Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1886-07-10
How an Ohio Farmer is Tilling Some
of the Poor Lands of Warren
County.

10 tne Standard
1 had fully hoped to become citi-
zen of your vicinity in every sense of
the word the coming season, and in
my endeavors to build up the old
Oakland Farm, near McMinnville, to
a high state Of fertility, / did expect
to exchange thoughts with other far
mers through the agency of the press,
but the acceptance of quite an impor-
tant agricultural office in Ohio will
prevent my doing so for two years to
come. In the meantime my son and
his family must reside upon our farm
and execute my orders and do the
farming by proxy.
The splendid prospects Of our present
crops encourage me beyond all my
expectations to persevere. Our oats
seem to grow as well and as heavy as
in Ohio. These we plowed the land
for last fall-good, deep blowing, six
inches or more, no single horse or
single mule, scratching of the land,
but deep, well pulverized soil. In
order to have sufficient plant foed for
respectable stand of oats on the
ground, it most certainly needs from
two and half to three bushels of
seed to the acre, evenly distributed to
cover the whole surface of the land
and shut out the growth Of fowl grass
and weeds; and if you do SOW this
much seed of course it needs good
deep, well-pulverized seed bed to fur
nish plant food enough to grow the
straw and perfect the grain. 1 did
not feel willing to risk the strength of
my soil alone, so put on over one hun
dred pounds per acre of Bro. Carson's
superphosphate with my oats, and
then drilled most of them in both
ways. One piece, where we desired
to keep two varieties of seed separate
in growth and harvest, we only
drilled them one way, but put in two
and half bushels good, clean seed
oats to the acre and then rolled our
ground nicely after drilling. Idoubt
very much if another as good piece OF
oats can be found in Warren county
as ours that were put in both ways.
Good, deep blowing is the first
requisite of success on our farm down
there, and it needs three good horses,
and we use them, to break DIP our sod
ground the proper depth and do good
work. ..
Our wheat crop, although put in q
month too late and with no fertilizer,
but with a little better than ordinary
blowing done last fall before our ARR.
val with better farm tools, and thor
ough tillage, with one and a hal
bushels of seed to the acre, gives fail
promise of good harvest, twice az
much per acre as our tenant told III
we could raise on such land.
We shall do a great deal better
work on fifty acres of wheat this fall
The ground will be summer fallov
plowed with three horse team, an(
with our wheat we will SOW fully on,
hundred pounds of commercial fertili
zers, and on all our wheat ground W,
shall SOW tame grass seed, to get tn
land in fair condition to produce tam
grass feed hereafter, and have gooC
green pastures the year round for on
stock, except a few weeks of the Sc
8 we're drouth in August, Septembe
!! and first of October; but we hope t
= have surplus growth at that seasol
to carry our stock safely through ur
= til fall rains improve the grass.
9 Again, good cultivation, tame gras;
o timothy, clover or bluegrass Wi
f make you all rich in a few year;
j Who will farm those cheap lands an
q raise as much per acre as we can u
q here on farm lands that cost fror
O fifty to one hundred dollars per acre
G Just think of the difference in tn
n capital invested. Your markets al
e about equal to ours today-fully so o
@ the average.
d So far this season Ashtabula count
e crops are total failure; but it is NJ
II widespread condition of our Stat
,, only up in this Northeast corner. w
}. have not had our ground wet wit
e rain for seven weeks, and corn is onl
e just sprouting, and what has come u
IS the post few days now stands still
IS My son writes me from McMinnvil
e under date of June 9th, that you ha
d rain every day but two since his arr
d val there, and all vegetation locke
d green and rich. Oh, how we need
Of up here!
TT m