The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-05-12
THE SCIENCE OF FARMING.
IMPORTANT FARM WORK FOR MAY.

4 Comparison Of the Old and New
I style of Gultivasion---Tne Harrow
ana the PIow.-CE,eap Forage Make
; Cheap Cotton and Cheap Pork.
Winter Oats.
Southern Cultiuator.
! The earth is now warm enough for grass ana
weeds to grow rapidly. They cannot be per
mitted to share with the crops the plant food
in the soil; determination OF them is now the
order Of the day. How to accomplish this
economically, rapidly and without injury to
y young crops is one of the incest problems the
i farmer is called upon t0 solve. In the recent
progress of agriculture, the olG-Limc method
of running around young plants with a mar
row scooter, having Il board nailed to foot and
beam on one side to prevent throwing DIRT ON
the little plants, first gave way 10 the sweep.
! The latter shaved the surface nicely, and with
it's wing running quite flat threw very little
dirt. Moreover the siding furrows swept out
over two siding furrows with sc0otcrs and
subsequent breaking Of the middes with
shovels. But with the incest work of the
sweep, there is still narrow strip along the
! line Of plants which is undisturbcd, and upon
which grass can firmly fix itself. TO destroy
it. the hoe was called into rcquisition This
involved heavy expense, unpleasant contact
with labor and great demand for hands TO
chop out cotton. Next came broadcast culti-
vltion with u harrow in the first stages OF the
I crop, with heel scrapcs and cul;ivators later.
| This is as far as we have advanced: indeed,
most farmers have not yet reached this point,
and the method is not yet, perhaps, fully per-
fcc;cd. But from the very nature OF things
we must advance in this Sdirccti0n-machn mes,
| implements, horsepower, must suppant
hand labor more and more. How to cheaper
production is the problem OF the hour. Our
| fathers pushed labor to the utmost III clearing
forests and cultivating virgin soils. Since the
| ,rar I bf. 11Sn cf 81 bppn lPyplDDpu
| to great perfection; and now surroundings
demand the most extended use of machinery
and horsepower. All departments OF indus
try are moving in this direction, and agricul-
lurc cannot lag behind. Cautiously, wisely,
! Ijudiciously it must 50 on.
AEarrowinS Cotton.
| Our readers will remember the articles pub
! lishcd last year in TIE CULTIvArUE on broad
| cast cu ti vation with the harrow. The points
which seem 10 oe well settled were that OBJ
struclions must be renOved-trash in shape
of corn and cotton stalks cut up or Knocked
| to pieces and buried by breaking land with
| large turn pionghs: beds, if any, To he low
ana levelcd down with harrow immediately
after planting; il rain follows planting quick
| ly. harrow as soon us dry enough, ncvcraIlow-
| ing II crust to form. As soon as cotton begins
fairly to come up run harrow obiiHuely across
rows-llcvcr in the direction of the rowS-ln
| four or five days run obliquey across again in
| the opposite direction so that these two har-
rOwillgs may be at right angles to each other.
| In three or four days harrow again across the
last. These borrowings must begin early and
be repeated rapidly TO thin out the cotton,
which they can do whilst Inc plants are very
young and tcnder-whcn still yellow. When
older and tougher they will be pushed aside
often; without being destroyed. The cotton
now being considerably thinncd, grass and
weeds thoroughly killed, and the surface nice
| ~ puvcrizcd, the crop is III condition 10 DC
easily cultivated with sweep or scTlpc IL Is
said also that in the condition lett by the mar
| rOWiupS :, good hand can chop to Il StallU TWO
acres OF cotton Il day.
Shallow CuItiyatien---Eirmi seed.
