The Opelousas courier., 1882-12-02

ELiHEG vi u
This will come in time. It is one of the
results Of the intensive system OF farm
ing. The more manure we need lot
COMPOST, the more sheep and cattle we'll
need. The more stock we have, the
more cotton seed cake we'll need. The
more cotton seed cake we feed to our
stock at home, the richer our lands Will
be. We waste millions of dollars annu-
ally from the failure to pen our stock at
night. There is no excuse for any Geor-
gian staying poor or starving his Land.
mWith his cotton seed and stable ma
nure saved and composted with decayed
leaves, fine straw, etc., any farmer can
become rich if he wants to, and douole
the value of his land in three years"
"How much compost should be used
to the acre I"
SIT is hard to use too much. In
France the average is 10000 pounds to
the acre. A Georgia farmer will hardly
average 100 pounds to the acre. l will
average 10000 pounds next year
Nothing pays SO we'll"
CHOW do You scatter so much to the
acre r.
"Simplest thing in the world.
start 2 two-horse wagon through the
field. / put eight negroes with alt
bushel baskets, without handles, under
their arms Ill the track OF each wagon.
They sift the compost out of the basket
as they walk along, and have their a
kets filed from the wagon. l nave
changed the position of my cotton rows
four inches to the right every year, so
that the compost would be thrown III
new strips every year. ln this way L
have fertilized myawholo field, instead
of enriching the same rows year after
wear. | shall hereafter broadcast it."
"Your whole secret then is cheap aud
intelligent manure, and plenty of it|
Eyes. | have shown you the money
profit in manure. I've shown you the
added value it gives to land. There
are many other advantages. o make
your L quicker and with less dan
ger. I made last year-mark this
fort bales on sixy-five acres in
three months and five days. 1t was
planted June 5, and the caterpillar lin
ished it on September 10. / showed
the agricultural society a stalk five feet
high with 1876 hollis by actual count ON
it.. The seed from which this plant
grew was planted just fifty-nine days
before. Cotton grown this way can be
picked with half the cost and time OF
ordinary cotton. On my cotton and
this year | raised II hundred bushels
of oats to the acre, and after cleaning
off the stubble | planted the cotton, n
stalk of which | showed the conven-
ton
"Of course, in your five years OF
study you. have discovered other i'm
provements in cotton plantingW
"Certainly. One is not to drop the
cotton seed in IL continuous row, but
simply to put a few seed in the hill
where you want a plant. By strewing
the seed in a sprinkled row there is q
great waste. A cotton seed is like an
egg. When the chick is born there is
nothing but the shell left. When the
seed has sprouted there Is nothing but
the shell left. The fertilizing power of
this seed is lost. Worse than this. 1t
draws from the soil for the elements
that make it grow. 1t is left to deplete
the soil in this way for two weeks at
least, and is then chopped down, leav-
ing only one out of twenty plants to
grow the fruitage. My plan is to plant
four or five seed in a hill. The hills to
| stand in four feet squares. Of these l
would let two plants to the hill grow to
perfection. 1t takes from two to four
bushels of seed to plant In acre in the
old way. By my plan a peck to the
acre is enough, and the soil is not drawn
to support a multitude of surplus plants
for two or three weeks
els planting in four foot squares bet
ter than the old wayW
Eyes, cotton is a sun plant and needs
room for it's roots. When cramped in
l2 or Is inches it cannot attain it's per-
feet growth. My aim is to put the
plants two together in four foot squares,
and average rs to $50 hollis to the plant.
This will give me a pound of seed cot
ton to the plant, or three bales to the
acre."
"What about hoeing your cotton 2"
"Inever touch it with a hoe. The
growth of cotton comes from the spread
ing flaments that reach out from the
root and feed it. If these are destroyed
the growth stops till they are restored.
I am satisfied that three boeings lost
me eighteen days of growth, or six days
each. I run a shallow pillow along the
cotton rows, and never 60 deep enough
to cut the roots. But these are mere
details in which men may differ. The
main thing is the intensive system OF
manuring and the outstanding all the
droppings and wastage Of the farm for
compost. can take any 100 acres OF
land in Georgia, and at a nominal cost
can bring its production from a sixth Of
q bale to three bales an acre in five
years. ANY man can do it," .
"Is your system getting many follow
ers7"
"My tenants are adopting the inten.
sive plan, and are very much encour'
aged. Some few nelghbors are using
my formula. | have sent out, | sup
pose, 500 formulas for composing
The speech I made before the agricul'
tural association created more excite
ment than anything for years. Tbs
members did not relish my statement
l saw plainly. They sent Mr.. E. c
, Grier, the secretary, to Milledgeville tt
see my crops and verify my statements
He is to-day the most enthusiastic mai
I in Georgia ever the system / am work
! ing on"
"You understand" added Mr.. Fur
l man in conclusion, "that | have n
possible interest il this matter outsid
, Of my crops. have no receipt to sell
}, no phosDhates, no fancy seed, no land