The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-09-07
Red Oats.
d. Wyatt Ais.a in the Rura, c,roii~inm Jor September

d. Wyatt 4iis.a in the Rurai c,rOnon for September.
We have so frequently written in these
pages about red oats, and have sent them
to so many sections of the State and
South, that we thought every farmer
sowed them, and that if he did not, that
he at least had heard of their intrinsic
worth But much to our surprise we are
in almost daily receipt of letters making
enquiry about this invaluable grain.
How much do you SOW to the acre?
When do you SOW? Why do you SOW in
cotton land? What becomes of the cot
ton stalks? These and hosts of similar
questions arc asked nowadays. and we
will answer most of them so that there
ssn be no error either in the sowing or
reaping, and to be plain and explicit,
we will simply narrate, as we have fire.
qucntly done heretofore, a little expert
ment during the past season.
In 1875 one of our tenants planted
twelve acre field, flour years old) in cot
ton, land good and strong, oak and hick-
ory. We determined to put this field in
red oats, and hence advised the tenant to
postpone as late as practicable the last
ploughing of his cotton. This was done,
and on the 10th August we gave him
eighteen bushels of red oats, and advised
him to run two "sweep" furrows in his
cotton, then SOW the oats at the rate of
one and a half bushels per acre, and
cover the grain with one, sometimes two,
more similar furrows. Taking his own
time about it, he consumed just two
weeks in laying by that field of cotton,
and we paid him two dollars for sowing
our oats in his cotton. The ploughing
we did not pay for, because with his own
mule he was giving his own crop what it
needed before it was laiu by.
A fine stand was secured, and the oats
grew off very rapidly. The winter being
warm, this crop would have made lux
uriant sheep pasture all the winter, but
it was not touched by stock except occa-
sionally when hunger would force lot
Of the tenants cows to mount the fence
and gorge themselves. This was done so
frequently that at times the crop seemed
literally ruined.
But we had faith, for we never yet have
had crop of red oats to come up miss
ing" at harvest time. About the middle
of February these intrusions were put
stop to.
The first week in March the wife and
children of our tenant were paid twenty
FIVE cents per acre to knock down the
cotton stalks low enough not to interfere
with cradling.
Early in juno the twelve acres were
harvested by FIVE Graders, five binders,
two shockcrs, one water carrier, at an
expense of twenty-five dollars. The
work was well done, and was Il good
days work for the laborers, the oats be-
ing in places so heavy that cradling was
done to great disadvantage. Could the
crop have been harvested with reaper,
however, we believe many more bushels
would have been saved.
These oats were stocked in large shocks,
sometimes thirty bundles in 4 shock, and
capped by simply laying one or two bum
dies across the top of the shock. A week
after being cut, we began to haul them
in, but the very next day rain fell and
continued to fall for five consecutive days.
Much apprehension was felt about the
grain crop, every one was predicting ruin,
because the grain would sprout in the
field. Our faith was not shaken, because
we knew red oats had never yet disap-
pointed the farmer.
In due time, after the rainy season
ended, we began to haul, hiring our ten
ants, with their own teams, to haul those
oats from that field to our dwelling place,
distance of six miles, paying one dollar
and half for every two horse load,
hauling two loads day, and twenty doz-
EN- bundles to the load. We hauled nine
teen loads, and though none of these oats
were intended to be threshed, but to be
cut up as needed and fed to animals off
the plantation, we have so frequently
threShed this grain and know so we'll
what it will yield, that we are warranted
in saying that evcry load would have
measured twenty bushels of shelled oats.
They are now housed snugly, and care
fully packed away in loft that expert
ence teaches us holds just enough oats
to feed three horses for twelve months.
We have that many now feeding upon
them, and we are confident these oats
will feed them and have some to spare
when the oat crop of 1877 is harvested.
Now let lis see what these oats cost us.
First, there is the seed, eighteen bushels,
worth last fall eighteen dollars. Then
we paid for sowing two dollars. Then
for knocking down cotton stalks one
dollar and fifty cents. Then the harvest
ing cost twenty-five dollars. And finally
we paid twenty-eight dollars and fifty
cents to have them hauled to our stable,
six miles off. Well, with our tribe of
little ones, we ourselves packed away
these oats, and ought to have been paid
for it, we will say, three dollars Add to
this the wear and tear of the land, with
fair interest upon the investment, say of
two dollars and fifty cents per acre, or
thirty dollars for the twelve acres.
If we knew of any other expense We
would add it, but VIC do not, and really
think we paid more literally all around
for our work than most of our ncighbors
would have done. Could we have posi-
bly, spared the time NC would have sowcd
the field and paid no one else to do it.
Lack of time prevented our being with
the reapers, and hence we believe We
paid at least two dollars too much there.
Too many irons III the flrc compelled us
to pay for the hauling, which might have
otherwise been done with our own team.
And the packing away was frolic, no
money out, but simply valued at three
dollars.
But with all these high charges we be.
licvc VIC have housed three hundred and
eighty bushels of beautiful oats, at an
aggregate cost of one hundred and five
dollars, or less than weight cents
per bushcl. Three bushels of these oats
arc worth two bushels of corn. Can any
farmer in the South grow corn at forty
two cents per bushcl?
This is the fourth crop Of oats we have
hauled six miles i'm the shcaf, and never
before has it cost us over twenty-five
cents a bushcl, housed. We say then
earnestly to our readers, SOW red oats,
I L