The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1885-09-09
THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH.
TIMELY TOPICS o THE CONSIDER
ALTON OF PROGRESSIvE FARMERS.
II Work Should DO Done During tn,
Month Observation-Disclosures Sugestioni
from High Authority.

Month Observation-Disclosures Suggestions
from High Authority.
CIV. H.. Jones in Souttelm Cultioator)
Last month we discussed at some
length preparation for autumn crops
oats, rye, barley, wheat, clover and the
winter or perennial grasses. This
month all of them, cxccr. wheat,
should be started. If the ground is
wet enough to bring up seeds and sus-
tain the young plants till their roots
can get well down in the soil, Septcm-
Der is unqucstionably the best month
in the year to show clover and grass
fall oats, rye and barley. We repeat
this statement now, for perhaps the
hundrcdth time, because the question
is being so constantly asked, "wEon to
SOW grass?" September and October,
February and March, are the months
in which it may be done, and if not 100
dry, September is the best of the four.
Sown in autumn clover and grass get
a better start OF weeds than If sown in
the spring, and this is u decided gain.
Moreover, If tho fall sowing fails from
any cause, one has the opportunity
sun OF sowing IN the spring, two
chances therefore against one, if the
Grst sowing is deferred till spring.
Large sowings of these several crops
have again and again been urged ON
our readers as the dictate of sound
farm economy. An abundance ofsiock
feed is the motive power on the farm {;
it is like wood and coal TO the engine.
1t contributes largely to the dung-heap
and thus feeds not only the horse or
mule and COW, but salso the land itself.
But we urge it now more than ever
before because the Investigations of
recent years have shown so clearly and
Enthusiastically that land left bare
through The winter and early spring,
that is land without Il growing crop
npon ii, loses so much of its fertility
through teaching. This is a truth we
arc very anxious to impress upon our
farmers; il is not a thing which they
can see in their daily experience, but
must be taken upon tho testimony of
very careful and cautious men, who
have the appliances to test thc matter.
Like thousands Of other things, it
must be taken on faith. We are per-
fcctly satisfied with the evidence, and
therefore cry out against the practice
OF leaving so much of our land bare of
any living plant through the whole
winter and well into the spriug. Our
farm economy needs n thorough over
hauling on this point. Cotton has had
the lions share of our lands, and the
cotton field is like a ash-hoppcr for the
winter rains; through wet weather
springs and invisible subtcrranean
streams, its n%itrates are ever dripping
ana running into the rivers, and
through them into the ocean. We suf-
Ter this to 60 on year and thcn turn
right around and pay guano dealers
twenty or more cents q pound for am
monia to replace it.
Any green thing growing on the
land will greatly diminish this loss, if
they do not entirely v it. I'VE
have very few plants which grow
spontaneously in Il cultivated fields
during the winter months. In some
years and in some localities, the yctch
does, bu we cannot trust to sponta-
neous growth; but we must SOW some
thing. What shall it be? Several
considerations control tho answer
Whatever plant is selected its seed and
seeding down must not be too costly.
II not Welding a crop to be gathered
and utilized, it must not be too diff
cult to turn under and rot, so as to be
ont OF the way of starting other crops
on the land. Other things being equal
it ought if possible to be n r~enOyaling
crop, or course the plant selected
must be hardy, patient of cold and
capable of growing on moderately
fertile soils. Wherever the perennial
grasses and clover are profitable crops
they fill the requisites laid down most
thoroughly. They are admirable crops
to preserve the fertility of soils: they
prevent washing: they fill the soil with
humus and they prevent loss bv leach.
ing. How much of the fertility of
Northern farms, compared with South
crn, is due to the prominent place held
by the grasses, in their crop rotation,
1t is difficult to estimate. Sometimes
an odious comparison between the
Northern and Southern farmer is based
upon the greater productivcncss Of the
land of the former. Grasses and a
hard frozen soil during winter, by
preventing the teaching away OF
nilratcs, may have as much to do with
the matter as energy or brains. What
nature does for the Month in this par
ticnlar we of the South must do by art.
Our mild winters, which allow the
earth to freeze only at intervals and
to vcry'small depth, make it possible
for MS to keep it clothed in vcrdnre
pcrpctnally. And this is just what
we are now urging our farmers to do.
or course we 10 nos expect, aud do
not ask II farmers TO sow down all
their land in grasses and clover. A
good deal more might be seeded down
to these than is now done with very
great advantage. Enough to supply
the needed stock on the farm with
ample pfsturagc and hay, there is no
doubt about that; but how far we may
venture in stock-raising for market is
not so apparent. 1t is a problem
worthy of study and experiment. We
can see no good reason why n single
horse or mule should ever be imported
into the Cotton States. Georgia could
raise chcaply and probably every
mule needed to cultivate her fields, and
so could her sister States. Grass and
clover culture is the first step in this
direction, wherever these crops will
grow successfully. Where tbov u;u