The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1879-05-22
A GOLD MINE.
A New Departure in Farming BY
which Fortunes May be Made
in the South.
IConcluded From Last Week. ]
BY A. c. wELLBoRN.

had also put out an orchard oI
peaches and plums of so acres; also
had planted the next spring about
ten acres of artichokes.
His neighbors now having heard
Of his success the first year, had
grown less incredulous and merry
at Peters expense. One of them
who came over one day to make
some inquiries about Peters gold
mines, after they had rode over the
fields, asked him to detail his whole
plan.
"Well," says Peter, "The last
year you know was my beginning
in this business. 1 was under many
disadvantages. In the first place, ]
was afraid of failure that lost sever.
al thousand dollars; then L had my
seed wheat and seed peas, and all
my stock of hogs and sheep to buy.
Now, my wheat, of which l have
three hundred acres again, is sown
from my own seed; l have peas of
my own now, not only to SOW all
the stubble, which you see 1 broke
up last fall, about 800 acres, and
also to SOW down all the land now
in wheat just as it is reaped and
CLEANED by the hogs and sheep; my
corn land, of which cultivate loo
acres, that is in peas also. l am
preparing to raise my own hogs
and sheep, and at the end of this
year will have my stock of each.-
To avoid the necessity of feeding
on corn L have 200 acres of clever.
can turn my sows and pigs on
until fruit ripens. First, then
comes my plums, of which have
fifty acres planted between my
peach trees. Hogs thrive fairly OF
these, until peaches ripen. BY hav
ing both varieties of the peach
these carry them excellently unit
my earliest peas ripen. Kept up tt
this time in thrifty condition b.
clover, plums and peaches, they G,
right to work harvesting your peas
converting them into gold almos
as rapidly as does any other mine
after the metal. My fifty acres @
artichokes keep In fine order unit
after Christmas, when the peas ar
gone and clover not yet in, and las
the sows until first of April, which
you see, leaves only few weeks O
q month at farthest, when corn i
required" 49,,
sure enough" said the neighbol
elf it only looks as you say, bu
suppose your plums and peache
fail, what do you then do?"
"This rarely occurs here with til
plum" said Peter. "but with tn
peach more frequently. Wheneve
this happens, though, you will onl,
lose your crop of clover hay, for bl
my plan you will only keep then
on until the plum ripens, which
gives ample time by taking then
off, then to grow a crop of hay
But if plums and peaches both fail
they must be kept there at the sac
rifice of your hay until your early
peas come on, say the middle oi
August"
"Now about the sheep. How do
you raise them and the hogs to
gether?" said the neIghbor.
commencing, then, with the
fall" said Peter, II turn my sheep
on the peas the first of September,
and strange as it may seem to you,
sheep will hardly eat enough Of the
peas to be observed, sheep under
no circumstances requiring but a
few ounces Of any grain daily, their
food when turned in being the vel y
weeds you are most anxious to kill
out. Burrs they seem to regard as
the greatest delicacy, careless weed
and smart weed their substantials.
Turned in the corn field where
peas are also grown, you will hard
ly ever see an ear Of corn inter
rupted. And right here is the only
advantage l can see in having any
neighbor raise cotton. j usually
buy a few tons of seed at about the
price they are worth as fuel to feed
TO my sheep in bad weather. They
need no extra feed which they can
not obtain from the pea fields until
the middle of December. Now, see
how l do it. l have 400 acres OF
woodland, you know, that has all
been cleared of underbrush, and
sowed in blue grass, herds grass,
orchard grass and clover. L do not
pretend to NOW it or pasture it
either spring or summer, but every
thing grows up as rank and dense
as possible, and seed, when winter
comes under all this protecting
vegetation lies, green feed, juicy
and tender grass for all winter, only
giving now and then the seed
which my neighbors 50 nearly
gratuitously supply, under the shell
ters 1 have prepared in my woods /;
this only while SHOWS or bleak
rains are on hand.
This carries me through the
lambing season, when much care is
needed. BY this time l take my
ewes from my pasture in the
woods to give the grass fair start,
that it may be covered over for
next winter, and / resort TO my
good natured cotton planting friends
again to furnish me pasture all
spring and summer, which they do
by letting their old fields and
woods lie loose, as the saying is, all
around me. l have no care for
them then only TO see that my
shepheard brings them regularly 10
their enclosure, which l have
changed once a week, from one
poor spot TO another on the farm,
that 1 may this better utilize my
neighbors' generosity in letting me
each week transfer tons of fertility
from their woods to my worn fields.
| sell annually from my 400 ewes
from 300 to $50 lambs, at from
81 so to SO 90 a head, besides 1900
to $1,000 pounds Of WOOL"
1t took but a few years, by this
system of farming, 10 place Peter
Willis far ahead in all his pecunia-
nv matters, besides enabling him 70
have his farm in all respects highly
improved. His buildings were all
in excellent repair, his fences good,
and Of these he had enough TO af-
ford such shifting OF stock as was