The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1886-08-12


after every rain. Most Of the seeds to
be sown are small, and call for a very
hnely pulVeriZed soil!T Deep breaking
and fine esurface tilth arc the deSiderat0
50 far asAmechanical preparation goes.
| The plow, the roller, the harrow, fol-
| lowing each other in the order named,
| will do the work. With the modern
| improvements i'm pulverizing harrows,
| there is little difficulty in bringing
| land into the best condition, even when
starting with it rough. For grass and
cloVer.--rspccially grass--thc' land
should be made very. rich. If the
supply of manure is limited, it is better
| to put it all on small area and SOW
only that. 1t is time, labor and seed
wasted to SOW on poor land. One
acre of good grass is worth ten of that
which is poor and hardly able t. main
tain itself in the struggle for existence.
On ordinary land apply not less than
thirty tWo-horse wagon loads of yard
manure to start with. If you get q
good stand you can help out this
quantity by. top-drcssing next spring
with commercial fertilizers. : The
manure should he well mixed with
the surface soil by narrowing. Never
plow it under deep. Whether for
grass proper, clover or lucern, good
application of barnyard manure is the
| best foundation to build on; CONNER
cial fertilizers answer a good purpose
| afterwards.
In relation to grass culture, the
cotton belt may, be conveniently
divided into two scctions--a northern
and southern half. North, say of par
allel thirty-tlrcc degrees of latitude,
red and white clover, together with
orchard and herds grass, grow admir-
ably and should be most widely sown.
South Of that line the annual clover, as
the burr and the crimson, together
with all annual winter grass like the
"rcscuc" Oestuca), can be moro Ger
tainlt relied on. LucCrn will do well
in beth sections. We are speaking
now broadly-thcre are other plants
that may succeed well and answer a
good purpose in both the sections
named. Tho tall meadow oat grass
will grow all over. the cotton belt;
better in the northern then in the
southern half, but moderately well in
the latter on rich sandy loans. Tim
othy does well on tho valley land in
the northern section. Spanish clover
Qfichardsonia) is q valuable plant for
the Gulf borders, perhaps superior to
amy of the true clovcrs for that region.
There is ample material from which to
choose, and an abundance of land:
nothing stands in tho way of grass
culture but habit, and to some extent
a lack Of appreciation Of the value of
grasses and clovcrs. Everything that
chCApcnS the maintenance Of work
stock lessons the cost Of production,
and everything that chCapcns produc-
ton increases the net profits from the
farm. Now whilst it costs something
III the way of manure, labor and seed
to get u field of grass, it must be re-
lncmbcrcd that such u field will yield
crops OF hay and some grazing for
many years and if the first outlay is
divided by the number of years, the
annual expense, so to speak, will be
very small. But grass culture COM
mcndS itself not only because it is the
cheapest means Of keeping stock, but
| because it is the best restorative and
prcScrratiV2 Of our worn, humus cX-
| hauStcd lands. If corn and fodder
could be raised at exactly the sume
cost rs hay and oats, the latter are
| greatly TO be preferred in view Of
their beneficial effects on land. Farm
|
seeding down of land 10 small Grain .
they say the land needs sowing down.
But tho rest from the plow in that case
lasts for one year only; grass growing
extends it through MANY wears. Grass
depends mainly on winter rains which
rarely fail; corn cannot be made with
out summer rains and these often fail.
Our true policy is to concentrate corn
culture on land specially adaptcd TO
that crop, manure highly and cultivate
with harrow and plow exclusively. so
us to reduce cost to q minimum, and
then utilize hillsidcs, rocky knobs and
such localities rs arc not adontcd to
clean culture, by seeding them down
to grasses and small grains.
On former occasioIs we have urged
the sowing Of rye lots for SUPPLYING
green feed in the early spring. Moth,
| ing is SO reliable; rich land, good seed
and early sowing are just as certain to
bring u full supply Of early green
forage MS Sprng succeeds winter. The
| rlcIer 'I'c iaho inc more the rye will
| DC tG'i"hcd by stock. This IS impor-
| tant because rye is not as much rCliShol