The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1878-08-02
Oats AS A FEED.


letter from friend in the low-country
which only proves to US the great necessity
of publishing all experiments carefully
made upon our farms, and the good that
would result if the farmers would not only
experiment, but would publish their expert
ments, and have others comment upon
them, SO as to confirm them as true or re-
ject them as unreliable Our friend says !:
Please tell us how you feed your cats SO
as to make three bushels 60 as far ds two
bushels of corn, as stated in yoqr article of
June .? ia =
Such oats .asswe . ROW CD alb 1.
32 pounds to the Gtshel cor3 eighs Sc
pounds. feed my horses on cracked corn
and oats mixed, aud give to each about six
quarts day, plenty fer one horse.
Our old folk used to tell ne that oats
were worth only half as much as corn. For
two years planted small 10. Of red oats
and made fair crops. Last year planted
Northern white oat and lost my crop from
rust and the remarkably dry weather This
year l shall plant the red oat again, and
would like to try IN experiment with an
acre or two Of wheat. How much of each
of these grains do you plant per acre, and
where and at what price can reliable seed
be had ?"
My friend, on the Pee-Dce above George
town have remarkably fine lands, intcrmix-
ed with clay, easily drained, and | have
tried to induce them to experiment with
wheat, rye and oats. They n44Assv.iubly re-
ply, we did SO during the war and after
one OF two crops would have a complete
i,i I
could be prevented those high lands are or
could be made moro valuable than the rice
lands can ever be again. Bearded grains
sccm to be secure against the attack Of the
May birds.
l wish you could visit me this summer
here on the coast, and see what q result we
have, I may say thus far comparatively un-
known"
With many thanks to our friend, VIC as
sure him the last clause Of his letter only
corroborates what We have often said Of al
most every county in the State We, the
citizens Of the State, know almost nothing
Of our general resources, and lsow can we
expect Others to, know, anye{.g thcm2
Where can you lay your handv6 printed
page that will give you definite information,
or minute description of any particular
portion of our State No where that we
know Of, except in few pamphlets recently
published by counties or Oranges. The
State has done nothing, and hence the ne
ccssity Of that Bureau Of Agriculture, Min
ing and Immigration.
But to other parts of the letter.
"Our old folk used to tell us.n,&c. Yes
they did, but we arc net obliged to rest sat
islicd with everything they told us. They
lived in the past, and were wcdded to their
own IDEAS. We live in q more progressive
age, and must have new ideas, one of which
is, that red oats will not rust, aud our old
folk knew nothing about rcd oats.
Several years ago VIC published the result
of carefully conducted cxMyi lScit Hsitl.
oats for two years, TO test whether or not
there was such thing as rustproof oat.
The second year VIC carefully laid off eight
acres in one compact plot, and manurcd
each acre with one hundred and fifty pounds
of supcrphosphatc, (this latter is another
new idea about which our old folk knew
nothing,) and sowcd the eight acres in as
many different kinds of oats, bushcl and
half TO each acre. We had procured seed
i'o'h ''o' 'Louio) buipiuioIc, loluch OatS
Ashcvillc, N. c., Knoxville, Tenn, (ths
last the famous and worthless Norway oats
from the Agricultural Department. at Wash
ington, two kinds, (the Schonen and Sur
prise oats,) and our old-folk- -sort-of spring
oats, with which We had been acquainted
all our days, and the red oats, to which we
had been introduced as late as 1868. This
experiment was Eve write from memory
i'll 1871 and 1872.
The first year there was no signs Of rust,
but the experiment failed because all the
grain was sown in the fall, and the Norway,
Spring and Schoncn oats were killed in the
winter, and all the others more or less in
jurcd by freezes. The next year moro care
was taken, some of the oats sown i'll the
fall and the rest in February or about the
last of January. That spring was remark
able for the rust in grain, and six out Of
eight of these acres rustcd so badly they
were not harvested. The Schoncn oat
rustcd Il little and yielded but sixteen bush
els Of light oats, though it made q bcauti-
iul stalk. The red oat was surrounded by
all the others, never rustcd particle, and
yielded satisfactory crop, wo aavc forgot>
ton the number Of bushels The next year
we sowch the sixteen bushels of SchOnen
oats, and lost the crop by rust. -Eroas. that
day To this wc have onlv sowp tho rIXYoot