The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-02-10
THOUGHTS FOR FARMERS.
HARD TIMES--THE REMEDY.

HARD TIMES--THE REMEDY.
The Fault at the Farmers Own Door
1.-The Manure Pile and How to I'm
crease 1t :. JudiciOus Composing
as Against Commercial Fertilizer
..Oats, Glover and Grass.
In our last we urged curtailment Of mon
ey crops especially cotton, because 1t calico
for too much labor. 1t Is plainly our potlcy tt
cultivate those crops which require the leas
labor not such as demand the most Under
existing circumstances the vast amount OF Ia
Dor involved, Is the weak point, the great de
tectof cotton crop. The mere picking OF
bale of cotton costs at least a sixth OF Wha'
that bale will bring at present prices, The
cotton crop is one of nll others least adapted
to the extensive system Of farming; unuel
the opposite system ta ,sb wnefe ERE Inc a
bor OF productian, there Is some margin lol
profit; under the former, where labor reaches
It's maximum and the yield ITS minimum
matter might as we'll be looked squarely IN
the face; great many of our people are gong
down swiftly to financial ruin, ana IL rs time
to call halt. There must be change IN our
farm economy: 4 blind man can see the ne
cessity If a merchant has mortgage on on
your farm. and refuses to give farther credit
unless
It is only question of time: he will get 1t IN
the end any way. Better start from the ground
again. with no burden TO carry one.horse
sarm can be rented very cheapty ana Dan, an ,naus.
make enough to buy such farm. II not SO
badly Involved in debt as to require a giving
up Of all your land sell part req Ieduee stock,
tive at home and buy as little as possible.
This Is no new thing we are urging. BEFORE
the war this was the prevailing practlce OF INC
sim
and farmers grew richer every year. me
South was wealthy then, hut the war reduced
US 10 poverty, and we made the mistake OF
irving to get rich again too fast. We became
practicalls, Spectators: risking everything
on the venture Of large cotton crops; ana,
like other speculators while few nave made
money, the great majority nave nave i1Ss IT, ane
numbered; how many are free from mortgages
to-day. Mercantile centers have built up and
grown rich how is II with the farms Guano
factories, and oil mills and raj lroads have
sprung up on every hand; somebody makes
money Ia supplying farmers with what they
buy and in ,rnsportng ohbe whaf 'neS 1 s6oSs a
they make. and without equivalent returns;
for the gobblcrs have gotten rich, and the iar-
Iners, tO say the least. have kept poor. NOW
pend our wrath upon the sobbers. The fault
* at the farmers own door. He has placed
himself at the mercy OF the gobbiers. by pur-
suing wrong methods and pracitcing poor
ADVANTAGE and they took it-had he been In
their place he would probably have done tne
same What is more, they will continue TO
take the advantage Just as long as ne contln-
, ues to give them the chance. The way OF es.
cape is simple and easy. Contract the scale OF
business; raise and maks at home what you
keep out of debt, II you have not money to
buy n thing. do without 1t: despise not the
day of small things, and ever remember that
everything of real value grows slowly Ihd and
Sta
the oak requires centuries.
The Manure Pile.
Next to diminishing labor, ranks increasing
the manure pile. as ~ remedy for hard times.
Manure enhances the value OF labor. A days
work may be worth twice rs much TO the EN-
ployer If expended on rich or highly manur-
ed land. than If spent on that which is poor.
TO express it mathematically, the manure
pile is inversely proportional TO the labor re-
<iuired to produce n given yield; the larger
Dor needed. 1t is plain therefore that far
,ner should use every diligence In increasing
his pile. But how. BY saving ana husonnd-
Ing every manurial substance about his prem
iSes. That is too obvious proposition to dis
cuss. Every good farmer docs that as q mat
ter Of course. But that does not answer the
question. The more stock. the more manure.
Shall he keep stock then with view to max,
ing manure In some localities that Is good
p ,licy. In many regions OF Europe and OF
the North where meat. milk. butter anu
remunerativc prices, farmers keep as much
stock us they can. In the warmer portions OF
the South, where there are good and extensive
ranges, and where cattle require little feeding
ait any season Of the year, 1t is we'll to do the
same thing. Every animal as 1t WanderS DUR
ing the day. Is gathering manure to be depos-
tied in the iarnt-yard during the night. COW
pennug land is one of the very best methods
of manuring it; both solid and fluid eHcre-
ment is secured without loss, If care Is taken
to pow the soil enough to keep up It's absorp-
"A tIx rfclyc Nf frn- n
and loss of ammonia is avoided. Near the
larger cities and towns where stock Is In de-
lnand for butchers meat, it would be profita.
ble also to keep rs many as car can oe wen M te tSo
sale OF meat is small the manure Itself mIght
be made to pay very satisfactory prom.
judicious, managing farmer could even afford
to buy bran, meal and other grain, TO supple.
ment that raised on his own farm, trusting to
the manure therefrom to remunerate him LOT
the outlay. Speaking broadly, and without
ings, 1t may Oe said that 1t is sound policy for
a farmer to keep as much stock as is requisite
TO consume all the forage which Is raised on
his farm. 1t Is very rarely profitable TO sell
straw. shucks, fodder. hay or grain.
How to Increase the Manure Pile.
But supposing farmer to be very diligent
in making and saving manure-tnat he has
stall for every animal. and keeps 1t we'll litter
cd how many acres can he manure TO each
animal. 1t is estimated that a horse that is
worked, not c0nnneu In MS SCalI ali Tie lInc.
yields in gear about four cords OF manure,
when half Of sa manure Is litter. A cord OF
manure weighs from one and half TO three
tons, according TO dryNesS and degrees OF
packing. Taking two tons as an average. a
horse yields say, eight tons year, or putting
it in O more familiar shape, eight or ten two
horse wagon loads. That we regard ass a full
estimate. 10 manure an acre broadcast will
require at least fifteen such loads If 1t Is to be
made rich; thirty loads is not an uncommon
application In market gardening. II applied
in drills four feet apart one cord will manure
lightly nearly one and three quarters acres. as
a simple calculation will show. -Four feet
rows will give In an acre. in round numbers
So rows 2l0 feet long. or l0.8s0 running feet. or
l3l, ,0i0 inches. 4 cord contains l2o cubic feet
or 2A, lH cubic inches, and II these cubic
inches were strung out like beads on a string,
divide %, ,lS4 by l3l 'AO and we get l6S or near
ly one and three-quariers. Ii q cord Of ma
nure was distributed in drill, therefore, in q
stream one inch deep and one wide, 1t would
manure, as stated above, nearly one and
three-quarter acres, and the manure from one
horse lfuur cords) would manure about six or
-even acres at that rate. That would be very
light manuring; 1t would fall very far short
OF the acquisitions of Intensive farming.
These figures are presented to show how very
inadequate the supply Of homemade manure
necessarily Is. How to increase 1t is the ques.
tion. Fortunately science has revealed to us
that nitrogen, phOsphOric acid and potash are
the substances most needed by plants anu
most difficult for them TO get from natural
sources, and that by adding these TO barn
yard manure it's fcrtilizing powers may be in
creased maniford. A ton of average barn-
ward manure contains about the following
small quantities of those three substances:
Nitrogen: pounds
PhOsphOric acid POUNDS
Potash POUNDS
Il oD1