The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1885-11-26

,,'S", . 'ouuNs soI 4 excessively rocky
land. It probably would not pay to
Spehu the requisite labor on these.
put tnefe IS an abundance of open
lanu III the country with very few
stutups or rocks upon it., and this
should be cultivated and improved,
even II badly worn, in preference to
any other. On all such land the rocks
and stumps should be removed:; he
cost will not be great, and will soon
be paid back in the saving of labor
from the uso of implements which
economiZc labor. The smooth;nw
harrow, with its broad sweep of ten
or twelve feet, in the early stages of
cultivation, and the straddling culti-
tors, carrying row at q go, at a LATER
stage OF tho crop, will soon pay back
with large interest the expense of do
glng up few stumps and haulino off
few rocks. Perhaps these stnmps
are needed close by to build obstruc-
tlons across gullics or ravincs. or
leVees across branch bottoms, to check
the How of water during floods and
gather deposits of sediment upon the
SOIL The building of levees across
valley lands is worthy of attention.
Dfahch bottoms are in some respects
our very best lands, but they are often
paoiy washed or secured by heavy
rams. Levces built across at narrow
points, where the hills project into the
bottoms, would not only stop the dam
age trom water, but make the over
foWs a positive blessing through the
rlch sediments deposited. Whore the
lcVces cross the main ditch, abutmonts
OF heavy rocks or of large timbers
should be built or willows planted on
edge of ditch. Where rocks cannot
be had to build q levee, a double row
OF willows planted across the bottom,
with brush and logs between and
| above them, will soon make q good
| dam; willow dam would ccst almost
| nothing; green willow stalks driven
i'll along the line is all that is necessary
as these take root and grow readily
| a little work of this kind, not done
| because not thought Of would often
double the value of bottom lands.
Some time ago we discussed at
some length the subject of farm roads.
and will not repeat. These should be
looked after now and put in good
order. Roads can kept in good condi>
ton much easier by little work oft
repeated than by much work at inter-
| Vais. AS soon az wash or hole
begins TO form fill them at once: q
| few well broken rocks or spadefuls of
| dirt will do it then; wagon load may
| be required if neglected long. Our
public roads would be kept in much
better order is small squads of hands
| were Kept working on them all the
time, in place Of many hands upon
them twice in the year. This is yery
emphatlcally one of the cases in which
stitch in time savct nine Rocks
should always be broken fine when
used upon roads; no piece should be
more than one and u half inches
through. Small rocks will pack into
a compact mass, large ones will not
the latter Will continually work out
OF their beds, and loose rock i'm q
road bed is as Objectionable as a stump.
a rock hammer will be found q very
CONVENIENT thing on a farm, where
rocks arc found. A road bed Of clay
is much improved by the addition of
sand. This may sometimes be very
convicnently obtained bv placing OBJ
structions at intervals in the adjacent
bitches to catch the sand which washes
into them. On the contrary, a sandy
road-Oed is improved Dv the addition
of clay, and this can sometimes be
cheaply obtained where there is an
underlying clay subsoil by digging
bitches, on each side of the road, decp
enough to get clay and throw il on
the road-bed. Farmers are more di.
rcctly interested in good roads than
any other class in the community, and
1t OchOovcs them to look carefully
into these matters. They need good
roads on their farms over which to
maui their crops to their barns, and
good public roads to facilitate trans
port Of produce TO market.
a large supply Of barnvard manure,
with which to make compost, is every
year regarded as more and more essen
tlal on the farm. Commercial fcrtil
lZers give so much better results i'm
conjunction with stall manure, than
when used alone, that every farmer is
anxious 10 have q full supply of the
latter. lie wants enough to 90 over
all the land he cultiyatos. This can
only be had by the use of ample guam
ttlcs OF litter. During the busy crop
season, he did not feel perhaps that he
had time to stop his teams and hands
TO haul leaves; but for some months
now he will have ample time. A rude
shelter under which litter could he
stored and kept dry is very desirable.
Thus arranged a limited quantity could
be put in the stalls at short intervals,
and become thoroughly incorporated
with the droppings Of the animals.
Wet leaves hauled directly from the
woods and put in the stalls, not only
brings discomfort to the stock, int
adds IS much water as dead WEIGHT
20 be handled and hauled OUT. Wherc
there is choice Of oak and pine leaves
the latter are rather to be preferred;
somo persons regard them Of little
manurial value-analysis does not
confirm this view. Freshly fallen
leaves Of the common old field pine
contain the following quantities of
manurial substances in q hundred
parts:
ANALYSIS OF PINE STRAW.
Ammonia (potentiaD. ..O.47
Phosphoric acip. p............. .O.24
! otaSIl' :. .'''' ''.'.'... .O.12
Magncsia. .................... ..O.O8
int,io' '''''''''' ........ %
SiIion