St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-02-15

SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL

SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL
JEFF wELeoRN's WAY.
Valuable Hlnts Fron . Practical 1e1A9
Farmer o. Cotton, Cora and Pea CUlt-
ure.
wish to relieve the minds Of those
Who are skeptical about our hands hoe
ing i've to six acres Of cotton to stand,
per day, each. This year wo had 130
acres in cotton which We have cultivated
with our own hands and hired labor.
When 1t was time to hoe IL ont the Arst
time, We put in, three Mitchell cotton
sorspes, following one myself Directly
behind them my brother went in with
two negro boys. ono 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
twelve-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 40 acres with scrapes and hoes in
less than eight days. Tho sweeps had
TO be helped out by other sweeps, their
work being slower. The three hoe hands
did not only keep up. but did 1t without
the loss of much sweat My brother had
to look after the hands. and would often
be out An hour or more; 90 We lost moro
or less time each day. At no time dur
ing the hoeing out WAS . single hand
hurried up; on the contrary. 1t required
IN effort to keep down their propensity
70 race. My brother is an expert with
the hoe, and claims to be with the plow.
The land We had in cotton this year WAS
partly in cotton. corn and oats last year.
Naturally this red, sandy soil Is the
foulest Of all Glasses Of soil. What We
have accomplished this year, in rainy
seasons, We can and will do in other
seasons. Nothing 10 guess-work when
We have Nature for our teacher and do
our work on scientific principles.
For more than twenty years have
conferred every thought ON corn, cotton
and COW peas, and not on general farm
ing. 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 earlinesa To
DO this must have . cluster variety, 50
much abused because it is 50 much fast
er than the ordinary farmer. that It will
load up before he gets through tearing
mp the roots. the consequence OF which
Is that the squares will dry up ON tho
stalk mot shed on. Tho cause Of the
drying up Of the squares on the stalks,
instead Of shedding, as all late, long
limb kinds do. is the same Is . tree
deadened during bloominS or cut
down with the bloom ON the stems.
When the process is slow they she'd So
With the cluster cotton. We deaden it
while under hesdway fruiting. Ny corn
Improvement Is one ear per Stalk, With
large cob and deep. soft grain. instead
of two or more ears per stalk with small
c0b and hinty grain. I was severely
criticised 1t first but Rad tho bulletins
from the experiment stations in Kan
sas, Missouri and Tennessee, the corn
states Of tho world now, and see the 70
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 moro
ears per stalk The soft grain win feed
much farther.
! have stuck to the bunch pea almost
single handed for number Of years, -
have to the cluster cotton. On rich
land the running pea. or long-limbed
cotton. will make immense vines or
stalks, II the season il the least wet TO
tho detTiment Of tho fruit ~ Ia
I. 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 able
IL 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 nat ridges. The slow fruit
ing 10 the cause of excessive stalk
growth. -.- e..
b have also condemned deep spring
plowing, but advocate fall plowing,
turning under all tho 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 poses in
the leaves have exhibited all the
sympathy in my soul for the man that
makes practice Of cutting out crab
grass with hoe, or cultivating . crop
just enough to keep the grass f:sm TAX
ing it The horse is eight times as
strong as am, and I can kill eight
times - much grass. and mako eight
times IS much cror with his muscle
combined with mine, than / can with
ny muscle alone. '.
BY deep breaking in the fall and win
ter, with thorough surface preparation
in the spring, almost every cotton seed
planted will germinate quickly and |
grow on fast BY selecting the best-ma-
tured bolls from the thriftiest well-pro-
portioned stalks Of an early, fast-growing
variety, and the soil in the best condi.
ton possible, We need not plant moro
than . peck Of seed per acre. planted
nifty acres with ten bushels this year,
and got . good stand. With this thin