The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1884-11-06
THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH.
EISEELY TOPICS roR .faE coNsrpER,
AT1oE OF PRoaREssiyE FARmERs.

What Work Should be Done during tho
Mouth or Noyember---vaIuabie SuRges,
uohsfrom High Authority. -.
wv. g. Jones in Southern C,lltioator.
November is the wheat sowing
month Of the cotton States. A little
wheat is put in before and some after,
but the bulk of the crop is sown in No
vember. 1t is held desirable not to
SOW till after frost, to circumvent tho
hy, ead this usually defers the seeding
to the first of November. Land that
has been run down with O long series
ofcotton crops needs the rest afforded
Dy small grain crop, and may be adj
Vahtageously sown in wheat If there ia
more of it than is called for bv the oat
crop. Where the intensive system is
practiced, the superabun(lant land NAV
be very well utilized in this way. A
half bushel of seed per acre is enough
for ordinary land. Sow the hardy,
rod varieties, like the purple stem
May.
,.~.. Wheat sowing will close up crop
work proper for tho year, unless por-
tions of the summer crops still re-
mains to be housed; and instead of
losing time and deferring active work
till towards spring, it is best to begin,
at once, operations which look to the
permanent improvements of the farm
Ditching and clearing swamps and
other low, wet places; terracing ND
lands; digging up efiectaully bushes
and sprouts; removing stumps and
rocks; improving farm roads build
ing and repairing houses, and putting
out fruit and shade trees. These
things. and others like them, will fur
nish abundant work for nll tho good,
bright days of winter. These could
not be looked after during the pressure
OF working the summer crops; and
unless. done during the comparative
leisure of winter, will not be done at
all.
o 1t will be remembered that wells fail
in autumn an early winter. This
shows (;iat tho amount of water in the
earth is usually least at those seasons.
Springs, therefore, can be detected |
and located better in that period than |
at any other time Uf Inc year; and |
every one, with any experience, knows |
the importance of having d aims and |
bitches properly located. Vast guam
titles of money and labor have been |
wasted in cutting bitches which did |
not tap the springs, and did nol drain |
the land.
In, climate so prolific of summer
drouths tho value of swamp land, for
tho production of corn, can hardly he
ovcr-estimated; and yet how much Of
it is not utilized for lack of drainage
mainly imperfect drainage2 The first
requisite is deep, main ditch, through
which the water is to be carried off.
This, if the fall PERI. g, should be at
least four feet decp-tivc would be
better. All lateral bitches cmptying
into it should be equally deep, if
practical. If these arc sufficiently
numerous, and properly located to
catch the water from springs and seeps,
the water line in the soil will sink
down to nearly the depth of the bitches.
BY this we mean that if q hole bo dug
in All undrained soil, and water stands
In 1t one foot, from tho surface, with
bitches four feet deep, water would
stand in tho hole three feet or more
from the surface, And to obtain best
results the water level should be at
least three feet from the surface, so
says ample experience. Having thor
oughly drained swamp land, true pol
10y atterward is to manure 1t highly
and push its yield2to a maximum. No
danger of loss or injury from drouth,
and none of drowning out Of the CROP
In wet weather; drains four feet dcep
will always keep water below tho
roots of the plants.
Terracing hilly lands is growing
constantly in public favor. Hillside
bitches so often fail, and require so
much work to keep them in order,
that they have become quite unpopu-
lar. Tcrracing is greatly superior to
ditchinS. 1t requires less labor to cs.
tablish the terraces first, and almost
mono to keep them in order afterwards.
We arc not prepared to say, as some
OF Its ardent advocates do, that it is q
perfect system of preserving land but
II probably comes as near perfection
as anything which can be reasonably
hoped for. Terracing consists simply
in running lines Of level across q field
at such distances apart that the per-
pendicnlar fall between one line and
! the next below shall be three feet. This
done, ridge may be thrown up along
the line of level with largo plow, or
O strip feet wide left unpiow along the
= line OF level. Ridge or strip must not
be plowed afterwards, but allowed to
grow up in weeds and grass. They
might bc set at first in orchard or other
grass, and moved every year. These
ridges or strips with the growth upon
them, act as break-waters and filters.
Water flowing domn from above is
checked, and it's velocity or washing
power is decreased. With the check.
ing, deposit of such portion Of the
soil as 1t was carrying off is made
above the ridge or strip. This occur.
ring again and again, with every good
rain, raises the lower portion Of the
land between two ridges and tends to
make it level, as in terracing. Hence
the name which has been given it.
Returning to the water; when il
reaches the ridge, or unplowed strip,
its velocity is checked SO that its wash.
ing OBJECT on the land below is less than
IL would otherwise have been. But
this Ia not all. The rows between the
ridges, under this system, are run on
lcYel; hence, the water is not massed
against the ridge at one or more points,