The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-03-31
Grass Culture and stock Growing.

+;,noblv attracting the attention of thou
ends Of farmers throughout the south. a
Great many have already made the move in
that direction, and have devoted part of
+ba lands heretofore cultivated in corn aud
cotton to grass and clover A larger
pumber. however. have not progressed
any further than to entertain the convic-
zion that Is would be greatly to their inter
es+ To so change their system of farming as
n allow it to embrace the recuperative
methods involved in a proper combining of
Grass and stock growing with their corn and
cotton culture. The more Intelligent class
of farmers have realized for number of
xasrs that the tendency of the old system
was gradually though steadily tending to
inter impoverishment of the soil. This has
besa more forcibly impressed upon the
minds Of farmers who are situated in these
sections OF the south where the lands are
rolling and consequently more susceptible
70 the damaging influences of the weather.
The quilted fields Of Middle and Northern
Georgia are q living monument to the I'M
wise methods that have been practced in
the treatment of them. Thousands and
thousands of acres have been annually
plowed and planted to corn and cotton in
March and April years and years after
their culture had become Improbable.
Almost any intelligent observer in any dis
trict in Middle Georgia can look about him
and see fields that have been cultivated year
after year for the past fifteen years, or ten
or five, and he knows that these fields have
not returned an average clear profit of IS
per acre in that time. One tenant after an
other would try his hand at cultivating
these old fields, only TO give place to another
in a year or two as the inevitable failure
came This persistent cultivation Of impov-
erished fields was not confined to tenants,
however. A large class of farmers who
owned the places they farrned were observed
to pursue the same practice of blowing up
and planting every year these old gullied
fields, and every year with hopefuIness
was amazing. If it had occurred to these
farmers ten or fifteen years ago that per-
Tnanent grass was legitimate feature of
the highest success in farming these rolling
washed soils would have been devoted to
ore or the other of the valuable grasses,
and these fields instead of being worn out
would now be paying them the most salts
factory profits of any part of the farm.
1Iuca of this land is now so worn and
quilted there is little left to be done for it
but to let it grow up in such plants as ma
ture may adapt to it, whether it bo pine or
sassafras or mullen.
1t is not necessary TO turn to the statistics
of southern agriculture and read that the
average products of a Georgia AGRA are five
bushels of rye, six and half of wheat,
eleven bushels of oats or corn, and $50
pounds of lint cotton to realize the fact that
there are many thousands of acres devoted
TO these crops that year in and year out do
not return a clear profit Of So per acre.
Any observer can sea this for himself any
time in the autumn by taking a survey Of
the crop in any specified area in this neigh
borhood. In the fall we bear good deal
of the few fine results attained about us,
but we hear little or nothing of the numer-
Gus failures, or half failures ten to twenty
times greater than the successes. There is
no need for concealing the fact that very
large number of farmers in every section
of this country-north, east, south and
west-have farmed to very little advantage
for the past ten years. 1t is true their ag
gregate productions have made it very easy
living for the large number of consumers
who are not engaged in farming, but a
great many of these small farmers who
have helped to swell the aggregate Of food
and fabric production have not been able to
help themselves while they have been
helping others.
1t will not do to form conclusion from
view of only one side of the picture One
side is always little more rosy than the
other
Unless disease or other evil is recog-
nized Prop II remedy cannot ba applied.
The sooner the southern far ners recognizes
the mistake of the past in not having fair
proportion of his farm devoted to good
pastures and meadow with that attention
to stock that naturally follows the existence
Of grass land, the sooner he VIII SET about
rectifying that mistake. OF course, so long
as a farmer is satisfied with the results Of
his farm operations nobody has any right
to offer him advice as to changing his farm
policy. 1t does seem that a great many
farmers are satisfied with very little, how
ever. Unless he is stirred with the laudable
ambition to make marked advancement
every year he is not likely to take those
necessary steps toward accomplishing an
Improvement in his surroundings.
The farmer has been urged for many
years to make his farming self-sustainiag, to
raise everything in the way Of food supply
that it was possible for him to raise, so far
IS his climatic conditions and the extent of
his operations would admit of-not only his
bread and fabric, but his meat of various
kinds, his work stock, too, if the aize OF his
tarm warranted the attempt.
But how is he to do this without first es
rablishing the right kind of pastures and
meadows? In so far as there is lack of
these on the farm must the beginnings of
stock raising be small and increased grad
ually as provision is made for their sup
port. 1t will not do to accumulate stock
ahead Of proper provision of pasture and
meadow, for the average farmer is not ex-
pected to practice artificial feeding TO any
but limited extent. Concentrated foods.
saen as cotton seed mea corn and pea
meal, wheat bran, ETC., he will use regularly