The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-05-08
FOR5i WORK TOR MAY.
A FEW HINTS AS SO HOW WE SHOULD
CULTIVATE OUR CROPS.
Corn.--G0itO --- F'lan;ing-.-
Growing cs0Hs.--A Biz Lot OF


period of cuItivating the main crops OF tn
lSoutl--corn and cotton. The farmer VIII
las good stands and his fields in good. condi
ton on the first day Of the month, and push
cS his work with skill, r.lrrcy an, good judy
mrnt to It's close. will have practically WOO
the fight SD far as depends nn his efforts. !
has often been SAID That u cfrp wei piantc!
on well prepared land is hnD mNdc. Sucl
preparation and planting Involves cod s"et
and liberal manurin2, as well as good ploW
ing and careful management or all details
and almost certainly results in good stands
The real objects Of l'lowng and hocing tn,
crops should be kept steHdily IN view, ant
the means for their accomplishment shoulG
bc adapted to the ends. 1t is error to pro
| coed in the cultivation Of Il crop aS II tho
| only object were to destroy the grass and
| weeds: and yet these must hc either prevent
ed or destroyed or the crap will prove IA ire
| Weeds ana grass then, are not an uumiNcu
evil 10 some farmers, since the necessity lOl
their suppression, and the means employed
| for that purpose. assure to the crGr. TO Il de
gree the stirring and acration of the soil thai
will be necessary toa vigorous growth and
development OF the plants and bonntllul
| harvest.
The main object OF cultivation should be to
| keep the surface soil 10 the depth of one OF
| two inches. In Il loose, friahlc condition. So
that the air may have easy access TO the roots
of the plants, while at the same ilme Tie
moisture is prevent Il from 10 rapidly eNnn-
| Grating. 4 shower of rain sufficiently copl'
Gus To stand iora few moments on the sur
face will cause the particles Of soil to run
together" just rs If handful ni soil I've
dropped in glass of water and the vessel
briskly shaken few moments. The rum
ming Of the water on the surface, or the co!i-
bincd agitation by the successive ihllihs
raindrops, produces the same condition OF
the upper halt inch or more of the soil. rs
| observed in the glass. Now. pour of the wa
ter in the glass, or permit the waller 10 now
| off from the soil, or sink into IT, and the same
| reSult will shortly follow In both cGSCS-tnc
| formation ot Il compact crust or cake. IN
both cases the particles of soil have adjusted
! themselves 10 each other more closely, JUS!
nS kernels OF wheat or corn in hall ou>ncl
will do when shaken. In this condition the
soil is like a soft brick, or lump Of SUGAR
and will drn'U up the moisture moro readily
and rapily by capillary action. Any one can
easily Illustrate the principle of capillary
| action, and the rule by which il is governed.
| Fake two panrs or pieces of glass; lay one on
the other, separating them by several thick
| ncSScS OF paper along two opposite edges.
Now dip tho open edge OF the combined glass
| in water and note the rise Of the nuld IN tie
! thin space between the surfaces OF me tWo
| pieces of glass. Note further If The thick
| neSScs of paper bc reduced so az 10 bring the
pieces Of glass nearer each other, the water
will rise higher and higher in proportion as
| The surfaces be brought nearer each other.
Now the particles Of soil, when in the condl-
| tiOn described Just now. arc much nearer To-
| sether than the thickness of Il single sheet OF
| the thnnrst paper, and thus form q series OF
! very fine capillary tubes. capable OF drawing
| up the water many inches. AS the water
thus drawn up reaches fthc surface, and even
| before it reaches the surface of the soil ii is
converted into vapOr and escapes into 10 air.
| II now we disturb or break up the close con-
| tightly Of the particles and TINS destroy the
continuity OF the capillary spaces or tubes,
| We to that extent prevent or greatly reiard,
| he escape Of moisture by evaporation. IhiS
| is accomplished by stirring the surface OF
| The soil. and forming IL into u mellow. loose
,ayer. THIS layer may be considered as a
| mulch TO the snhjaccnt soil in which the
| roots are feeding, for it acts very similarly u
f,F NO m
venting undue evaporation. But not only
does the hard. compact crust facilitate the
| escape of needed moisture, but IL also pre-
vents the free entrance OF ar INTO the SOL.
We believe properly conducted experiment
would also prove that the stirring OF the sur
| face soil tends TO facilitate tina sinking OF the
| superahnndant water into the underlying
SubSol and into the natural or artificial
| lrainagc outlets, after a series OF too copious
rains.
