The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1886-05-20
THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH.
SOME sEAsONABLE SUGGESTIONS FROM
'... HIGH AUTHORITY.

What Work the Good Farmers Should nO Ia
the Month of Muy--An Interesting Article
From an Intelligent Writer.
wv L. Jones in the May "Cultivatorn)
The earth is now warm enough fol
grass and weeds to grow rapidly. They
cannot be permitted to share with the
crops the plant food in the soil; extermi'
nation of them is now the order of the
day. How to accomplish this economi
cally, rapidly and without injury tc
young crops is one of the incest problems
the farmer is called upon to solve. Ir
the recent progress of agriculture, the
old-time method of running around
young plants with q narrow scooter, hav
ing board nailed to foot and beam or
one side to prevent throwing dirt on the
little plants, first gave way to the sweep.
The latter shaved the surface nicely, and
with its wing running quite flat threw
very little dirt. Moreover the siding
burrows swept out the middlcs at the
same time, a great advance over two
siding burrows with scootcrs and subse-
quent breaking of the middles with
shovels. But with the incest work of
the sweep, there is still narrow strip
along the line of plants which is undis-
turbed, and upon which grass can firmly
fix itself. To destroy it, the hoe was
called into requisition. This involved
heavy expense, unpleasant contact with
labor and great demand for hands to
chop out cotton. Next came broadcast
cultivation with the harrow in the first
stages of the crop, with heel scrnDes and
cultlvators later. This is as fan as we
have advanced; indeed most farmers
have not yet reached this point, and the
method is not yet, perhaps, fully per-
fected. But from the very nature of
things we must advance in this direction
machines, implements, horse power,
must supplant hand labor more and
more. How to cheaper production is
the problem of the hour. Our fathers
pushed labor to the utmost in clearing
forests and cultivating virgin soils. Since
the war the use of fertilizers has been
developed to great perfection; and now
surroundings demand the most extended
use OF machinery and horsepower. All
departments of industry arc moving in
this dii iection, and agriculture cannot lao
behind Cautiously, wisely, judicio1sly
it must 30 on.
Our readers will remember the articles
published last year in the Cultivator on
broadcast cultivation with. tho harrow.
The points which seem to be we'll set.
tied were that distractions must be re,
moved-trash in the shape of corn and
cotton stalks cut up or knocked to pieces
and buried by breaking land with large
turn ploughs; beds, if any, to be low
and leveled down with harrow immedi
ately after planting; if rain follows plant
ing quickly, harrow as soon rs dry
enough, never allowing crust to form.
AS soon as cotton begins fairly to come
up, run harrow obliquely across rows
never in the direction of the rows-in
four or five days run obhquely across
again in the opposite direction, so that
these two harrowings may be at right
angles to each other. In three or fom
days harrow again across the last. These
harrowlngs must begin early and be re.
peated rapidly to thin out the cotton,
which they can do whilst the plants arc
very young and tender-when still vel
low. When older and tougher they will
be pushed aside often without being de-
stroyed. The cotton now being consid
erably thinned, grass and weeds thor
oughly killed, and the surface nicely
pulverized, the crop is in condition tC
be easily cultivated with sweep OF scrape
1t is said also that in the condition loft
by the harrowings good hand can chor
to stand two acres of cotton day.
If tue soil is supplied with humus. and
the land well prepared, cultivation should
be very shallow from the start. In hard
soil, disposed to run together after rain
deep blowing is perhaps admissible
when the cotton is very young, but not
otherwise. In two experiments made
successfully in 1884 and 1885 at the Ala
bama Experiment Station, to test effects
of deep and shallow cultivation, there
was difference respectively of 85 anG
100 pounds Of seed cotton per acre il
favor of shallow cultivation throughout
The two plats were prepared, manuret
and cultivated exactly alike, except tha
when the cotton Oh one plat was abou
a foot high it was plowed deep with
long scooter and scrape, as is frcquentl,
done by farmers, and its roots considcra
ply cut. The scrape should always b.
attached behind the foot of the plow
not in front Of it, and the scooter usec
with 1T should be very short, just long
enough 70 keep the point of the pillow
loot from striking the bottom of the fur
row; Another interesting experimen
hf.oe ~ the same station illustrates
point we have often urged, to-wit III
importance of pressing or firming sec,
In the soil to insure prompt germination
Cotton was planted In two adjacent ro,y
on the same day with two differont oot
ton planters, one covering tho sood !,
the usual manner, tho other tbro,,;,,,
the dirt into q ridge over the seed ont
then passing it down on tho seed NV