The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1886-08-25

capable OF being brought, Under the hoo
OF the sheep, 20 the highest condition o.
grass production. The sol! and climate
of this part of the State are naturally
adapted to al the grasses that are cult
waited. In situations away from watel
courses, (&aa they are few, J where alluvi
al lands sufficient for mcaI!ow- are moi
found, the general character of the
country renains the same, and, as in tht
middle region, ensilage may supplement
any deficiency in hay product.
SEch arc tie varied agricultural capa-
bilities of Cur State, and the exhibit IS
under rather than overstated. # is only
because of the exclusive attention given
to cotton that the impression Ger could
have obtained tiiat tie cereals al grass
es were not suited to our surroundings.
The crop of corn grown bE- DR.. Parker,
near Columbia. and tie crop Of oats OF
Colonel Ny,ie, ~ Lancaster, remain re-
spcc:ivelv the largest on record, the corn
crop reaching 2G0 l;ishels ana the oats
crop Isl bushels per acre. Dr.. Fave
nel's crop Of Bermuda hay near Charles
tor vas ton thousand pounds to the
acre, exceeding more tha& tol:r-fold the
average crop Of the United States. A'r.
Childs, within five miles OF where We are
sitting, proftably grows and sells with
the Means grass $4,000 worth OF hay
per annum. Colonel Rion's growth of
lucerne in Fairfield Welded ten cuttings
in the season. and by actual measure
ment twenty-five feet Of growth. The
Egyptian millet, lux1lriaIt and vaiua-
bic forage plant, is cut from six to seven
times and gives 4 total growth OF eight
to ten feet.
The market gardens near Charleston
are unsurpassed anywhere. Within the
last fouryears the growth Of watermelons
for market has been introduced along
the line Of the South Carolina Railroad
in Aiken and Barnwel counties, and the
profits have been such that this year five
thousand acres are devoted to the crop.
Last year one farmer, Mr.. Wethcrsbee,
of Barnweu, sold one hundred carloads
for ten thousand dollars, finding his
market in Charleston, New York and
Cincinnati lie informs me that his net
return, the expenses OF production being
included with cost of marketing, was
over $4,000. In the same
section Of these counties, on the Ridge
in Edgefeld, and at other points, orch
ards are cultivated for the home and
Northern markets with eminent success.
In Greenville and in other counties the
culture of the grape upon large scale IS
no longer an experiment. In short,
whenever individuals or q neighborhood
have broken loose from old-timc tradi-
tons, the ability TO successfully vary our
agriculture has been concluslyely shown.
GRASS AND LIVE STOCK.
The summer meetings Of our societies
have largely the character Of experience
meetings, and it is in this that in the
Judgment OF many lies their chief value.
Having been requested to do so, some
details in my own experience OF con-
verting cotton plantation into a farm
OF mixed husbandly. with grass and live
stock as the leading features, will be
As in ali new departures,
mistakes were made, difficulties encoun-
tered and losses incurred with which it
is ecassary to trouble you; but to
save some younger brother of the plough,
who is dissatisfied with exclusive cotton
culture, from travelling the same path,
resulting methods will be freely given.
The experiment was commenced IN
1878, and made in the upper part OF he
State, on Saluda River, twelve miles by
rail from the town of Newberry The
plantation contained near thousand
acres, of which about one-half was creek
and river bottom. OF this last about 800
acres had been cleared from fifty to a
hundred years and cropped chiefly in
corn, without manure. The high lands
we're hilly, their original growth were
oak and hickory, and the soil varied
from a red to a whitish clay, with more
or less loose surface rock. These high
lands had been nearly all cleared, cult
waited with little attention to preserving
the land, and when beginning to fail
turned out to be grown up L pines, to
be again cut down and cultivated. This
process had been repeated at least three
times since the land was in original
forest. AS slave plantation, it had
been profitable; after emancipation, IN
der an ill-devised system of tenantry, it
had been improbable and the property
became much impaired. The buildings
had became dilapidated, fences almost
gone, bitches filled, and the arabic land
cultivated in patches, a vigorous growth
Of young pines over most Of it. The cs-
tabishment Of a meadow, the restoration
of a portion of the arabic land to good
tilth, and the cutting down Of pines and
shrubs on the balance to promote the
growth of natural grasses for pastu-age,
the alteration of old buildings and the
OF many new ones, together
with the putting up Of first-class fences,
constituted the permanent outlay. Live
stock, tools and implements had also to
be purchased.
TIE MEADOW.
The meadow consists nov of seventy
five acres of first river bottom, being .
pure allurium Stumps and sprouts
were carefully eradicated, the land flush
ed close and deep with narrow one-horse
ploughs, Bermuda grass roots sown
broadcast and ploughed in shallow, then
heavily rolled to make the surface as
smooth as possible. The best time for
this work was found to be from after
frost in the sp1ing till hot summer
weather set in The annual weeds that
sprung up with the grass were cut and
raked by horsepower and carted Oft the
land.
Tie meadow is ordinarily subject, to
frenl,e1lt Mi1ltar arli Gccasinual summer.