!" Now, young f"rmef
I, YOU are> carrying stone-la-3
z - .ss..2zi -->.-l.Aus-
= tne dIf try and see if %'
can't conceive a better plan, Pnc
throw that cumbrous stone ASIDE
even at the risk Of being cal.ej
smart.
. "a The first thing a good farmer
. does is to thoroughly prepare his
lands for the crops he intends
planting. My mode of doing this
is by the use of the two-horse
plow. I use the fourteen inch
steel clipper, which turns the land
entirely over, burying all vegeta-
ton beneath. I am not alarmed
if I turn up the yellow clay if I
get the vegetable matter eight or
ten inches under it. l turn all my
land in this way. When I COM
menced this manner of plowing
my neighbors condemned it, and
expressed the opinion that T was
running my land--rendering it
worthless. Now, since they have
seen the results, many are supply
ing themselves with two-lorse
plows, and are adopting the same
plan. Turning stubble lands should
be done in the fall before frost kills
the vegetation, though if it cannot
be done then it may be pro6tably
done anytime during the winter
or spring, even up to planting !
time. If land is rough or not thor
oughly pulverized, I run a heavy
two-horse harrow, with iron teeth
fourteen or fifteen inches in length,
over it. If to be planted in corn
this generally puts it in pretty
good fix for that purpose. I then
check off my rows four feet each
way, and drop my corn in the
cross and cover with a small sconter
plow. If I apply home made ma
nure, I put small quantity-say
q single handful-upon two sides
Of the hill before covering. III
apply commercial fertilizers, I put
about a tea-spoonful about three
or four inches from the grain in ::
he furrow. The second time