IMPLEMENTS OF CULTURE.
How to accomplish this repeated stirring
| Of the soil in the cheapest and most cilcctual
| manner is problem that has not been Solv-
ed by Southern farmers generally. The tra-
dition al "nigger and q mule" with n shovel,
or gopher. o" some similar implement, re-
quring from three To four furrowS in four
| foot row, is reproach on southern farming:
| The winged sweep, large thanks TO David
| Dickson for improving and pnpulariZing 1t.
was quite a step in advance, followed by the
heel scrape, which is notified form OF the
| sweep. QOlllR lnc same WOTh Hlll ltSS
But an expanding riding or walking cultva-
tor is the desideratum. We want q reliable,
inexpensive. simple implement that will
clean out three or four foot row ut one trip.
| An implement having bnt one share, as the
Dickson sweep, or modification, the improv-
| cd heel scrape, cannot do elective work If
| wider than eighteen to twenty inches, and
coHon thSn and I free rom obst G"ton n te
shape Of grass, little, stones etc. We want TO
| reduce the size of the shares or cutting parts,
and Increase their number. This, With ap-
planccs for regulating width and depth,
| give us the cuHirator, OF which there are sew.
| eral patterns Offered for sale. Among them
we cannot forbPar expressing favorable
opinion Of the "Planet, Jr., Cultivator."
WORKING CORR.
We assume that corn has been worked the
first time. and that the main crop,o upland
| is now in good order, with n good stand. II
should now he the object Of the farmer to
push The plants forward as rapidly as posi-.
| BILE. The richer or more highly fertiliZcd
| the soil the more rapidly it should he culti-
| vated-the oftcncrit should be plowcd-for
the simple reason that 1t will give largcr re.
turns for additional cultivation. There are
doubtless thousands of acres now planted
nook and corners here and there, and occa-
| Sonally whole ileldS-whosc final yield will
barely pay the expense OF three plOwingS.
such land should not have hecn planted at
all; having been planted, it were better per-
haps to do the next hest thing: turn il out
| for summer pasture, or SOW down in peas.
| Make il 4 point TO go over thcr corn as Of.
! ten as once In two weeks Il least; every ten
| days would be better, provided rain has
| fallen in the meantime. TO do this at small
| pStfcXpcnditurc of time, harrow or wide en-
handing cultivator Is almost Indispensable.
Five Civilizations at intervals of two weeks
! will cover Just eight weeks, or from, say
April II to June Il, by which time cCrn will
he in condition to lay by. With Il wide cul-
| tivatur. this can be done with ten burrows. or
| if VIC allow four furrowS with Il smaller plow
| at first plowing, twelve furrowS in all. Three
plowngS three weeks apart Uhe Old rulcl
would carry the crop to, say Jun" -, but with
| the narrow dccncr-runninG implements would
require probably not less than twelve to fonr-
teen fuIrows in ALL Which is tire cheaper
method. aud which will give the larger y icld ?
| somebody Try it and report results.
| OF course il iS understood that peas are 10
he planted in the corn, according to one OF
| The several plans in vogue. On good land,
with rnws not wider than four or five feet,
/ we believe 1t Is better 10 wait until the last
plowing and then put them in broadcast.
| WORKING COTTON.
| The practice is CROWN" in favor of broad
cast narrowing the cotton field rs the young
plants are coming mp.
IL is accord with the best methods. 40 ap.
piled 10 corn culture in the great West. where
| Il is almost universally the custom 10 har-
row the corn fields one or twice before the
cultivator is used. We rather prefer the
| long gitudinal Observation-Disclosures the rows,
| rspccially if rcpcatrt. Thcr, Is nothing that
benefits the yonnG cotton plants. If tn" ground
has been impactcd by rains sine" planting
more than n prompt narrowing or mere
| scratching of The surface, so that the air and
sunshine can penetrate to the roofs.
| After narrowing, il this plan be adpOt"a
or siding with sweep, or better, witha Strad
dinr culiivaior, comes the thinning, the
most labori0us and costly detail of the cut
| tivation. We have several times adopted
the plan Of ch0ppiHg. in advance Of siding
This can he done with saving of labor to tho
amount OF one blowing. if The cot ton has
not had heavy rains on il since planting, and
is therefore free from Grass and soil crust
Usually, however, il will be found hest tt
r. i,rf.,, Inn