If the soil is supplied with humus, and the
land we'll prepared, cultivation should be very
shallow from the start. In hard SOIL disposed
to run together after rain, Il deep blowing is
perhaps admissible when the cotton is very
young, but not otherwise. IN Two expert
iuentS made SurcesSivc!y in 1851 and 1880 at
the Alabama Experiment Station, to test el-
tcctS OF deep and shallow cultivation, thcre
was Il difference respectively or % ana lo'
! pounds of seed cotton per acr" in favor OF
shallow cultivation throughout. The two
pl;its were prepared, nanured and cultivated
exactly alike. except that when tile cotton on
one plat wils about Il foot high IL WAS plowrd
deep with Il long scooter and Scrapc, hs - ire
qucntly done by farmers, and its roots coliSI-
crably cut The Scrape should always be at
lached behind the foot Of the ploW, not IN
front Of il, and the scooter used with 1t should
be very short, just long enough TO keep tllc
point of the pluw-foOi from striking the bot
TOM Of the furrow. Another Interesting cX-
pertinent made at the same station illustrates
II point we have often ur"eu. tn-wlt. inc lliior-
tHncc Of pressing or tirming seed in the SOIL 10
insure prompt gcrlninatl0n. Cotton was
planted in two adjacent rows on the Sillne day
with two different cotton planters. one cover
ing the seed in the usual .mHnncr. the other
throwing the dirt into ridge over the seed
aud. then pressing it down on the seed by IL
roller rigdly attached to the machine; wealth
cr was dry. Where the roller pressed the ulrt
|
days; tho other did not romlc up until after 4
rain had fallen and some twenty -four days az
ter being planted.
Machine Made Cotton.
Inventors have not as vet given up the hope
or the possibility Of pcrfccting Il machine for
chOpping cotton. There is every probability
that one can be made which will "bunch' cot
ton satisfactorily. But the same Gnu miSnt
be reached bya planter dropping the seed IN
hills. The mere bunching, however, is not the
most important thing to be cOnlpaSSed: KILL
Ing the grass along the line of drill ana INN
ming the bunch out so the plants VIII lot
crowd and dwarf each other are the main de-
siderata. THIS, it, strikes us, the harrow VIII
do better than anything else. After the har-
row has done It's work, then pro6;tblX II chop-
per might he used cdntlvtntageously. The bring
ing to a final stand, will probably always re-
ql;ire some hand labor, but, aside from TINS,
cotton cultivation ought to he done exclusive
Iy by machines. We have no doubt the prop
coming in due time. Machine made cotton
alone in this country can conpcte with that
raised BY cheap labor in India and elsewhere
Enaporsnnca or Ear;y Working.
It is of THO first importance that the early
workings Of crops should be repeated at short
Intervals and thoroughly done. Now is the
tin,c to kill sra:: will least labor. Ii allowed
to get Il strong iUuthuld, IL will take three
times a. much work 10 kill ii next month as
is required 10 do it now, 10 say nothing OF the
injury done by rohbing I've crop OF !nod, and
the bruiSing and disturbing OF Tie pllutS in
getting the strongly rooted grass away from
them. 1T least once in ten days the harroWS
or plOws should pass over, and whntrrcr hoe
work is needed be given without hesitation or
delay. ii the ground happens 70 Dc dry, don't
be deceived into the belief that the crop is
clean because the young grass IS rnVCrcu With
dust and is not plainly visible. We htrrSe"n
many crop ruined ny c'rrcsSncsS luSt at
grass and lullS the farmer into i;tnclcd Settlrl-
is. \ wei June follows, the grass springs up
like magic and he never catches up With 1T
ag;llI.
Working Corn Wit!a the PIow.
If the harrow has been properly used in the
cOrniicld, that crop will now be perfectly
clean and SD far advanced that there will br
30 further difficulty in covering up young
grass or weeds even with Il scrapr. We know
from repeated trials. even on bottom lands
that arc. SO liable TO become foul that q corn
crop may l:r made with the plOw alone. III
can be done even with ordinary, old time
blows; start before grass makes headway
with IL turning shovel bcgn in tho center OF
the middle and bed up the wing being turned
away from the corn. The last furrOw when Il
middle is completed. Will side the corn very
closely and throw just enough dirt TO covcrup
young grass without covering the young corn. !
The next working: with Il short and broad
turning shovel, begin next to corn with wing
towards it, al!d throw dirt moderately to the
plants. These two workings should hc given
before the corn is ten inches high. After that