Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1885-05-23
An Interesting Letter from Ohio.---
How They Live and Farm Up There.

lately purchased a farm near your
place. Your winter season is so diff
ferent from ours, your Affections and
cause for complaint so much less, l
hardly see a good cause for profanity
there, unless it be from the absence
of a good stock law.
1t may interest some of your Ten
nessee readers to know our man
ner of effort to live in this bleak, cold
and dreary winter-country, where
farm stock must be carefully housed
and fed fully seven months of the
year. Last fall our winter SHOWS
commenced in October-we call it
winter then. These increased in Sc
verify, until the last week in Deem
Der our earth is then completely hid
from view. Inever saw my land or
clover meadow from that time until
the oath of March. We had good
sleighing on the road this season I'M
til the 18th Of April. 1t then all van
ished in day. The thermometer in
dicated about 700.
The 22d Of April I put three teams
at work upon an out field, and the
23d we seeded it as handsomely as
ever a piece of land was cultivated in
the world. The winter snow is a real
blessing to us after all. Our wheat
fields, clover fields and grass lands
came out from under it with most
magnificentbright, lively green color,
and the best promise of an abundant
wheat harvest l ever saw. Ashta-
bula county, Ohio, cannot be beat in
the world raising wheat, provided
the tillage is correct.
The intense cold weather has ruined
our fruit crop and closed up our egg
crop; but thanks for the Sunny
South to help us with a supply for
this deficiency.
April 10Th 1 put in a second field of
oats, 81 acres, in the following man.
ner: My land was fall plowed corn
stubble of 1884, plowed late in Octo-
Der fully six inches deep. The 2Sth
of April | started one team with an
Avery two-horse cultivator, going
lengthwise of the burrows, and plow-
ing it about as deep as it was last fall.
A second team followed this with a
heavy plank clod crusher, and third
team followed that with 54-tooth
square hinge harrow. Once over the
piece in this manner we then turned
the teams crosswise and do the same
work. You then have clay soil in
the most perfect condition possible
for a seed crop. / then took two
grain drills, started them each way
on the land, drilling a little over II
bushels of oats each way-abOut q
bushels per acre. We also put in
with one drill 200 pounds of super
phosphate per acre. Following this
we had the third team ditch and roll
the same. At night the second day
we had as handsome field of oats as
was ever seen. / am confident the
result of our work will be a crop OF
oats of 60 to so bushels Of oats per
acre, of quality that will bring so
cents per bushel here.
I / mention this work infinitely that
your readers may know Of the thor
ough manner in which we do our
work. While we rush business, it is
absolutely necessary to do so, because
four weeks time is all we can have
in spring to put in crops. Our land
will not remain in fit condition to
work much longer than this. Your
farmers can have four months to dc
the same work. My son commenced
blowing on our Tennessee farm Feb
ruary I'd, and has been at it ever
since. One team can accomplish as
much farm work there as three here
You can safely put in crops for g
spring season of four months, and il
does seem to me if the work could be
done as thoroughly as ours the results
would be equal. We cannot hire
your men to do as good work on the
farm as we think necessary, and mus
submit to smaller crops and les
money. Next season l hope to over
see our McMinnville farm and conf
IDENTIFY expect to produce as good re
suits as l can here at home.
l ain sorry that Tennessee lane
of presidents, equal to Ohio in thi
respects so far behind her in
} good stock law. 1t is the creates
drawback to your agricultural pros
perity as a State. Farmers there arr
now compelled to make every rod o
fence on their farm absolutely hog
I cattle and noula nrOOf when with ,