Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1884-10-18

drouths to great extent, by managing
and preparing our lands in such man.
ner that will cause them to stand drouth
without injury to the crops, provided it
is not protracted drouth.
Well, what must be done to prepare
our lands against drouth? The first
thing is to restore to the land humus
which has become exhausted from long
culture, and without humus it cannot
stand drOuth or produce fine crops.
Humus is the life and existence of land,
and without humus it becomes exhaust.
ed and barren. Then how are we to
restore to it hupus? Only by incor,
porating with it vegetable matter to
rot and become humus and that must
be done by rotating crops. Sowing
down small grain, clover, peas, etc. /;
and with the pillow turn under stubble,
clover, pea vines, weeds, grass, corn
stalks, cotton stalks and anything that
will rot. Depend on the pillow and
vegetable matter to bring up your lands
with, and haul leaves and straw in
your lots to make manure to compost
with your cotton seed to use as fertili.
zers, and abandon the commercial fer
tllizers; for have seen more farms
and farmers ruined by cotton planting
and fertilizers since the war than from
any other cause. In short, it has ruined
all who gave up their farms to cotton
crops and commercial fertilizers. The
pillow, and vegetation turned under, is
the only salvation of the country. Di-
versify your crops, and let them be
largely in grain and grass, and stock
raising, and then will commence q
change for the better. Make the farm
self'sustaining, as nearly as it can be
done, and give up buying bread, meat
and fertilizer for the farm.
AS before remarked, our lands can
not stand noweven ordinary drouths,
for the want of vegetable matter incor-
porated with them. There is nothing
to hold the moisture in the land so.
what rains fall run off, or are lost by
evaporation. The commercial fertili>
zers furnish no humus, hence they
hold no moisture but in dry seasons
hasten the burning up and destruction
of crops. The pillow and vegetation is
the salvation of the country. So, GO
to work and plant such crops as will
furnish vegetable matter to turn under.
And after the wheat and corn crops are
harvested, don't turn stock on them to
Craze, but keep them of, and let weed:
and grass and vines grow on them to
be turned under with the pillow. And
if the lands are so exhausted they can
not produce a crop of weeds, then SOW
down COW peas to be turned under, and
rely also on clover.
This fall, as soon as the ground car
be plowed, SOW down largely of wheat
and oats. For should the corn croE
be injured by drouth, these crops vii
save you from being short of provisions
and it is the crops your lands need
The oats we want are the kinds tina
will give us long straw, SO we can Gu
high and have an abundant stubble tt
turn under. The fault l find with thu
rust>proof is, they don't grow higl
enough, and the least drouth they have
to be cut too low. The grazing oat
have always found best for the farm
they yield abundantly and make al
abundance of straw, which value a
much as the grain, and stand droutl
much better than the rust-prOof oats
My desire is in having such crops a
will afford the most vegetable matte
to turn under tor the benefit of tn
land for our interest now is to benefi
the lands and keen IN their fertility