Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1891-01-31

Fall Flowing For Spring Crops---Value
of Farm Experiments,
Cor. Country Gentlemen.

fall blowing for the coming spring
crops, as a preparation therefor, with
out blowing again in the spring be-
fore seeding. 1 have thought that
experiments in such cases would en-
able the farmer to know for a certain
ty which course was best to produce
the best crops. Why farmers situated
on adjoining farms should vary so
much in their methods of putting in,
or in the after tillage of their crops,
has long been a study of the writer,
especially when those farmers are
good ones, and successful in their
calling.
In regard to fall blowing to fit the
ground for a spring crop of sown
grain, the first instance that came
to my notice was in the spring OF
1886, the second year of my COM
mencing to farm for myself. A
neighbor had taken the farm adjoin>
ing and had plowed considerable of
his ground intended for sowing oats
the spring following. Whether he
intended at the time of blowing to
SOW on the fall-plowed land without
replowing in the spring is not certain;
but from some cause, probably the
lack Of team power, the greatest por-
ton of his spring grain was sown on
the fall-plowed land and worked in
with harrow, possibly with the help
of a field cultivator, although they
were not as plenty or as efficient in
those days as they are now. The
method was new in this vicinity at
that time, and the growth of the
crop was watched, by the writer es.
pecialIy, for if such a course was as
good for the crop as spring blowing
much labor could be done in the fall
to Tighten and hasten the spring seed
ing. The harvest was only about so
bushels of oats to the acre, while my
own crop on spring-plowed ground
was nearly so bushels, thus showing
to me that | could not afford to pillow
in the fall land that was to be seeded
to oats the following spring. The
farmer alluded to did not repeat the
experiment while living in this vi
cinity, without again blowing in the
spring following, and the two pDow-
ings were not warranted by the forth
coming crop.
In the spring Of 1860 two young
farmers, brothers, sowed their oats
on fall-plowed land, using a two
horse cultivator in fitting the ground
and putting in the seed; this was also
on another farm adjoining mine, but
the crop was not satisfactory, while ]
that year had an extraordinary good
crop on land plowed in the spring
before seeding, as that year was noted
for its abundant crops of all kinds
In this vicinity oats are the main
spring .sOwn crop, as there is but little
wheat or barley sown here in the
spring, compared to the breadth o.
oats soon.
l have tried sowing on fall pillow.
ings, but never with success; have
uniformly raised larger crops OF
spring-plowed land whenever the
experiment was tried on my farm
except the past season, when small
piece of fall-plowed land produced
the best crop, but that was failure
as was the entire crop sown on thu
farm the past year. have never
known in youth or manhood so poo
general crop of oats as that grown
in this vicinity the past year. l an
we'll aware that in some Localities
fall-plOwipg for spring seeding is TIT
most profitable, especially wher,
large areas are sown, as in some o
the Western States, but my observa
ton and experiments have fully con
WINGED me that in this vicinity land
plowed in the spring, for sowing oat
especially, will produce the best crop
of that grain, and as a general rul,
the earlier they are sown the heavie
and plumper the grain will be; Will
as a rule the straw will be less thai
in later-sown fields.
There are so many contingencies a
the present time that initiate agains
the growing Of any crop to its bes
estate, that it requires all the intelli
gence and brain power of our bes
farmers to overcome as many of thes
obstacles as possible, and by so doin
get well paid for the care and labo
to produce it. AS an illustration,
few years since l was experimenting
with number of varieties of oats
such as seedsmen claimed wOul