The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1886-08-26

, capable of being brought, under the hoof
of the sheep, to tho highest condition of
grass production. The soil and climate
OF this part of the State arc naturally
adapted to all the grasses that arc cult
waited. In situations away from water
, courses, (and they arc few, where alluvi-
9 al lands sufficient for meadow are not
found, the general character of the
country remains the same, and, as in the
middle region, cnsilagc may supplement
any deficiency in hay product.
such are the varied agricultural caDa-
bultlcs OF our State, and the exhibit is
un der rather than ovcrstatCd 1t is only
bee, luso Of the exclusive attention givcn
to cotton that the impression ever could
have obtained that the cereals and grass
cs were not suited to our surroundings.
The crop Of corn grown by Dir. Parker,
near Co lumbia, and the crop Of oats of
Colonel Nyllc, at Lancaster, remain re-
spcctivck7 the largest on record, the corn
crop rCacling 200 bushels and the oats
crop lS1 b,1Shcls per acre. Dr. Rave
ncls crop Of Bermuda hay near Charles
ton was ten. thousand pounds to the
acre, cXcccdi rg moro than fOur-fold the
average crop Of the United States. Mr..
|
sitting, profita bly grows and sells with
per annum. G., >loncl Rion's growth of
lucerne in Fairfi cid yielded ten cuttings
i'll the season, ~ ld by actual measure
ment twenty-five .feet of growth. The
Egyptian millct, luxuriant and valla-
bic forage plant, is cut from six to seven
times and gives to o&al growth of eight
| to ten feet
The market gardc ms near Charleston
are unsurpassed anywhere. Within the
last four years the gro with of watcrmelons
for market has been introduced along
the line of the South Carolina Railroad
i'll Aiken and Barnwell counties, and the
profits have been such that this year five
thousand acres are dev, oted to the crop.
Last year one farmer, Mr. Wethersbcc,
of Barnwell, sold one h undred carloads
for ten thousand dolla rs, finding his
market in Charleston, New York and
Cincinnati. He informs me that his net
return, the expenses Of pl Oduction being
included with cost of Il marketing, was
something over $4,000. In the same
section of these counties, ON the Ridge
III Edgctield, and ut other points, orch
ards are cultivated for the homo and
Northern markets with eminent success
culture Of the grape upon Il large scale is
no longer an experiment. In short,
whenever individuals or neighborhood
have broken loose from old-time tradi-
tons, the ability to successfully vary our
agriculture has been conclusiyely shown.
GRASS AND LIVE STOCK.
Tho 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 III my own experience Of con-
vcrting cotton plantation into farm
of mixed huSbandry, with grass and live
stock as the leading features, Will be
submitted AS in all new departures,
mistakes were made, difficulties cncoum-
tered and losses incurred with which it
is unnecessary 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 the
State, on Saluda River, twelve miles bv
rail from the town Of Ncwbcrry. The
plantation contained near a& thousand
acres, OF which about onc-half WAS creek
and river bottom. OF this last about 300
acres had been cleared from fifty to a
hundred years and cropped chiefly in
corn, without manure. The high lands
were hilly, their original growth were
oak and hickory, and the soil varied
from 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 in 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, I'M
der an ill-dCviscd system of tcnuntry, 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, vigorous growth
of young pines over most of it. The cs-
tablishmcnt of a meadow, the restoration
of Il 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 pasturagc,
the alteration of old buildings and the
erection of many new ones, together
with the putting up of frst-class fences,
constituted the permanent outlay. Live
stock, tools and implements had also to
be purchased.
THE MEADOW.
The meadow consists now Of seventy
five acres of first river bottom, being a
pure alluvium. Stumps and sprouts
were carefully era6.catcd, 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 tho spIing till hot summer
weather set in. The annual weeds that
sprung up with the grass were cut and
raked by horsepower and cartcd off the
land.
Tie meadow is ordinarily subject to
frequent winter and occasional summer
ovorflows. It has received no other fer |
tiliZntiOD oXpnDt i'm Como amoll ov,,o,i