The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1883-03-15
unmaskinr the Humhnrs.

y. l. Dbcfe, the aDle AGRICULTURAL
editor of the Mobile (Ala., Regis
ter, an article from our able con-
contemporary, the. Southern Guilt
yator, Atlanta, Ga, setting forth
the folly of attempting to make
granuiated sugar with profit from
the sorghum, or Chinese sugar cane,
as it is often called. The article
|. was read by us with no small de-
gree of pleasure, owing to the fact
that we had. been fighting the sor-
go humbug from the veiy start. all
alone. We had no fears as to final
result; however, nevertheless one
feels better of re-inforcements, even
though be knows las we certainly
knew, that victory for his side of
the question is a settled fact, re-
quiring only little time for devel-
) ment.
To US the foregoing is mos, de
cidedly pleasant reading, for it. is
the first company we have had on
what we we're fully convinced was
the correct position with reference
to this sorghum question. Up to
this time the Register has been go
ing it alone in taking the grounds
that ''sorgo" could not be made to
yield profitably a first class sugar,
but all our southern contemporaries
have held out the idea that it could,
by copying articles on this subject
from the northern press, and by in
directly urging their patrons to
drop cane and plant sorghum. But
the foregoing. coming from one of
the ablest and most influential pub
locations in the south, causes us to
feel that we are to be alone no
longer. -
There are other humbugs of SINH
lar ilk that we have had in bay
for some time, sail alone by our
sell" and now comes our tar-seeing
and talented friend, Col. Daniel
bennett, of the New Orleans Plea
yune, and gets after one. of them as
follows:
| Ensilage does not appear to meet
with much favor among southern
farmers, and we hope and trust it
never will. 1t is not adapted to
warm climate or colored labor or to
the habits of southern stock raisers.
We have read the arguments for and
against it in the journals, and can
not believe it will ever be extern
sively favored even among northern
! farmers.
Only two advantages are claimed
for ensilsge over dry forage-one
is, it may be stored away green and
in wet weather, the other, that cat
tie thrive better on green food in
the winter than on dry food. We
do not think that much more hay
would be spoiled by bad weather
than would be spoiled by bad silos |
and by bad packing of ensilage in |
the silos; and it will not pay in the |
south to cut in the field, put on the
carts, haul to the silos, unload, run |
through q silos cutter, pa, ked in |
the pit, covered in tight with planks
and weights, taken out in the win
ter in baskets, fed to cattle like .tur
nips or potatoes, six tons of fodder
and water to get one ton of fodder
to the cattle. We have failed to
discover in any of the experiments
reported that any new virtues or Hu
triment are added to the forage by
saving it green in sllos.
The estimates made in the cost
of handling, saving and feeding out
ensilage to cattle have usually been
extremely low; it would cost double
these estimates in the south. And
the way that colored laborers have
of nursing up and killing time over
such jobs, stopping often to discuss
the best way TO do everything with
which they are not familiar, and
their careless manner of doing such
work, would cause general failures,
the ensilage would often be spoiled,
and the expense of serving and
handling of it would be heavy. Be
sides, our warm winter weather,
which sometimes lasts for weeks,
would spoil much of the ensilage af-
ter pits are opened for feeding.
The fact is that the southern
farmer who has plenty of good hay,
plenty of oats and a good large
corn crib full of corn, and a good
pile of fresh cotton seed, and com
Portable sheds and barns for hous-
ing all of his animals in bad wealth
er, needs nothing more to carry his
stock through fat and comfortable
until the spi1ng grasses furnish an
abundance of green food better than
ensilage. |;
We do not believe green food is
much needed by stock in the win
ter. Green food is then out of sea
son, except the winter grasses
which are always good; but even D
with winter grasses, cattle, mules,
and sheep crave and relish good hay
and good fodder. Some southern
farmers who are rich and enterpris- '
ing, and who dotnot mind the ex-
pense of $500 or $1,000 on silos, ;
may be very well satisfied with en- !
silage; but it is not the true winter l
feed for the stock ofnearly all of the
farms in these states. 1t costs too
much, it is too much trouble, and it
don't pay. @
The next humbug to be unmask
ed will be silk Culture for the
SOUTH" in all probability. OF the
three named it is the younger, we
believe, nevertheless, as hnmbug,
it is undoubtedly the noblest Ro-
man of them all.
People have blamed US somewhat
for not fastening on to these
blooms constantly rising and
doating with the popular cure mt,
but we preferred to bear the blame
rather than violate that rule of ours
which made it necessary for US to
know we were right before going
ahead. In the cases named we knew
we right not to go ahead. A little in
vestigating showed US that the sor-
ghum ''boom'' was gotten up and
kept aliFe by certain parties who
had sorgo- seed and sugar machin-
cry for sale, and that the ensilage
"boom'l was worked up by a news
rbA ha6 ,,,-;-,@1I n