The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1885-10-22
Observation-Disclosures
The callufe of ned tsals.

as who follow that method of obtain-
ing our subsistence, to have an ex-
change OF views upon this important
subject I know there are farmers
who are we'll versed in this branch and
would like TO get their ideas as O
matter of improvement for myself
My experience has been limited, but
have made some observations and
perhaps some of your readers might
like to hear them.
There was period of time when
we were not dependent on the oat
crop for stock feed, but that has long
since passed away, and we now con-
slider the oat crop our oalv hope, as
corn raising In this country aaas come
to be but one of things OF the past, o
part Of the agricultural history of the
anti bellup regime, Just after the
war closed and cotton was selling all
the way up as high as 40 cents per
pound, when everything was in an
abnormal condition., when the COM
merce, the finances, and the agrlcul-
ture Of the whole country was on a
boom, the. basis of which was an in
flated currency, whom money flowed
like water, we could afford high stock
feed, but In a few years when every
thing settled down to normal condi-
tion, the farmer began to look about
for cheap food for tho mules that
worked the cotton crop and tho result
was general introduction OF the
famous red rust proof oat.
Some claimed that it was God-send
TO this country, the only hope of tho
cotton planter, while l have always
been undecided whether it was q bless
ing or q curse, for this reason, if the
cotton planter had been unable to get
this oat some twelve or fourteen years
ago, he would have been forced to
adopt . different system of agricul-
ture and he would have been unable
to raise cotton at tho low price he re-
ceived for 1t, without this cheap stock
food, consequently he would have
given more Of his time and attention
to production of food crops, the rear
ing of cattle. hogs, sheep, poultry, etc,
together with sowing the various
grasses and making fine pastures.
Again he would never have known
and suffered the evils of that vampire,
the lien law, which, while it is grad
ually sucking his life blood, cools him
with the flap of it's wing in the form of
hope. The red oat, like whiskey, is
good In its place, but 10 and has been
harmful as basis for cotton crop.
AS leader there is no better crop for
our farmers, and we should give to it
that Intelligent study that it deserves;
there 10 ono serious drawback, how
ever, to our oat crop and only one
which have carefully studied to REM
edy 80 far as my own crop is concern
ed and that is the freezing out process
which has proven 50 disastrous Of late
years.
% Last season 1 planted ono hundred
acres In oats, and planted in several
ways to satisfy myself which was the
surest way to get q good stand, and
the safest way Of protection from
freezes. The first safe-gaurd is early
sowing alwaya, as late aowing is
seyenty-fve per cent. more liable to
freezeout than early sowing. sowed
my crop In various ways to find out
the best mothod of putting i'm crop.
The largest part, prepared it nicely,
cotton seeded II well, then sowed the
seed and narrowed in the whole thing,
and such stand never saw on ground.
next plowed in some very shallow
and then narrowed tho ground, get
tinSas fine stand as tho first. Next.
90 proved in some az deep as mules
could pull the plows, Ct mean one
horse .plowsl, and narrowed the
ground, also got q fine stand. All of
TINS done In due season, not later than
2Oth October. then sowcd some i'm
latter part of November and Decem-
ber, all of which l plowed in about OH
average depth. Some narrowed and
some left rough in order to find out
If narrowing the ground had any effect
on the stand, but being sowcd late,
ana tie freezes commencing, not more
than three per cent. of them ever came
up at all being killed in the process
OF termination. Ninety acres ont of
the hundred were killed out, while
tho remaining ten acres were far from
having full stand. Now the best
etand OF the ten acres were those that
l plowed In deepest, and the next
best were those that plowed in shall
low, while the poorest stand were
those narrowed in.
also took occasion TO notice the
different styles of sowing adopted BY
nearest neighbors, and found about
the same results with them as in nv
own fields. L claim If we will ploW
in the oats deep and then harrow the
ground over that the freezes will not
effect the stanT more than ten per
CENT, WnlCh 10 reasonable allowance
for bad seed and weakly plants, where
II we put them in shallow, the stand
viii be injured fully fifty per cent. /
give as my reasons the following: NV
actual experiment for that purpose.
It is potent TO all that wheae hata have
been sown on cotton land, You can
stand and trace the original water
burrows between the old cotton beds,
BY tho regular stand Of oats looking as
If they had been sown in drills. Again
can tell where the laps Of two lands
is by the oats being mere regular
along this ridge, because in plowing
along this lap the oat seed get twice as
much dirt thrown over them. by
reason of the tapping process, as any
other part Of the land. Yet again, I
can trace out every water furrow
between the ianIs where the oat crop
simply been narrowed in and am un.
able to account for it in any other way
than by more of the soil being drag.
geo I'D this furrow by The harrow.
Another reason why / believe deem
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