The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-11-27
TERRACING BOILED DOWN.
A Succinct Presentation Of q Vcry1
pOrtant Subjects.

y
portant Subjects. $z
To TIE EDIr. ll.s .,l' THE Cotton Plan III
I fad ,l'at ='ra' many Of our farm s$
mark If their .c,iace lines, throw up
bank OF sopr y, then leave the work
az II finished jon, ana call it "terraced,"
when in reality they have merely marked
of piece of work that ordinarily will
stand ten or fifteen years before tire land
uiav be called '!errsccd." There are
but two ways mainly OF terracing landj
Onc is ar'I6c'siIy. 10y blowing with hill
side plows or working the earth down to
q level otherwise and The other is to
throw up d bank or other obstruction to
c.'ch the Garth as nature moves it down
the bl! by hcuvins irosts, Washing rains,
etc. For just as sure as rain falls upon
shallow pl"w,d luua. where ci,a0 cul-
ture is ptacticed, On slouiug ground,
washing will occur; and no one With
big head aud small pocke,book need
undertake TO p!uw licsc hare hill lands
deep enough 10 plcyeut washing at some
time. Therefore, the better plan In
terraclug, IS well s. everything else, ~
to work with nature; that is, let nature
work while you while you plac o:d keep
Il good obstruction below To catch ;tc
earth as she moves it down, and thus ap.
propris'e her labor. Ard if your OBJ
sttuctious should break, why, just. go
and build it up again strong: than ever
the same as you would your ~ater-gaps
IN your fence, or the breaks IN your
bitches tha. had washed away, or your
fence that had blown dowu.
Many years before the war, I heard 8
very successful farmer say that the most
important and most difficult problems Of
his life were 10 know how to make smart
me1 of his boys and to prevent his land
from washing away, and the way be nit
upon to prevent his land from washing
away was very simple. viz: On all
slopIpg lands be would mark ct section
lines upon level a, intervals of about
three feet fall between, much on the
same plan as terraeirg now a-days; but
instead of cultivatiDg the whole field in
the same crop, he planted one land or
section between his marks in small grain,
and the other in corn or cotton, alternat-
ing them every year, which prevented
washing 10 way satisfactory to hlm, tcf
be had no dry-land- -disehes-es-Asc1arm.
An idea occurs to me here, that If all
our terraced lands were planted in alter.
nate sections OF small grain apd hoed
crops, the terracing plan would work
more satisfactory to many.
Loose stones placed in line on top OF
the ground make frst-clsss terrace
bank notwithstanding the opinion OF
some at the Pendleson meeting 10 the
contrary for we can show banks In this
county four or five feet high in places,
built with loose stones taken off the land.
But these banks were not made In one
year; they were raised higher as the
earth flied in above, or the water washed
around the ends, with stones that con-
tinue to appear on the surface after each
seasons plowiug.
About twenty years ago saw ter
race bank about three feet high on the
love, side Of q garden that belonged to
Judge Norton's mother, that was Quilt
up by sowing row of what she called
''border grass" which caught the earth
as it worked down, by catching new
roots and climbing to the top of the
earth as fast as !, accumulated. AT in
tervais since then I have made good ter
race banks by sowing rows, Of this bor-
der grass after the fashion Of laying out
terrace baaks, which found proved good
banks, and in addition gave ine crops Of
early grass, which have been cut in the
latter part OF March, where fertized, for
calves and colts. This plan of terrac-
ing is the only sy.tem that has no loss OF
land space, in trying to prevent land
from washing by either ditching or
throwing up banks of the richest earth
in field growing noxious weed seeds that
will infest the crops.
The best system of ditching uplands
prevents q small amount Of land from
washing away at the expense Of large
amount Of waste space of land, and a
yearly expenditure that is nearly equal
to that which is required TO keep up ter
race banks, aud at the same time these
bitches do not entirely prevent the land
washing. To prove this assertion, look
at the accumulated sand in the streams,
highways. and at the outlets Of these
bitches.
Until the land is washed down to 4
level, washing may occur at times, but
when the land is terraced-that is,
brought up to level-it will not wash.
even when half plowed.
farmers Son.