The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1875-12-04

ing was that thing. SO | SUBSIDIZED all
my cotton ground in March; put on
most of it about two hundred pounds
of an approved commercial fertilizer
to the acre, beddcd- thus burying my
manure about five inches deep-and on
the 10Th of April l planted my seed
with Il Dow Law planter. Three acres
and Il half of the nineteen acres had
been peach orchard; this l treated
differently. In the previous October
(being satisfied that the orchard was too
old to be proftable), / had the trees,
dug up, piled, and during the winter
burned, roots and all. Now my nearest
neighbor, from whom / purchased my
farm, told me that he had never sue
cecded in making anything grow on
that ground except peaches. He had
planted it in corn, which died of some
mysterious trouble when about three
feet in height; later, he sowed oats,
! which had a similar fate at much less
altitude. This was unpromising. On
examination of the soil, [ found it on the
surface like a bed of ashes. When
you walked over it, you broke through
a sort of crust; your shoes were COW
cred with grey, powdery dust, and it
seemed as if, but for the crust, a high
wind would have removed the top
soil and left only the red clay subsoil,
which was to be found at varying depths,
but never more than six inches, below
the surface.
Here seemed to me a case for deep
ploughing. | reasoned that the surface
being so poor the subsoil could do no
harm on top, and putting the Watt
plough at work, / broke the piece,
turning up about two inches of subsoil
to the surface and afterward, with a
long fifteen inch bull-tangue, We brought
up more of the red clay, and mixed the
whole thoroughly with the surface soil.
Early in March / hauled out and put
into the drills fifty-two OK loads of
poor ''lot manure" to the acre, beneath
which was put one hundred pounds of
the "Stonewall' Gan English manure).
This was bedded and planted upon,
but not sufficiently deep, as the first
rain left the strawy manure exposed in
many places and ruined the stand.
The crop came up very quickly; the
seed had been rolled in land plaster,
and the first rain moistened it, and
plaster retaining the moisture, the cot
ton soon showed above the soil in long,
straight rows of broadish two-leaved
plants. The stand on most of the land
was fair, and fine weather, and the
stimulus of the manure, caused con-
siderable growth in a few days. The
crop was worked with half sweep, bar
side to the row at the first working, the
middle being cleaned with a full sweep.
After the first working, the full twenty
inch sweep was used and the cotton
plowed four times in quick succession;
it was hoed to stand before the first
ploughing, and once afterwards to clean
out grass between the rows. The re-
suit on nineteen of the acres was four.
teen bales of about three hundred and
seventy-five pounds each.
DON'T sUBsoIL PIPE-CLAY LAND.
The other three acres proved a total
failure, for the reason that this field had
a pipe-clay subsoil, and when the cot
ton roots penetrated into the clay,
where l had so ingeniously dug bitches
(Which held water instead of draining
the land) with my subsoil plough, the
cotton on the three acres died-with
'blight," my neighbors said; blight
being name given to anything which
kills cotton, by first causing the leaves
to turn a rusty red, and then die and
fall off; the entire plant dying also
about the same time, leaving Il few
halfgrown, partly open bolls, within
which can be seen some sickly white
fiocks of cotton of almost no value.
RULES DEDUCED FROM EXPERIENCE.
From the experience of that year
dcduced a few general rules which are,
l think, applicable to any land of q
similar character in the South Carolina
uplands, where pine is the principal
timber:
l. To make manure, keep your
yards well filled with ''pine straw"
(pine needles, used for bedding cattle,
horses, etc. ;)also bed your horses and
mules heavily, and have cellar, or ,
some shelter, under which manure can
be kept dry, and protected from the
sun and wind.
Cub-Oll All Istiltl nstNlllS Tcl Clay
or yellow clay subsoil, but do not sub
soil pipe clay land, unless first under
drained.
3. Work crop as fast as possible,
and try to lay by early. If not large |
enough to shade the ground, and have
to continue work, plough SO rs not to |
stir the surface more than halfa inch |
in depth.
f. Lot or stable manure makes the
best cotton if freely used.
5. Make your land very rich, and
you will save in work. On very rich
land two ploughings and one hoeing are
enough; poor land will need four or
five ploughings, and two hoeings-
three.
FALL PLANTED SMALL GRAINS.
During the three years spoken of,
oats, spring and fall planting, had been
tried, demonstrating the superiority of
crops. Corn had been
planted every year, always with salts
factory results. Sweet potatoes had
also been an annual crop, but uniform
ly turned out badly, caused by my ig
norance the first two Seasons, and
absence from home the last. Cattle,
horses, sheep, poultry, hogs, etc. hadall
been raised successfully, and the prof
its of the farm increased from these
sources; financially the farming had
been successful.
HOW TIE STRANGER WAS TREATED.
Best of all, my health was complete
|y restored, my lungs were pronounced
sound again hy the highest medical
and |, who went IL stranger
among rccently-conquered people,
had made valued friends Ncv@r
Turing these years has any discourtezy
been shown, but, on the contrary, kind
ness, as unexpected as it was welcome,
vas lavished upon me. During i'll