The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1885-10-15

wishes 10 leftlilze heavily, the sub
stances named Furnish IAN excellent |
clue to the wants of the crop; both, In
the first place, are highly nitrogenous
manures. Universal experience con.
firms the indispensability of this sub.
stance to wheat crop; it must have a
full supply of available nitrogen to
produce laage yields. But the two
articles mentioned contain in addition
to nitrogen fair supply of phosphates |
and test experiments have given addi- |
tional proof of the value of phosphoric
acid to wheat. Five hundred pounds |
OF acid phosphate to an acre would
supply liberal quantities of the SUBJ
stance most needed by wheat crop,
and ought, under favorable conditions,
to produce large yields. Both of these
fertilizers may be plowed or narrowed
in with the seed. In high culture the
surface soil should be brought into the
finest ilth before the seed is sown, by
repeated plowings, rollings aud har-
rowings, and especially if the seed are
narrowed or brushed In, q good roll
ing should follow and complete the
work. The "frming' of the surface
soil Is done by the roller makes the
seed come up more uniformly and
gives vigor to the young plants by pre-
venting to free exposure of their roots
to air and dampness.
Whether land for wheat should be
very deeply broken in our climate
admits of doubt AS we all know, the
worst enemy Of wheat is the red rust, =,
and this is more apt to attack crop
on damp than on dry land. Hence o
dry May is 80 favorable to wheat.
But deeply broken soil, and especial
ly one filled with humus, dries off
much more slowly in the spring than
shallow, broken one; there comes
the danger from deep breaking.
moreover, as the soil and subsoil are
usually wet In winter and therefore
SOFT and ponetrable by roots, there is
the same necessity of deep breaking
for winter crops that there Is for those
of summer. Roots can work their wav
quito readily through unbroken soil in
the early spring while it is wet and
soft, and wheat crop is general ma
tured before the ground gets so dry as
to be very hard.
PerHaps the best time to sow wheat
IS week or SO before the average date
OF killing frost; this, Of course,
varies with different localities. In the
northern portions of the cotton belt, il
Is not far from the 25th of October:
towards the Gulf it approximates the
middle OF November. From the mid
die of October to the middle of Noycm-
Der, or even the first December covers
tho period of wheat sowing. Tho
Hessian fly and other insects are not
likely to injure crop which comes up
after killing frost. But for these
insect enemies, wheat might be sown
carrier with corresponding fastening
in the spring, with more likelihood Of
escaping rust. The early settlers of
Middle Georgia, we are told, some-
INES sowed wheat in August and
made line crops, and it would be we'll
to try on u small scale early sowing
again. On rich land such sowings
might come forward too rapidly and
shooting up, before hard freezes, might
get Killed: This might he obviated by
! ignt grazing. On poor land there is
little danger in this direction; hence
one should make the earliest sowings
| OF all kinds of al! kinds of grains on
the poorest lands and finish up with
| the richest. Oats, sown on poor land
as early as the last of August, are not
likely to head out before frost: but if
in any kind of grain jointing threatens
to begin by the 1st of November or
before, little judicious grazing with
calves or sheep in dry weather will
remedy the trouble.
October is usually O. dry month and
very favorable to the housing of crops.
This work should now be pushed for.
ward with energy: everything keeps
better when put away in bulk, if the
air is dry at the time it is 'bulked.
Corn is now fully dry and ready for
the crib; true it may remain longer i'm
the field, but the longer it is left, the
greater will be tho waste. Overhaul
the crib before putting in the new
crop; make IL rat-proof by setting on
pillara capped with sheets of tin or
sheet-lron, Sweep out all rubbish.
Drnsh down the walls, and paint the
inside top, bottom and sides with
coal tar or crude carbolic acid; this
will Kill insects and keep them out.
lu localities where the weevil is very
bad, this painting may be removed at
intervals on all uncovered portions of
the interior walls. Where there is
housc-room it is better to put corn
away in the shuck it will keep better
ana the shucking will afford employ
ment for rainy days during winter.
Forage of any kind cut early in the
months will be apt to cure well.
tola8e corn, cut and put up at once
IN shocks, three to four feet across at
base, will cure well without additional
handling. 1t soon shrinks enough to
allow good ventilation throughout tho
shock. The important point is to
build up the shock right; sec that each
armful of stalks as they arc added to
IL LAR arc well settled on the ground.
Wltli rope with loop at one end,
draw the shock up as tightly as posi-.
bic In the middle and tic securely with
rope of grass or stalks; put another
around the snock near the top. Thus
built, it will shed rain and withstand
wind for many weeks or until per-
tcctly cured. Milo maize, sorghum,
etc, may be cured in Same manner:
the sorghum gets timber and is more |
disposed to fall down. Perhaps the
better plan with it is, as soon as cool
weather sets in, to bury in trenches
Ike the ribbon cane. We have been