The free citizen. (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1875-10-30

will have been, taken toward the solution
OF the problem. Our own observation
and experience lead us to think that the
question is really one of preparation and
fertility, rather than Of locality, climate
or general character of soil, though the
latter is not without its influence. Clio
yer and the grasses do well in the south
OH good, strong claycy soils, well manurcd
and thoroughly prepared This is no
| longer an open question. Are there not
| loamy and sandy soils on which, if made
equally rich and. equally well prepared,
they will do Well also? On this point
we need further experiments.
LIME FOR GRASS AND THE SMALL GRAINS.
A dressing of lime on land to be sown
with wheat, oats orcloverand the grasses,
is, in majority of cases, one of the most
Temuiicrdtivc applications that can be
made, provided lime can be procured ut
reasonably low rates. 1t is not merely as
plant-food that lime is useful. 1t is still
more Important as prcparer of plant
food. Its reaction with the acids of the
soil, its strong action upon dccaying veg
etablc matter, and its faculty of convert
ing clay into mud, and rendering il me-
chanically fit for culture, are some of its
more Obvious uses, and, as Il general rule,
it may be assumed that the land which is
the richest in vegetable substances will
benefit most by the free use of lime and
gravclly sand the least. 1t is an open
question how much, or rather how little,
lime may be profitably applied per acre
The English farmers use lime heavily,
putting on their ticldsat the rate of from
scvcnty-iivt to one hundred bushels per
acre, and make one application do for Il
number of years. Lighter dressings made
yearly do better hcrc-say from. five to
twenty bushels, depending upon the
amount of vegetable matter in the soil
and its acdity Our Charleston mari
| lime, or calcincd mari, is better than the
ordinary stone lime.
WHAT EVERYBODY KNOws-or COURSE.
If it is worth while to make cotton ut
| all, rs we all belicvc-showing our faith
| by our works-it is surely worth while to
save it all in the best possible condition.
when made; yet there is always culpa-
bic neglect among planters in this partic-
ular-neglcct to pick at the proper time !;
slovcnly work in picking, which allows
mach of the lint to go to waste; lack
OF care in asserting the different quail
ties, so that much lint of the highest
grade must be sold at the price of the
lowest, simply because some portion of
the latter has been mixed with ii; bad
ginning, reducing gcol cotton to the
| market value of an inferior quality. and
so ON. This should not be tolerated.
Docs not every intelligent planter know
that-thc original quality being the same
clean, well ginned, cotton commands
in market from one and half to two
cents more per pound than trashy cot
TONI? OF course, everybody knows
nevertheless, immense quantities of
trashy cotton find their way to market,
and these words of caution are not re-
pcatcd without reason.
SOWING GRASS AND CLOVER WITH GRAIN.
One great cause Of failure with grass in
the south has been the seeding of the
crop with the small grains. This is a
common practice at the north, and we
were formerly inclined TO favor it, but
later experiments force lis to the conclu-
sion that in our climate ut least, the
practice is a bad one, and that it is far
more profitable to SOW each by itself. If
sown Immediately, (whcn not already in)
grass and clover will, on suitable soil,
attain such Il growth before the hot
weather OF next season sets in, as will in
sure them against injury, without the
shade Of the grain, which will be injured
by the clover and grass, while injuring
them i'll return. In any case, the land
for clover and the grasses should be rich
and thoroughly prepared by deep, close
ploughing, followed by narrowing, pre-
vious to which good dressing Of super
phosphate may be applied with advan-
tage. Brush lightly to cover and, cx-
ccpt on heavy soils, by all means roll the
hclds with Il tolcrably heavy roller. This
last Is AN Important and too generally
neglected process. If you are to SOW both
clover and the grasses on the same field,
1t IS best to SOW the clover by itself, as
the seed does not mix well with the grass
seed. The various kinds of grass seed
may be mixed before sowing.-Ruyol
| CdrOlinidn