The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1888-07-18
FARMS AND FARMERS.


SHORT TALKS WITH MEN WHO GUIDE
TBS PLOW.
Many Questions About the Farm, An
swered by Dr.. W. L. Jones, Formerly o
the Southern Cultivator.
It is none too early 20 plan and begir
preparation for fall crops. 1t will moi
do to defer breaking land for them til
just before they are to be started, be-
canse rain is too uncertain. Only al
intervals, and for very short periods o.
time at this season of the year, is land
condition to take the plow. Lano
wing uncultvated through the summer II
apt to get very hard and dry; the sub
soil after even copious rains remaining
Unfit to receive the plow. Much OF the
water which falls upon its hard surface
runs off instead of being absorbed, and
this contributes to its dryness. Break,
therefore, what you can after each rain
That which is broken will absorb the
rainfall better than the unbroken; the
moisture will penetrate deeper, giving s
deeper sed bed. One of the great rou
bles in starting fall crops is that ever
efter nnite a good rain it is the rurface
soil only of unbroken land that IS wet,
and when this dries of, as it will dc
RAPIDLY, there is no moisture below to
rise up and take its place, and the young
plants frequently perish from lack OF
water. Not SO with land that has been
broken some time in advance, which hss
been catching and holding the rains IS
they fell. IF, therefore, one wishes to
be sure of starting crop OF clover OF
lucerne or grass or turnipe, IN Septem'
Der or October, let him begin to break
bis land at once, and continne to break,
roll and harrow till seeding time. All
experienced farmers know that this Is
the plan to get stand and raise crop
of turnips. It is equally applicable to
success with grass and other crops
named.
It is not alone for the sake OF securing
moisture that the above method OF pro
cedure is recommended. It is equally
Important to provide good supply OF
available plant food in the soil, in order
that the young plants may make good1
growth and become firmly established
before cold weather. Frequent stlrr1ng
of the soil promotes disintegration, de-
composition, nitrfcation, and all the
processes that generate plant food. 1t is Is
well, also, to incorporate with the SOIL
in advance of seeding any manure to De
given the crop. There is little danger
Of loss from teaching at this season OF
the yesr, and manures act better after
thew have been distributed through the
soil by plow and rain-water. TO render
this distribution probable, at 8 time
when rainfall is scanty, application OF
manure should be made a month or TWO
before seeding time.
After the land is brought into fine
tilth it should be somewhat compaeted,
either by rain or by roller. Small seeds
do not terminate well and young plants
do not grow thriftily on very loose soil.
The soil should be neither too compact
nor too loose. If too compact the roots
cannot permeate through it; if too loose
thew cannot establish close connection
with the soil, an essential condition to
the ABSORPTION of moisture. We have
q good illustration of this in turfJ soils.
It is urged upon all farmers who have
not already done so, to experiment IN q
small way with these fall crops. Espe-
cially would We urge the planting OF q
patch of Iucerne. It will not cost much
to do this, and then you can Judge tor
yourself whether it will pay or not.
Take all proper precautions and DO 1t
right, go that if failure results it will not
laY at your door. You might try it on
light and on heavy soils, and see which
succeeds best. Such experiments cost
little, but are very hopeful. WIZ.
Farm Question Box.
J. N. B., Fort Mill, York county, s..
c.: have most excellent COW OF the
ordinary scrub stock, from which get,
on an average, four gallons of milk and
one pound and half of butter per day.
She has formed the habit of "holdlng
up" part of her milk for her calf.
have tried often to get all the milk with
ont letting the calf to her, but have
never succeeded. II 7 wesn the calf,
will ever succeed in getting all the
milk, and will it not cause her to 60 dry
sooner?
It is hardly probable that COW
"holds up" her milk by 9 distinct act OF
her will The flow of milk is the result
partly of emotion and partly OF the
handling of the teat. When COW has
been separated from her calf, and the
latter comes in sight and cries for Its
mother, the secretion Of milk is excited
and tendency to flow from the bag
developed. A woman will relate slmi-
Lar experience, when, after being sepa-
rated from her infant for awhile, she
suddenly hears it crying: When the
calf is killed, OF permanently taken from
the COW, some milkmen have stuffed
and mounted calf to place before the
COW when being MIXED, to excite her
maternal instincts and promote the now
of milk. In the second place, the
manipulation of the teat has marked
effect on the flow of milk. The ducts
or tubes through which the mIk passes
out of the teats are surrounded by cir
cular muscle, which is ordinarily con-
tracted enough to prevent the escape OF
m;1t Rut whan the maternal emotions