The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1890-03-04
RESTORING QUILTED HILL.
SIDES.

NO observing man can pass through
any OF the Southern States without
being impressed by the ommon sight
of hillsides ribbed by washes and guI.
lies from n to ten feet deep. In the
majority of cases, there seems to have
been nc effort to restore them to their
original fertility. Some have been
abandoned, many planted from year
to year with no reasonable prospect of
gathering a paying crop. Enterpris.
ing young men, who have expended a
years work upon them, become dis.
couraged and fly to the towns and vii.
lagos to seek employment which will
pay better. This sort of conduct is a
constant menace to Southern agricul.
ture. So many have witnessed the
failure of hillside bitches to cure the
evil, that it is generally thought i'm.
practicable to restore such hillsides,
except it be at such an enormous ex
pense as to forbid the hope of success
on the part of a poor young man.
Hillside ditching, unless done scien.
tiically and with great skill, generally
aggravates instead of curing the evil.
The remedy is to combine ~terracing
with hillside ditching. At first blush
it will be thought that the method
proposed will only double the expense,
and therefore will be con adhered Wis.
ionary by nearly all persons who have
SO arranged their land as to have the
hillsides ribbed by gullies.
I propose to suggest a plan by
which any industrious man, who owns
a horse or mule. may thus restore his
hillsides and make them once more
productive.
AS soon as the crop is housed and
sold begin with a turn plow to fill
up the washed places and gullies in
the following way: Commence on one
side of the gully and run the pillow as
near as the horse can walk to the bot
tom, throwing the dirt into the gully;
return on the other side, again throw.
ing the dirt into the gully. If the
gully is deep pine brush should be
thrown in, top up, to catch dirt that is
turned in by pillow. Continue plow-
ing round and round until you reach
the highest ground 6etween the guIlies.
Then return to beginning, as neal as
you can get to the bottom of the gully
you are striving to fill, and run round
and round, as before, until you reach
the highest ground. This operation
is to be repeated until the gully has
been brought to a level with the sur
rounding ground. When the gully is
not very deep you will be surprised
that the work could be so soon and so
easily done. A few days ago, the
writer had a bad looking wash filed
by one time blowing around it with a
two-horse reversible hillside pillow.
After the gullies have thus been filed,
then with a hillside pillow (which is re.
versible) run around the hill, on a line
laid off by ordinary level with a gentle
grade, so as to carry off water which
may accumulate on land above. With
this as a guide run back and forth
throwing dirt down hill with every
furrow up to a point where there
ought to be another guide furrow as
in first instance.
When this work has been thorough.
ly done the hillside land viii be in ex.
cellent preparation for planting, pro-
vided the clods have been broken by
harrow or brush.
Plant crop in rows nearly level, and
if planted in corn SOW peas at the
Laying by" plOughing, and leave all
vines on the ground to be turned
under for the next crop. Now the
land is in good condition to begin ter.
racing. 1t is not advisable to under
take to complete the terrace in n
year. This would require too much
time and labor; but begin again, as
soon as the crop has been gathered
and disposed of, with hillside plow at
the lowest point in hillside ditch be-
low each terrace, and run first a guide
row on an exact level. Then with
plow turn dirt all on lower side of hill
until the terrace above is reached.
Treat every terrace in the same wsv,
every year, and in the course of a few
years your land will be terraced, and
If a crop OF stubble and pea vines have
been plowed in every year, together
with the addition of all the n
you will be able to collect and manu-.
facture by constant work during the
year, it will be very productive.
P. S.-The hillside plow called the
Farmers Friend all iron is manu-
featured by Charles E. Hunter, Fred.
ericksburg, Va.
No. l is a one-horse reversible pillow.
No. 2 is a tYo-horse " :,
No. 8 is a twO-hOrse (heayy)reverE
ible pillow.
The writer has a No. 2, which a
medium pair of mules pull with ease<
throuoh heavy Bermuda sod turnin%