The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1890-07-31
FARM NOTES.
THE SUBJECT OF THE COUNTY POOR
FARM STILL FURTHER DIS
CUSSED.
why Farmers Should BE Peculiarly Inter-
ested In Good County Roads.

[This column is edited by Mr.. John G.
Edgar of Duval, to whom all communica-
tons should be addressed.l
Those who take any interest in this
column would notice that it was alb
sent from The STATESMAN last week.
That was owing to my notes getting
lost in the mails. ] regret the acct
dent as an esteemed correspondent
had sent an able and interesting ar
ticle on the moon and its relation to
agriculture.
/ have, however, requested the gen
tleman to write again on the same
subject and hope to publish his views
shortly.
COUNTY POOR FARM.
TO the Farm Notes Editor Statesman.
A week or two ago you expressed
your opinion that the poor farm was
an uncalled for and improbable in
stitution and suggested that it should
be partially if not wholly abolished.
Your remarks will find sympathy with
every farmer who Fnows anything
about how the farm is run. l cannot
say whether profit or loss comes
from the operation of the farm, as l
have not investigated the matter, but
have more than suspicion that it
is not the former, and that belief is
the product of thirty years personal
experiencein farming in Travis county.
/ admit that have not been over
the farm, but / have seen it from both
road and rail, and if the crops
and cultivation seen from these
points are fairly represent
ative of the balance of the
farm, then l could have no hesitation
in affirming that fair balance sheet
will show a big def cheney when the
crop is harvested and sold.
This is meant to apply to the corn
crop, which is one of the poorest, if
not the worst, between Austin and
Round Rock. This is not the fault Of
the land or of the season, as the poor
farm soil is as good as any in the
county, and it may not be the fault of
the superintendent. He cannot operate
large farm without labor and l have
heard it said that the commissioners
court will not allow him hands enough
to give the farm the necessary cultiva-
ton. Be that as It may, the fact re-
mains, that improbable crops are
being raised at the expense of the tax
payers, and sold in competition with
the farmer. This is o subject of direct
interest to every citizen of the county
and should have the immediate atten-
ton of the commissioners.
If we are to have poor farm let it
be run in the most efficient, econom-
ical and profitable manner. AM not
quite satisfied that it would be wise to
abolish the farm, but it is a subject
that will bear talking about and by an
open and fair discussion we may get
at the facts. OLD FARMER.
SUMNER FLOWING.
The Corsicana Observer says: at
will pay any farmer to pillow under
stubble fields in the summer. You
destroy crop of weeds, turn under
the stubble which will rot and fertil-
ize your land. The land will produce
better the following year; it will be
clean and require less labor in cultiva-
ton. All stubble land ought to be
plowed as early as possible after the
crop is harvested. 1t will pay any
farmer to follow up this method year
after year. His lands will be much
easier titled, freer from weeds and
grass and fine increase in yield will
be the result of constant summer
blowing"
l have no hesitation in denouncing
the foregoing as false doctrine when
applied to Texas. The very reverse is
the truth. Instead of summer pillow
ing being benefit to land, it is abso
lutely injurious. To turn the sol
: over and expose it to the parchiug
rays of our summer sun, which will
extract every particle of moisture and
bake it as etiectually as an oven
' would be to act in opposition to the
plain and infallible laws OF nature.
The idea that such blowing will
leave the land clean and put the sol
in fine condition for the following
crop, is equally remote from the
truth.
Flowing at any time will kill croI
of weeds, but if done in the summer
the very first rain will start another
crop that will demand the same treat
ment or they will be as obnoxious a,
the first. AS to the soil being in finer
condition for the succeeding crop
such is not the fact. The
, long interval between the summer
blowing and spring planting allows the
soil time to settle and compact, and be
come clothed with masses Of weeds anC
grass which render the spring cultiva
ton difficult and inefficient, even after
a spring blowing.
That the exposure of the bare sol
| IN tho sun's ravs 10 iniurinns can n.