The Charlotte Democrat., 1890-05-02

good farmer. ne WoTAs uoAus
closely, and being of very inqulring turn
of mind, continues to progress as be
grows older For the past two years the
doctor has been developing pet, original
theory az to practical and economical
method of terraciDg, and having perfected
bis plans to that point where they may
safely be called a success. His farm ID
lust within the corporate limits OF the
town.
DIR. Walkers farm, like the larger por
tion of the lands in this section, is de-
cidedly rolling, and Of a character requlr'
ing the most judicious drainage for its
continued preservation. And it is this
problem of drainage, which has 80 long
puzzled the more advanced agricultur'sts.
that the doctor thinks he has solved.
On the road to the farm, DIR. Walker
remarked:
"When l was a boy, nearly all the
creeks in the country were fuli of deep
holes. Take Allison creek, up here. 1t
used to be iull of fsh-good big fish
and every few hundred yards was great
hole that would swim horse. But now
you might hunt from source to mouth
without finding more than one or two
places you can't wade. Now, OF course,
there is q reason for this, and if you will
Just think about it for moment you will
see it. 1t is Just this: The timber has
been cut away; the lands have been put
under cultivation, and whenever rain
comes, large quantities OF loose DIRT are
washed right into the creek. There 10
too much TO be carried off with the cur
rent, and consequently it just settles to
the bottom of the stream all along, filling
MP the holes, clogging the channel with
sand and utterly defeating the purpose
for which nature intended the creek.
II 10 an alarming TACT that our bottom
lands are rapidly becoming worthless.
Scarcely any of them will average crop
every other year, and the present outlook
10 that before q great while longer they
will be fit only Tor pasturage.
Now this was not the case before the
timber and underground were cut away.
Then, when q big rain fell, the leaves and
underground absorbed large quantity
of the water, and, acting as a filter, col.
lected most of the dirt and sand. 10 this
way the creeks were kept clean.
But the lands have to be cultivated,
and before they are cultivated they have
to be cleared-that's plain. So the ques
tion arises, what are you going to do
given by most people is ditch; but that
all my life, and l have never seen that
remedy prove entirely successful yet.
Some people understand ditching better
than others, and can use this knowledge
to corresponding greater advantage in
holding their lands; but whenever it
rains, Just note those muddy, red streams
rushing toward the creek, through and
across bitches, like q mill sluice. They
hold in solution your guano, your stable
manure, and in fact, large proportion OF
the best elements of your toll. Every
rain teaches out more or less of your fer
tility, and that matter which goes TO color
the water issusually the very cream.
"From that, it would seem. Doctor,
that you don't want the water to run off
at all ?"
"That's it. That's it. That's the
whole secret. You don't want one drop
more water to run off your hillsides than
you can help. You want to keep it stand
ing right where it falls until it is absor bed
in the ground, and that is just what l am
going to show you how to do ?"
By this time we had arrived at long,
sloping hill, falling about three feet in
twenty-five yards.
SNOW, see here. l have just COM
menced on this field this year. You see
how the land lies and the way am going
about terracing it. The idea is to build
of tall. 1.-THE land falls three feet in fifty
thoVo oh
fifty yards apart. They should be thrown
up as near on level as possible, so the
water can't find low places to break over.
And you will observe this doesn't cost
any more, or require any more labor than
to cot bitches. All have had to do here.
was to run three or four burrows and
throw the dirt on the upper side.
snow, what water fails on this side of
yonder terrace runs down to this one and
is held here. They are close enough to-
gether, and each terrace having to hold
only such water as falls within limited
space, there is no possibility of breaking
over.
"That is the theory of the thing" con.
tinued the doctor. snow, come over
here further, and let me show you the
practice"
In another part of the farm we came to
another series of embankments. They
were from two to three feet high and be-
coming covered with SPECIES of blue
grass. Explained the doctor:
81 have been working on these for over
two years now, and you see what has
been done. The idea is to keep on build
ing the embankment up little every
year until you get it as high as desired
But just observe. the practical results
You notice the surface of the earth on the
upper side of this embankment has al
ready been raised fully twelve inches
higher than the lower side And this &C
cumulated soil is of the very richest
Why, just look at those cotton stalks
They tell the whole storp, getting smaller
as they get further away from this bank
But where would that extra foot of soil
be if it had'nt been tor that terrace? II
makes me regretful to think about it.
feel as il l had been standing idly by
year alter year, and letting hundreds ot
dollars slip through my fingers and moi
able to help myself, when if l had just
thought of this simple plan ten years ago
my whole farm would now be garden
Yes, sir; when you have your land fixed
in that shape, you can rest content that
all the manure that is not used in tn,