The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1883-01-20


recently a full description Of Furman
farm and farming methods. We quot
him in full below:
"Well I invited Mr.. Furman TO mai
his speech before the society. OF course
made sensation. That night we had
informal discussion, and that old farme
present piled Furman with a great man
questions. In this way they picked out I
! him the whole history of how he had bni
Mp his worn-out Georgia farm, and wit
what result. The general feeling after tn
was one of incredulity, and numbers Iii
not. hesitate to express their disbelief !
Whist Furman had said I. therefore, d,
termined TO go to Milledgeville and see fc
myself exactly what he had done | di
i So"
''What was the result of your trip?''
When reached MilIedgeville secure
! the company of General Myrick As W
went out to Furman's place we passed som
land that General Myrick said was exactl
!, like Furman's when he started. do no
| think it would have produced 800 pound
of seed cotton to the acre at the outside
1t was as poor land as / ever saw. MI
Parker who had known Furman's land 70
many years. said that when Furman tool
hold of it he thought any man was foo
that would try to make living on it. A
length we reached his place"
"And the result %
Was simply astonishing / never saw 6!
acres of such cotton in nv life and am al
old farmer. 1t was almost incredible to be
lieve that it stood on what was five year
ago the poorest of land The first field we
entered was that he had been testing fol
the full frye years. The cotton 7 feet high
and the limbs of the stalks were inter
locked. We might have thrown our hat,
in the air in any direction and not one hat
would have touched the ground. Indeed
you could not see the ground. The next
lot had been improved only three wears
and the stalks were about six feet high"
Was not the growth too dense to make a
full crop?''
''If it had been a wet year it was, but
with this dry weather it will frnit perfectly.
Hereafter Furman will plant in four feet
squares, so as to give each plant plenty of
sunshine. He was himself astonished at
the luxurious growth of his crop this year ~
What will the sixty-five acres make, in
your Judgment"
81 believe it will make from ninety to
one hundred bales. That is my Judgment"
And this on land that made only eight
bales five years ago?''
"And that amt all On much of the
land he made two crops. There was twelve
acres of his land that he had planted in
oats, gathering 1000 bushels, worth 5000
from the patch. After taking off the oats
he planted four acres in corn, which Welded
forty bushels to the acre or 100 bushels.
worth 500, and eight acres in cotton which
Will yield nine bales, worth $50 So that
he gets 81, $50 worth of crops off this twelve
acres The manure for it cost him 50 an
acre, OF say 1920 and what is best of all left
Tie land stronger and richer after the years
than before it,
"You indorse his plan. then. to the ful1 D,
Every word he says is true, and the re-
suits he has achieved are certainly most ad-
nirable. The chief beauty of his DIaD is
hat his compost is so cheap that any far
ner can afford it if he has or can get the
'otton seed. 1t is so sure that it pays back
is cost double and treble and five times
'yer every season, besides enrichjng the
and yearly 1t encourages the farmer to
axe care OF his stock and to buy more stock
md better stock, for he needs the stable
manure for the compost heap"
w hat do YOU think of his formula for |
- believe it makes perfect manure for |
otton He has studied it in the light of |
clence, and he gives hack to the soil nrec- |
Sely the same elements that the cotton |
axes from 1t and a surplus of these Gle |
lents besides. That is bound to be per-
ect manure"
What about giving up the cotton seed
} the oil mills ?"
That is very important question, and
m glad You asked it. Plainly we do not
ant to cripple the oil mills. We realize
erfectly, that the cotton seed is better az a
ock food, and as a fertilizer, after the oil
as been taken from it than before. 1t is
lerefore improper to bury 35 gallons of
aluable oil IN every ton of seed, when the
u is not only wasted, but is an actual hind
6'N<seed in doing its duty"
riousiy' 'fld 5 fasifrjlllr seed to the
----..t,.s a because we never get it hack
nee made into meal or cake it is sold else
mere Under the present arrangement no
ed can be bought in my neighborhood |
$ soon as the farmer understands how VAL
ible his seed is, and how he impoverisbes
$ land by selling it off, the mills can't
~ II anywhere. As soon as the Furman .
rmula is fairly tried they will find out
at me cotton seed, even with the oil in
is the best fertilizer they can get. and
tually indispensable of cotton lands"
: w hat ought the mills to do ?" i,
They ought to do this: When they buy
mans cotton seed they ought to agree to /,
turn him his meal ground up and nav !
eight both ways. If they would do this )
ey will get all they want and at nominal
ures could furnish them thousands !
tons at my depot at 50 a ton if they 4
'uld take it at the depot and return 10 q
depot the cotton meal ground up. | :
ey now pay from So to $40 ton for seed
q pay the freight one way 1t seems tn | A..
1t would be cheaper to try the othe !,
IN. 1T would certainly be safer. For i
TN the number of oil mills constantly in :,
asing, the demand for oil enlarging, and "
farmer constantly being educated III
value OF his seed as a fertilizer, and less
! less Wiling to impoverish his lands bv :.
ing OIL tor song the substance that i Il
entail for their maintenance. the mills u
una that they cannot get enough seed u
run them. They will find the farmers %
hdlng at the steam gins and bidding in Il
hpetltlon with them for the seed, be- y
Use working Mr. Furman's formula q far ~
can give much more than any oil mill al
palq Tor seed, and still make with it the %
ana very much the cheapest manure IL
can get anywhere ne
GU may write" Colonel Grier went nm de
aE, what you please about Furman's u
iRl,g ana you cannot write too heartily. ci'
advantages of his system are manifest. ca
begin with, his cotton grows so ranidlv OF
grass can't catch up with it. The or
st enemy the cotton plant had is nigoer
1 hoe. Cotton. planted on the IN Of of
e and feet high in a little over me
ltls can't be hurt with grass. and don't
hoeihg L nave shown you how his to
uring pays in increased crops. Start fiji
by manuring each acre at a cost of 81 40 cI.
increased until he was using about $40 If
ere. The cash value of the COTTON cro, "a;
the $40 worth of manure on each acre an
re % acres was about 81, 900 net above wi
1t was when he took it, without ma nr,
!. The manure used had paid for itself In;
times over every year. He gives the dil
es 10 show that he made $50 clear ne
\ e lai ~ wileh ne TOOK hold was int
:, y. - = VI iof lile % acres S325. ter
now worth at least $50 an acre. 81 600 acr
leye 1t has gained in value 81 .000a
since took hold oft With the treat
he is pursuing I believe it is good for acr
aies to the acre year in and year out y iliu
ny other farmer can do what he has a'e
es In more or less daoraas ing
moor that II canpot ho i,s, ~ ANU enc
cen. His is q ,bin oh ,laapio.eu as ms vii
J soil with clax, f,Ta ;..eiso ooioieu arm
He had onl,y - = \ ,,a.,.'e nom the less