The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-09-04
Hints for the Month.

Thctime has arrived when every farmer
should take n retrospect OF his labors on tne
farm. and consider whether or not nc lnsaci-
ed wisely or unwiscly rs Il ctltiHitor OF tne
soil. Hc should now begin to take an inVen,
tory too OF the farm In this wise: have i
planted too much cotton this year? DID corn
Have ! bought molasses when l could more
easily have grown the cane and boiled the
syrup? Is my barn full of oats, or am SUI,
dependent upon corn hauica rom lne uupUi
and bought on q credit? Have l on hand
.nroyendcr mi o.hcr homemade supplies LOT
the winter? Does my cotton CROP nia ,aiL ~
pay all expenses and have something lalu W
for a rainy day? DO / owe q Store acG1un ~
which cannot say certainly ] will be able 10
nav when my cotton Is ready Tor markct .
ilavc I utilized the labor on my, iarln 10 ons
best advantage? And last Dul ny III r g
least have I spent my ownt time as prohtap's
ms should during the past eight monthS:
If Inc can answer all such inquiries SAUSAGE
torily, he may with hcartand nope neS!n ~"
to prepare for another crop, for now Is tne pc.
rinninc of seed time with the South Carolina
farmer. IF. however, he had cause 10 pc us
hcartcncd because of sundry failures duIiiE
the past year, let him take courage, ana VIII
renewed energy buckle to It with Il dctcrinl-
nation that he shall not have recurrence Oh
such n condition If his efforts can avert IL.
should If practicable not be allowed to crowd
thc farmer. Keep your field clear OF open
hollis. should now be the farmers effort. Nor
should he fail to gin as rapidly as possible al
ter picking, pack as iaSt rs Grnne nj tI hr WITH TiitthM
ont execution, but uniformly II. Will prove
the most advisable. Cotton should De nTeThI-
ell for market with much care: trash VIII re-
dIcc It's price, but not its value ID INC manu-
fncturcr. Dirt, sand and stains Will always
be in cotton to the disadvantage OF the iar-
mcr. uo.
RIM two sweep burrows to the row. sow ono
aud n half or two bushels Of rcd oats to the
acre, md cover with one or Two sweep iII-
rows I'm the middle ofthc water infro". ms
will be the cheapest horse or NIUE or COW or
hog or sheep food you ever produced. Tramp
ling over the oats rs the cotton Is picked In
ihc fall land winter docs them good.
We arc simply aS!oniSh"d nj inc isHn!amcS
of our farmers at this dizzy concerning the req
oats. We very frequently get letters OF lnqul.
ry asking IL we have any pure RED ruSt,prool
oats" and II we know whether they VIII pay
TO SOW. &c. When the time comes that we
have no oats for sale, and an abundance be.
sides to feed our stock upon, We Will cry ont
against farming rs Il procession. We nave
time and again assured our readers there can
brrrOwn no such cheap stock food on any
farm In South Carolina. Two weeks ago we
published an experiment showing That red
oats cost us about eighteen cents per bushei
to erin them' ,i 7 c h,Sa"w dr q awn 5v a beaUti.
FIJI mule, dfmulcs can be called Beautifully
and said to us, ''yOur oats cost you TOO much;
] don't think mine cost me ii,tccn eemts per
ANYTHING moro here about red oats, further
than to advise every farmer in the state who
has n cotton field to SOW n few acres as above,
If i be simply as sn an GS inrd ne follows. "con
lyon Give me any information as to the plant
ing and culture Of Barley as Il green forage
"crop?" We reply, If you have a rich acre OF
break up thoroughly and wall, pulvcrizc the
surface ahd then SOW two bushels of barley
on n this month, and plough 1t with narrow
ShovclS. scooteis or bull-tongncs. IL Novcnl-
| -. 49,. .~~ nNt1 tI,nt Ia rlrN may hn ont nc
green food by December, and will surely be
ready before any other growth in the spring.
AS soon as IT. is high enough to grasp IN the
hand and cut below with a case knife, 1t may
he cut and fed: md ifthc spring Is scasonablc
It may be cut three times, or twice surely,
and then 90 to seed md produce more bushels
Of grain than the same acre would or wheat
not touched TIL ready to harvest. Poor land
will not grow barley, nor have we succeeded
with IL on sandy land. 1t SHOULD never be
grazcd or pasturcd. butcut and fed green. 1t
will shed the hair, increase the flesh or emil.
ven the spirits ofany work animal moro than
any other grain.
