The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-08-25

capable OF b.hc, brought, under the hoo
OF the sheep, to the highest condition o.
grass production. The soil and clmat,
OF this part of the State are naturall,
adapted to all the grasses that are cult
waited. In situations away from waite,
courses, (and they are few, J where alluvi
al lands sufficient for meadow arc not
found, the general character of tho
country remains the same, and, Ms in tho
middle region, cnsi!a@c may supplement
any deficiency III hay product.
such are the varied agricultural capa-
billticS OF our State, and thc exhibit is
under rather than ovcrStatcd. 1t is only
because OF the exclusive attention given
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 DR.. Parker,
near Coilimbin, and the crop of oats OF
Colonel Wylic, at Lancaster, remain re-
spcctivcly the largest on record the corn
crop reaching 200 bushels aud the oats
crop Isl bushels per acre DR.. Rave
ncls crop of bermuda hay near Charles
ton was ten thousand pounds to the
aero, exceeding moro than four-fold the
average crop OF the United States. Mr..
Childs, within five miles of where we are
',''iiS' ploit'tpiJ SIOWS ilntl SCllS Wltil
the Means grass $4,000 worth of huv
per annum. Colonel Rion's growth OF
luccrnc III Fairfield yielded ten cuttings
IN the season, and by actual measure
mcnt twenty-five feet of growth. The
Egyptian millct, Il lnxuriant and valua-
Die forage plant, is cut from six to seven
times and gives Il total growth of eight
to ten feet
The market gardens near Charleston
arc unsurpassed anywhere. Within the
last four years the growth Of watcrmclons
for market has been introduced along
the line of the South Carolina Railroad
III Aiken and Barnwcll counties, and the
profits have been such that this year five
thousand acres arc devoted to the crop.
Last year one farmer, Mr.. Wcthcrsbcc,
of Barnwcll, sold one hundred carloads
for ten thousand dollars, finding his
market i'll Charleston, Now York and
Cincinnati. He informs me that his net
return, the expenses Of production being
included with cost of marketing. was
something over $4,000. In the same
section of these counties, on the RIDGE
III Edgciicld, and at other points, orch
ards arc cultivated for the homo and
Northern markets with eminent success.
In Grccnvillc and in other counties the
culture of the grape upon large scale is
no longer an experiment. III short,
whenever individuals OF Il nciohborhood
have broken loose from old-tmc tradi-
TONS the ability to successfully vary our
agriculture has been conclusivcly shown.
GRASS AND LIVE STOCK.
The 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 Ill 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 now departures.
mistakes were made, difficulties cncoun-
tered and losses incurred with which it
IL 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
1873, and made iii the upper part of the
state, on Snludn River twelve miles by
"ail from the town of Ncwbc.ry. The
plantation contained near Il thousand
acres, of which about onc-half was creek
and river bottom. OF this last about BOO
acres had been cleared from fifty to Il
hundred years and cropped chiefly in
corn, without manure. Tho high lands
were hilly, their original growth were
oak and hickory, and the soil varied
from rcd 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 III pines, to
be again cut down and cultivated. This
process had been repeated ut least three
times nee tho land was in original
forest. AS II slave plantation, it had
been profitable; after emancipation, un-
der an ill-dcviscd system of tcnantry it
had been unprotitablc and the property
became much impaired. The buildings
had became dilapidatcd, fences almost
gone, bitches filled, and the arabic land
cultivated in patches a vigorous growth
OF young pines over most of it, The cs-
tablishmcnt of meadow, the restoration
Of portion Of the arabic land to good
tilth, and tho 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 first-clnss 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 n.iuvium. Stumps and sprouts
were carefully oradicatcd, the land flush
ed close and deep with narrow ono-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 the spIing till hot summer
weather set in. The annual weeds that
sprung up with the grass were cut and
raked ny horsepower and carted off the
land.
Tie meadow is ordinarily subject to
frequent winter and occasional summer
overllows. y has received no other fer