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

transportation for any distance over q
highway, and local railroad frcights np.
proXlmatc too closely the cost of cou.
Veyancc by wagon. Water carriage is
bcst and cheapest. When the location
Is not adapted to marketing the hay,
only enough should be harvested fol
winter feed of live stock, and the rest
GraHCd OIL Tor summer pasture. Indeed,
the best husbandmcn contend that if
justice is done to tho land no hay should
ever leave the farm on which it is grown,
except III the shape of flesh and bones.
80 Tar, with my meadow i'll u fow hun
drcd feet of n railroad, and special con-
Nyonlcnces for shipping, the bulk of the
nay has gone to market, and it is tho
largest and most rcmuncrativc market
crop OF tho fam. J. have not been able,
however, to advantagcOusly send it for
sale farther than to towns from sixty to
one hundred miles away. Bermuda,
from It's tcnacity of life and from its we'll
known character rs II pest in hocd crops,
should be put for a meadow only when
1t IS intended to stay; and here its stay
ing quantities are OF immense value in
comparison with grasses that require re-
seeding and rcsctting every few years.
Cultivation, however, is TO somo extent
necessary. narrowing benefits it, and a
thorough ScariicatiOn every other ycar
with sharp cutting instrument that
docs not disturb the SmOOthncSs of the
sod IS desirable. Thus far the river
oVerllows seem sufficient to keep the
meadow productive. The seventh and
eighth crops, have been the largest,
reaching each ovcr 5000 pounds per
acre OF hay, weighed when cured and
| DalCd Tor market.
The second river low grounds Oh this
place are cold tenacious clay, requiring
thorough drainage, and from long cult
vation deficient in humus. Enough of
| tins IS set apart for corn culture, and the
remandorterc"n into permanent pasture
Producing without manure from twenty
to thirty bushels to tro acre, fifty acres
annually under the plough is enough in
the general scheme. Ihls titiv acres
altcrnates with as much more either in
spring oats or in weed fallow, thus add
ing to instead of decreasing the supply
of humus. More than one wear in weed
talIOW Injuries the tilth for the next sic
foul. Corn is Il poor market crop. tron
hlesomc and wastcrul to handle, and no
more, therefore, is grown than can be
protitably fed. Very littlo of the blades
Is gathered for forage, sometimes none
1t is too expensive and is not needed oy-
ccpt as change to hardworlcd or sick
horses.
OATS.
Spring oats are plant l in rotation
with corn on the sccon', low grounds;
fall oats on highland IN rotation with
| cotton. IN the cotton rotation the land
Is Sown down Immediately upon harvest
ing the oats IN peas, fcrtiliUcd with cithcl
ash clement or kainit. When the peas
are maturcd, hogs, and no other stock
are pasturcd, not too closely, upon them
The value of the peas to the hogs is csti
| mated ut about the cost of the pea and
ASH clement crop, leaving its amcliorat.
ing value as clear gain. The cotton re-
cclvcS two hundred bushels of compost
IN the drill, which is found to be as
much rs can be advantagcously applied
to the acre in that way. The oats crop,
neither spring nor fall, receives manure.
The crop IS thrcShcd as soon rs harvest
ed, both to secure economy in feeding
the grain and by careful housing to save
the straw in the best condition for win
ter forage. Cut when not over ripe and
cured without or with little rain, it is
valuable. Salt, i'll putting it away,
makes 1t more palatnblc to stock. The
yield of oats has varied with seasons
from twenty-five to fOrty-scvcn bushels
per acre.
COTTON.
The United States department Of agri-
culture in 1876 estimated the average
yield OF cotton III the South at 1876
pounds OF lint per acre, and the cost Of
production at o. cents per pound. Mr..
henderson, the commissioner Of ngricul-
turc III Georgia, is quoted as placing the
crop OF last year 1880 i'll that State ut
$50 pounds Of lint, and the cost Der
pound at 9 cents. The average yield in
South Carolina varies little from that in
Georgia, and there is with me no doubt
OF the near approach to accuracy Of the
estimates of cost made on the basis of
that rate Of production. Many Of the
items of expense, however, arc fixed, and
with larger yield the cost per pound
decreases. In Hammond's Handbook
OF South Carolina arc given in detail the
SN Nh''Cp vi WV CIol'S grown Ill 1OOZ-
one III Ncwbcmy Of 400 pounds Of lint
and one i'll Fairfield of 300 pounds to the
acre; the first cost 6. cents and the last
6 G-lO cents per pound. In tho same
year | kept for my own satisfaction q
careful account with the cotton crop on
tins farm; the yield, better than usual,
was 40 pounds of lint to the acre and
the cost 6 40 cents per pound. These
figures show that, with middlinps ruling
at from 9 to 10 cents at the scaports,
cotton by itself can be no profitable
crop. Annlyzing the items of expense
in my accounts find that G-1O cents,
or something over half, was in manure,
meat and bread for the laborcrs, and
feed for plough animals. These under
the system Of mixed husbandry arc made
on the farm and sold at full price to the
cotton crop. 1t is just here that in any
such system ut the South, cotton comes
IN, and planted only to proper extent
IS valuable. If sold only at the cost of
production, it has purchased the manurcs
from the live stock, and turned into
money the provision crops or the meat
INTO which they have been previously
converted. These arc SO1nc nnsoIool,lE