Now is the time to begin to turn over the
land for the small grain crop. or for the cult
coat of weeds on It, hitch two mules to a turn
ing pillow and bury, ifpossiblc. every vcstige
Of vegetable matter: keep stock of OF 1t, and
It will make, no matter how completely your
land Is turned upside down, even though 1t
be rod clay. An excellent opportunity Is o
offered to our Anderson farmers to expert
mcnt in this way rs they have no fences, and
will not he troubled by, rambling. stock on
their plouglcd land all winter. Turn yonr
land deep and close now, and let us know the
result next year.
Ifyou have peas sown rs n fertilizer, gather
inst enough TO save seed for the same land
next year, and turn under the balance as
soon rs the earliest pods are picked Off. Sow
this Ian In oats and drag The land. leaving
the surface smooth and even. The rcapcrs
next summer will tell you why this should be
done.
nhalfan acre ofany kind Of land. sandy,
gray or rcd, be made rich, thoroughly rich,
and we'll plouchcd, and thcn own In rye. us
Ing three pccks ofSccd If bin'h cast, ora half
bushcl If SOwn in tho drill, there can be har-
vested from 1t before next June perhaps more
green forage than will be furnished by any
hut is a most welcome food to my kind Of her
bivorOuS animal in the winter or spring. Rye
Sown now on fair average land will make
good Il lfpasiurc Mt n time when other calf
food Is very scarce.
Early corn will be harvested his month.
We advise cribbing in the slIuck. IT Is then
better protected against rats, and when the
ostlcr, whether he be "maSter or man." has
to shuck the corn rs fed. he will bemore than
apt to count the cars rs he feeds them.
When housing, sprinkle salt over every
wagon load OF corn: It. will make the shucks
moro palatahlC to stock during the winter
Bottom fodder will he pulled this month, and
we only say OF Il, cure as well rs possih!eand
house ii If practicable any crop worth saw
ing is worth taking the best care OF.
We are now In the midst OF sowing the cane
crop. and are not as careful rs we would adj
| wise oar readers to be, simply because we are
compelled to trust to others. Our conviction,
Is. there is no crop grown on the farm That
will pay tho farmer better for his undivided
attention during the harvesting than the
cane crop. The fodder is worth saving, hut
requires twice the time to cure that corn fod-
for cows. sheep and hogs. The bcsasse will
hide CALLED spots. and make manure. The
skimmings of the Kettles will make vinegar,
alcohol or whiskcy, and thcSyrup when prop
crly made is more palatable and wholesome
than the indicated stuff that graccs our ia
bles, or the inky fluid we buy for our farm
hands, md call mO!nsScS. No farmer in South
Carolina should buy ,"long swcctcning." on
more than one occasion we have heard men
compare "onr F4ortdd syrup to the. vile sor-
ghum Juice, when they were eating home
made syrup Mt our own table.
Sweet potatoes are now coming into market,
and all the early varieties arc plentiful. We
have no decided fancy for any but the genu-
inc yam, and as a crop think them preferable
to any We have ever eaten orGrown, ana we
never dig" until after the first frost. \
friend writes asking us II IT. Is Injurious TO
cut the potato vines at this season.. We have
never done II, and therefore can only say we
arc of the opinion that 1t Is decidedly injuri-
ons to any unlipc crop to take off It's leaves,
branches or vines before the crop Is ripe. We
know IT Is an Injury to- the corn crop to pull
Off the fodder, but to the extent Of the value
Oh TIE crop ol lnuucT we tnihk hoI. AM .,Ic
same may be said about the potato. If the
vines are to be utilized by being cured rs hay,
they may not damage the potato crop to the
extent of the value of the hay. but there can
be no doubt but that 1t damages somewhat
the growing potato. Our friend can easily
test the matter by cutting Off tho vines of
every other row in n half acre, and then meas
urlng the crops from the cut and uncut rows
nj harvest time.
Lend an eye to all kinds Of stock now.
They should all be fat at this season, and II
will be much easier to keep them so than to
fattcn again If they once get poor.
We have been very explicit. and perhaps
proliX, in some Of the paragraphs of this ar
ticle. and probably we have repeated an oft
told tale: but If so, we can only submitas our
apology for so doing the fact that we have re-
piled directly in every paragraph to inquiries
made OF us by letters from young farmers,
who have propoundcd questions that we have
been answering Off and on for ten years.