The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-10
FARM WORK FOR JUNE.
SHOULD BE DONE ON TIE FARM ~
DURING THIS MONTH.

Showing that in the CuItiyation or
face IS Necessary for Retaining.
the Moisture in the Ground.
Southern Cultivator. b
The farm ers who has been favored with rea-
sonable conditions Of seasons, and has man
aged with ordinary Judgment and skill, now
has his crops we'll on the road to maturity.
The first Of June Is a sort OF halfway sta
tion In the progress OF growth and cultiya-
little time for .'stopping overn and resting.
May has probably been chiefly. devoted to
cl6aning the crops Of grass and preserving
the stand Of cotton. Both corn and cotton
should be kept In this condition, until the
plants are too large and the season too far ad.
vanced to continue plowing any longer.
To accomplish this The plows must be relied
on. Hoe work does not pay except to perform
the necessary thinning out and removing
weeds not accessible to the plow or culttvae.
tor. Use wide cultivator; set It to run
shallow-not over on inch-and keep 1t going.
AS we said last month, don't be content to 60,
over the crop "every three weeks"; make .s
two weeks, If you will have set rule az 70.
time: But ten days would be still better, IN
our Judgment. We have sometimes found;
ourselves regrettipg the fall Of even needed
rain. on fresh PloWed crop; SO important II;
rain. The reason Of this Is found In two
facts: First, the crop grows and thrives bet
ter when the surface soil iS mellow and brok-,
iongerit does not not eSaporate I So rapidly rap 9f the
surface be stirred. or course, when q good
season-one inch-occurs as often as once q:
week. 1t is not so important TO plow imme-
diately after season. it is still desirable,i
however. But we should always, as far a.
possible, guard against tthe:consequences OF a.
three or four weeks drouth.
| After week or ten days Of dry weather.,
during which the crops have all been plowed
over, followed by generous rainfall, full
season, then Is the time to start every plow
available Don't 60 twice in three foot or
even four foot row, with email or medium
sized sweep, or scrape; but ;,se wide e1-1
panding cultivator, or q twenty-five inch
sweep or scrape. and make but one trip In 3:
row. The idea is to stir the surface soil Of a..
large all area as possible in given time, be-
fore the crust commences to harden and dry
on the surface. or two similar fields OF cot-i
three days after good season, ana the other
not until week or ten days, the first would
stand from one TO two weeks longer without
rain than the second. e
mulching of leaves, or other similar mate.
rial. Such covering prevents too rapid
loose soil The leaves protect the roots To
some extent from the too Scorchtng heat>ofe
the sun so does the loose covering OF soil.
Every consideration Is In favor OF frequent
and prompt stirring of the soil and It is only
the plowngs may proftably be made.
Forward fields OF corn may be ready to-
clay by" In some sections, towards the elose
of the month. II is hardly necessary 70 dis
every foot OF corn land in peas. Farmers
generally believe in this plan, but do not
practice 1t as extensively as they should. a
standing corn costs only the seed and the
labor Of sowing, while the yield Of peas alone
will ordinarily pay the expense ten timex.
70 say nonng o.
to remain on the surface, or ploWing them
under.
But the main sowing Of peas for a crop Of.
sds e now soon Se ready cad for the plow. On so
| light soils, the seed may be sown at the rate
Of three pecks or bushel per acre and cover
ed in with q cut-a-way harrow. On harder
it viii be be peas
peas every step and then narrowing the sur.
face. This for hay; For peas, the better
plowings. We don't believe In turning un-s
der, or permitting to rot on the ground, q
good crop OF peavines, II there be suitable
weather for curing, and there is room 10 me
farm. A crop Of peavines is fine for the Land,
but much better for the barn.in the form OF
hay, and thence in the form OF manure, Just
hungry COWS and western-hay.fed horses and
mules in the South to think OF turning under
for manure q material so nearly ready for the
animals stomachs as luxurlant crop o. pea
vines. The principal aim in farming proper,
is to produce animals and the food necessary
TO sustain them and ourselves:
Shall we grow the food and then place 1t
back. in the soil and grow 1t over again, so to-
but who thinks OF using good, sweet, wheat
bran as q fertilizer? A farmer may as rear
sonably buy clover hay as wheat bran when
at It's cheapest, to use as direct fertilizer, az
to plow under q crop of pea vines that need
only to be cut and cured, and hauled TO the
barn, and next spring, buy hay when it1s
what some farmers do, and helps to explain
their want Of prosperity and success. But We
will recur to this eubject later In the season.
June is the month in which to commence
Father than slips from the plant-bed,, It being
generally admitted that the vines make
Smoother and better keeping, tubers. why
en-. but we suspect 1t Is due to the fact that
the slips from an old bed this late In the sea-
son are apt to be hard and woody, and do not
grow off so vigorously. we urge the planning
It Is not yet too late to make successive
sowings Of the usual forage crops11,eat tail.
German millet and sorghums. we have
most heathful food for hogs. Commence cut.
ting as soon as the sugar manifests itself, ana
continue until all is gone, giving seed and
all. 1t Is good idea to construct small rail-
may be thrown to the hogs, thus saving
large quantity OF good manure. The practice
of throwing cane, corn stalks, or other mate
rial that leaves large quantity ra OF re1uss
wasteful.
Hogs fed on vegetable food-grass fruit, col.
lards, refuse matter from the Kitchen, garden,
etc,-are not likely to have cholera or any
other fatal disease. The NANCY. wheeling
and consumptive looking animals that lie
around in the dust, waiting for the morning
occasional trip to the mud-hole for drink OF
puddle water and q mud. bath, give explana-
tion TO the failure In large number OF cases,
tered and wel.cared for swine do sometimes
take cholera or other infectious disease, but
it is the eXception-not the rule. There is no
sufficient reason for our failure to produce all
the bacon and lard we require. We can make
| II just as cheaply as the farmers OF the West
During our experience OF twenty years as
practical farmer, we never felt that we couio
honestly charge up failure in this line TO
provdential cause, excepting In one or Two
years of the time when cholesa Invaded our
little herd. After we commenced to feed col.
lards, green corn. sorghum and grass, ana
keep the hogs In an excellent pasture AFFORD
Ing plenty Of clean water, instead OF In the
dry, dusty lanes, we never had fatal attack
any hs would add to IFS list
questions to candidate "Dld you raise
your own bacon 2" and If nay, then "Wil
solemny promise that you %i DO 50 i6 n
| the pledge, or the alternative to eat nobacon.
| We venture that If the merchants and pack
mers on the pledge Of cotton TO be planted,
would instead require a positive guaranty
that the farmer shall raise and fatten 20
many head Of one year old porkers, the cred.
as hog products are concerned. The great
| trouble is that cotton Is universally accepted
as cash, and Is the one thing most desired by
transportation companies, etc., all Of whom
thrive and fatten and grow rich on this pro-
duct while the farmer who produces 1t re.