The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1890-01-01
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL.
JEFF WELBORN'S WAY.


Farmer on Cotton, Corn and Pea Cult
ure.
/ wish to relieve the minds of those
who are skeptical about our hands hoe
ing five to six acres of cotton to stand,
per day, each. This year we had 120
acres in cotton which we have cultivated
with our own hands and hired labor.
When it was time to hoe it out the first
time, we put in three Mitchell cotton
sc.'apes, following one myself. Directly
behind them my brother went in with
two negro boys, one only fifteen years
old, with hoes three hoes only and two
hours behind the hoes three negroes fol-
lowed with double shovel stocks and two
twclve-inch solid sweeps on them, dirt
ing up, or rather blowing the whole row,
Behind these three sweeps not
green thing was seen, except the
one, two, and occasionally three stalks
of cotton All signs of scraper or
hoe were hid from-view. We went across
this 100 acres with scrapes and hoes in
less than eight days. The sweeps had
to be helped out by other sweeps, their
work being slower. The three hoe hands
did not only keep up, but did it without
the loss of much sweat. My brother had
to look after the hands, and would often
be out an hour or more; so we lost more
or less time each day. At no time dur
ing the hoeing out was single hand
hurried up: on the contrary, it required
an effort to keep down their propensity
to race. My brother is an expert with
the hoe, and claims to be with the pillow.
The land we had in cotton this year was
partly in cotton, corn and oats last year.
Naturally this rcd, sandy soil is the
foulest of all classes of soil. What we
have accomplished this year, in rainy
seasons, we can and will do in other
seasons. Nothing is guess-work when
we have Nature for our teacher and do
our work on scientific principles.
For more than twenty years l have
centered every thought on corn, cotton
and COW peas, and not on general farm
ing. l have not read or thought about
much else, and my mode is almost the
opposite of that in general practice. I
improve cotton simply for earliness. To
do this must have cluster variety, so
much abused because it is so much fast
er than the ordinary farmer, that it will
load up before he gets through tearing
up the roots, the consequence of which
is that the squares will dry up on the
stalk mot shed Off. The cause of the
drying up Of the squares on the stalks,
instead of shedding, as all late, long
limb kinds do, is the same as a tree
deadened during blooming or cut
down with the bloom on the stems.
When the process is slow they shed. So
with the cluster cotton. We deaden it
while under Roadway sruiting. My corn
improvement is one car per stalk, with
largo cob and deep, soft grain, instead
OF two or moro ears per stalk with small
cob and flinty grain. 1 was severely
criticised at first, but read the bulletins
from the experiment stations in Kan
saS, Missouri and Tennessee, the corn
states of the world now, and see the re-
suit. They support each other in Show
ing the largest cared varieties, MAX
ing from one-third to double what the
early flint varieties do with two or more
cars per stalk. The soft grain will feed
much farther.
l have stuck to the bunch pea almost
single handed for number of years, as
l have to the cluster cotton. On rich
land the running pea, or long-limbed
cotton, will make immense vines or
stalks, if the season is the least wet, to
the detriment of the fruit.
have also condemned the theory that
the poorer the land the closer the rows
in cotton. On the contrary, have held
that the richer the land the better ablo
it is to carry extra stalks; in other
words, the thicker the cotton should
stand on the land to gather up the ex-
cess of plant-food and convert it into
lint cotton, in the three to four months
between the cold spring and droughts
and worms of August. Of course, for
this purpose, we must have close, com
pact, rapid-fruiting variety, and plant
early on very fiat ridges. The slow fruit
ing is the cause of excessive stalk
growth.
l have also condemned deep spring
blowing, but advocate fall blowing,
turning under all the trash. 1 have
ridiculed tho idea of plants feeding
through their tap roots or other roots
below where the air can enter the soil,
or taking in food through the pores in
the leaves 1 have exhibited all the
sympathy in my soul for the man that
makes a practice of cutting out crab
grass with a hoe, or cultivating crop
just enough to keep the grass from TAX
ing it. The horse is eight times as
strong as 1 am, and can kill eight
times as much grass, and make eight
times as much crop with his muscle
combined with mine, than can with
my muscle alone.
BY deep breaking in the fall and win
ter, with thorough surface preparation
in the e spring spring, almost every cotton seed
planted will terminate quickly and
grow off fast. BY selecting the pest-ma-
tured hollis from the thriftiest weII-pro-
portioned stalks of an early, fast-growing
t;n,, S , ana the soil in the best condi
IIon possible, we need not tA
than peck of seed per acre. p'n MINOR, more
nifty acres with ten bushels this aea.
and got good stand. With this thin
stand 1t is not necessary to thin out
until the cotton is from six to eight
inches high. We harrow off, if possible,
just before it comes up. AS soon as it is
well up 90 around it with double
shovel. In another week go around
with the same stock, having shovel
on front foot and twelve-inch solid
sweep on rear foot. If this does
not rat all ho