The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-08-11

finely pulvcrizcd soil. Deep breaking
and fine surface filth are the deSiderdt0
SO far as mechanical preparation goes.
The pillow, the roller, the harrow, fol-
lowing each other III the order named,
will do the work. With the modern
improvements in pulvcrizing harrows,
there is little difficulty in bringing
land into the best conditions, even when
starting with it rough. For grass and
clovcr-cspccially grass-thc land
should be made very rich. If the
supply Of manure is limited, ii is better
TO pu, ii all on Il 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 andhardly able TO main
tain itself in the struggle for existence.
On ordinary land apply moi less than
thirty two.horsc wagon loads of yard
manure to start with. If you get a
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
pillow it under deep. Whether for
grass proper, clover or lUcCrn, q 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 bel, may be conveniently
divided into two s%crtionS--a northern
and southern half. North, say of par
allcl thirtv-thvcc degrees of latitude,
red and white clover, together with
orchard and herds grass, grow admir-
| oll,- .,,l ll,A,,lt ln 100 ~, ,,..l,1.
South Of that line the annual clover, as
the burr and the crimson, together
with an annual winter grass like The
''rcscuc' (Fcstuca), can be more GER
tainlN relied on. Luccrn will do well
now broadlv-thCrc arc other plants
good purpose in both the sections
named. The tall meadow oat l.
will grow all over the cotton belt:
better in the northern then in the
southern half, but moderately well i'll
the latter on rich sandy loans. Tim
othy does well on the valley land in
the northern section. Spanish clover
RichardSonia) is n valuable plant for
the Gulf borders, perhaps superior to
any OF the true clovcrs for that re :oll.
There is ample material from which to
choose, and all abundance OF land;
nothing stands in the 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
in the way Of manure, labor and seed
to get n field of grass, it must be re
mcmbcrcd that such a field will Weld
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 il is the best restorative and
prcscrvaliyo of II worn, humus cN-
haustCd lands. If corn and fodder
could be raised at exactly tho same
cost as hay and oats, the latter are
greatly to be preferred in view Of
their beneficial effects on land. Farm
crs hold this idea and practice it in the
seeding down Of land to small grain:
they say the land needs sowing down.
Bat the rest from the pillow in that case
lasts for one wear only: grass GROWING
extends it through many years. 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 c%onccntra1c corr
culture on land specially adapted to
that crop, manure highly and cultivate
with harrow and ploW exclusively, so
as to reduce cost to Il minimum, and
then utilize hillsidcs, rocky knobs and
such localities as arc not adopted to
clean culture, by seeding them down
to grasses and small grains.
On former occasions we have urged
the sowing of rye lots for supplying
green feed in the early spring. Moth,
ing is 50 reliable: rich land, GOOD seed
and early sowing are just as certain to
bring n full supply of early green
forage as Slr!ng succeeds winter. The
rlchcr thc land TIE more the rye will
DC rcI!Shcd by stock. This is impor-