The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-04-05
EARW,,GARDEN,AND HOUSEHOLD.
Z I.Es,,Al,haEosed. IT, hpleIhents,ssEE 81

plements he year after year plods~along
with through the crop season. Save the
cotton planter and o-distributor,
land these two are the same,l and the
sweep Where IS not to our mind q single
Observation-Disclosures implements,
Indeed, the sweep is little else than the
old, ola. fashioned buzzard wing, or shovel
and heel sweep. When we SOW our grain,
we toss it from the hand. When we plant
corn, we drop it from the fingers. When
we harvest, we use the cradle. When we
break up land or cultivate the crop, we
use the single-horse plough, going across
the field back and forth, three times as
often rs we should: And seldom, if ever,
do we Use implements that are decidedly
rlabor-saving. D.. !; -. q - .
Why is this 4? Are we anti-progressive?
Is land too cheap to warrant such invest
ments? Is our labor incapable of being
skilled to the use of such implements? ?
Or are we too poor to make the invest
ments necessary? Not one, but we i'm:
4 ddfagine I'll Of these combined reasons have
ftheir influence Upon us. I'VE are accus-
toned . travel the road our ancestors
did, c-ld any divergence from it is risk.
The hard-wordng5 Practical farmers in
whom we have confidence don't use the
latestSfm mpro1emeafs, ! and this shases.our
faith in them as an economy. Those
who HSo 6seel tHef6, from some cause or
other DO so somewhat spasmodically, and.
this gives US mo encouragement We
have to deal with the negro, and upon
him depends supply of labor. And
he. is ayerse tor progress. Improved i'm;
fplementss have to be bought, and this re-
auires The cash, which we seldom have.
And Sc it goes, that we cling TO- our old
implements, and are yearly falling be-
hind tla.se whoare more progressive. =
T There are many things to be done,
howeyer, beside buying the imp lements
upon our farms before we can, successfully,
use them. The land must be prepared
s snd 'hfa saadeds a 'GSf Sf ts iiagp e b
which only show themselves sci wheg TIE; the;
impfoved implement is tested, have to be
removed and then some time is reqqired
to acquire the skill to adjust and use
them. ,, 9y siEaJ 3! :; ;alT? -.
In 1857 we purchased Stafford cult.
vator, ian awkward aud NOT economical
implement, but then the best IN use, and
dlsriig che first days use. we needed an
extra hand along to caution us when we
were plaughing up the crop. The imple-
| ment wss known as buggy plough, was
I drawn by two horses, and ran four good
shovel turrows, but the work it did was
behind the door.
Instead pf-being encouraged in, the, use
of suck an impiement,-it was e-laughz.
ing stock. of the, neighborhood. One,
Thought weshouidf dfnow have an umbrel'
HAP anosherisuggested d jug between our
feet FLIED, either with 'whiskey OR water
or both. The negroes had objections to
it, and could not be induced to use it.
One thought he'd go to sleep in it an.
lahother-knew'he'd break it, and it would
| cost. him, his years wages, &c. But we.
persevesed, and alone did the ploughing
with it that year of thirty-fve acres of
sorghum and ifiveT acres 'oftcotton, and,
seldom ploughed over half of any one
day.
Y'sWe subsequently purchased a "Chal-,
llenge" eultiyater,, (which was either "a
riding or walking cultivator, and found;
it great improvement upon the other.
Unable to induce negroes to use it, we
sold itrto-an energetic young farmer, ,,who
cultivata1 full cotton and com crop
with it for several years, doing easily all
the ploughing for crop that required
three good hoe hands. .>,, :;
We are satisfied that ahyy9o the inn
proved cultivators of the present day will
performs more and better work, where the
Hand is prepared for it, with two good
mules and one driver, than can be, done
Mtht three mules and three drivers, each
to. ai isidgls old-fashioned plough. Any
of the Improved ploughs that require two
horses will, with one driver, do more
work il, bedding up, and cultivating the.
crop, than can be done by the same two
mules and two drivers with the old-fash-
ioned oneVherss plough stuck: IE.yTj
Our next Investment in improved i'm
p!smenes was in reaper and mower, and
as these were more complicated still, our
i,suceess: was less than with the cultivator.
I'VE drcye the reaper successfully, but
fc0uld never induce the freedmen to do it.
\ The mower. was more simple. and was
fused by them. In heavy: grain, where
the land was thoroughly prepared, land
by that zleans made as smooth as foor,)
a'ndriver and two horses will keep five
binders very busy, and save one-fifth
more grain than cradles can. But in,
chin, or ordinary grain, the cradle is the
BEST, ..... -. ~. j.. ..s. T. '.
Almost every farmer has his cotton
planter, and he knows how labor,s saving
| It IS, evea though he pays, as he almost
always does, twice as much for it as it is
worth. Before they were introduced, it
was the usual practice tothresh in tiveor.
six bushels Of Seed to the acre, by hand,
into the previously opened furrow, and
then worsys with ,the labor '6f. chopping
out the cotton to. q stand. NoW we can.
if the BED As fresh and the land well pre-.
pared, opeh stkeifdrrow; drill in-one to
two bushsls of seed, and cover them, all
at the saule operation.
Not 80, however, with corn. We still
drop the seed by hand, oftener than 9th
erwise, dlopping twice as many seed as
necessar*, and at irregular distances, and
hence there is not only an irregular
stand, but an irregular growth and yield,
some stands where less crowded growing;
larger apd bearing more abundantly than
others. NE baYe, seen on the prairies Of
the, Northwest man driving pair of
horses witha small boy sitting in front
of the driver on the implemept which
ran on aasd wheels. which were 4pIeceded
5ys Two 'pi'IoGghs, and : as the BOY moved
lever, first to ths right and then, 70 the
left, two grazing ,of corn were dropped
from hopper III iflto tktthe the two newly made
burrows, aud as the horse moved forward
the corn was covered by rollers. Thus
one man, a boy and two horses laid off,
planted and covered from twelve TO if
5ssR is5l9 |.;Slssnts Vim Repay is1sst
ment here, but will only do SO when we
properly prepare the land for their use.M!a!
Hon. 2. Wyatt aiken IN the Charleston
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