The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-07-17
FARMS AND FARMERS
Short Talks With Men Who Guide
the PlOW.
Many Questions About the Farm, Answered
by DIR. w. l.. Jones, Formerly OF
the Southern Cultiyator.
Shall Fodder be Pulled and Cotton Topped9


Shall Fodder be Pulled and Cotton Topped?
The time will soon arrive when 10th oil the
above should be done, if done at all. Is it
good policy to do either? In pulling fodder
there are two items to be considered; the labor
or cost and tho injury to the grain. AS to the
first, it would probably be cheaper to raise
other forage which could DO gathered and
saved by machinery, than to pull fodder.
Drilled corn, milet, peavines, clover and grass
can be cut with mower and handled more
easily than fodder. Most farmers have 10 sup
plement their fodder with some Of these, Tor
few farms will raise enough fodder TO supply
all the stock, and when one begins it is com
parntiyely easy to have enough Of these with
out relying on fodder at all For five or SIX
years past we have relied on bermuda hay
almost exclusively for forage on our own farm,
raising very little corn and feeding stock on
oats and hay. 1t has worked admirably and
very satisfactorily Part Of the bermuda is on
branch bottoms part on upland, and our barns
are never empty. We think the day is not far
distant when bermuda will supply all the hay
and most Of the grazing at the south.
We have tried the northern plan Of cutting
down the corn when the grain begins to
harden and curing in shocks. This is not diff
cult to do and the grain seems to fill out very
WELL but with our largo staIkcd corn much Of
the stalk will not DO eaten by stock when dry
cured II can be utilized as enSilage; the
whole stalk will then be eaten readily, but not
as dry fodder. The part Of the stalk above the
ear may be cut and cured, and that works very
well; most Of il will be eaten If properly cut
up. To cure these tops nicely and with little
trouble one should have a corn horse, some
thing like a shingc-getcrs draw horse, but
with legs two and hall or three feet long and
set back three or four feet from the end. Bore
hole half way between feet and end and
insert loosely stick three or four feet long,
and your horse is ready Set up corn in angles
made by stick and pole, tic well, pull out stick
and then pull out horse and you will have
well-balanced, symmetrical, firm shock. Such
shocks may be pat up green and will cure
nicely. This makes ont more independent Of
weather than fodder-pulling does.
But to return to the other half Of the ques-
ton: how does foddor-pullng affect the grain;
does it decrease tho yield? This depends on
circumstances. On rich land, and especially
rich and damp land, where food and water are
abundant ard the plant has no difficulty in per-
fecting its grain, pulling off the fodder does
little or no harm If the work is done after the
corn begins to harden. In such case the grain
win be fully formed before the blade dries up.
Reverse the conditions corn on poor land,
thin soil and deficient in moisture, will not
perfect its grain before the blades arc so dried
up rs TO be unfit for fodder On this score,
therefore, we should have no hestanoy in
pulling the fodder Of bottom land corn would
mot pull it ON thin uplauds If grain was a
matter of more consideration than forage
The topping Of cotton sometimes increases
the yield sometimes it does not. IT it were
possible by topping to check the growth of the
main stalk and not develop increased growth
OF the limbs, during the three weeks preceding
the end Of the average fruiting season-say in
this latitude (3l) from the middle Of August to
the 10th of September decided good would
ensue. The energies OF the plant would be
diverted from growth to fruiting. But it isnot
always practicable to do this. During wet.
warm seasons growth arrested ut orc point
almost Immediately develops at another
Again in very dry seasons, growth often
ceases and topping Is labor thrown away.
When seasons are not extreme, and cotton is
growing moderately, topping from the list to
Tho 10th Of August viii usually do good. We
speak for middle Georgia. W here tho season
IS longer, the topping should DO done later
say four to five weeks before the last blooms
which can be counted on. In moss cases one
takes the risk Of getting no return for his labor.
a better way TO promote lruiting is to work the
crop at longer intervals towards the last. Plow
at short intervals early in the season, at longer
intervals MS the time approaches for laying the
crops by W. l.. j.