The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1893-10-25
Auaersut. guttlligeufer,
Modified Intensive Farming.

The time has come when it is abso
lutely necessary to the welfare Of the
Southern farmer, that the intensive
plan Of farming shall take the place Of
extensive farming, as practiced
throughout the South to-day.
There is nothing to commend about
our system Of farming as practiced by
most Southern farmers. 1T is a waste
full and ruinous system, and it is time
we were trying to improve upon it,
The worst feature of it is that it does
not improve our lands but, on the
other hand it is gradually wearing
them out. The same field is planted
in cotton year after year without any
manure, except probably Is or 100
pounds of phosphate per acre. It is
planted in cotton until it becomes too
poor to produce a paying crop, when
field Of about equal size is cleared
from the timber to take it's place,
without even trying to bring the ex-
hausted land back to its once fertile
state. It is this system Of extensive
farming that has ruined the lands of
the South, and turned them into a
vast tract Of wornout cow pasturesl
Intensive farming, with the aid Of
stable and green and chemical ma
nures, will bring these lands back to
fertility.
By intensive farming, is meant the
concentrating of all your energy and
capital upon smaller area Of land,
and by thorough cultivating and high
manuring, produce as much as you
otherwise would upon large farm.
By this system you can grow two
crops upon the same land in one year,
as easy as you can grow one upon poor
land.
To follow out this plan Of intensive
farming, you must keep stock enough
to consume the produce Of the farm,
instead of every spare bushel Of corn
and every load Of hay being hauled to
the nearest market and sold as is now
done. Remember that when you are
doing this, you are selling the fertili-
ty Of your land. If you find you have
more feed than your stock can con-
sumo, buy few more head of stock
and let them lave the feed, and you
can get your profit from the stock. If
you can't, then you are not shrewd
farmer.
Intensive farming does not neces-
.sarily mean that you must sell all
your land except very small area /;
but it means, as I said before, high
manuring and high cultivation on
whatever scale you may practice it.
OF courae this will require curtail-
ment of the number of acres in hoed
crops, commensurate with your abili-
ty to give high cultivation and high
imanuring. This system will necessi-
tate in the South, where we haveno
large markets near at hand, s, mixed
system of stock raising, cotton and
grain crops.
To illustrate more clearly our idea,
let us suppose that farmer who now
plants 100 acres in corn and cotton,
hires six hands and uses four horses
in the cultivation of the same, should
decide to adopt the other system. In
the first place, he can dispense with
three Of these hands and two of his
work horses, by using improved tools
for the preparation of his land and the
cultivation of his crops, thus saving
one-half of his capital thus employed
for the purchase of additional ma
snures. One,half Of this one hundred
acres, instead of being planted in
corn and cotton, should be sown in
wheat, oats, rye, peas, clover and
grasses, and planted in turnips, man
/ gold beets, sorghum and potatoes:
| This fifty acres should be regarded
and treated as the means of keeping
up the fertility of the farm. Upon
it should be kept as many head of
stock as it will properly support.
Oats, rye, peas, clover and grass hay,
should be put away to winter them,
as also turnips, mangold beets, sweet
potatoes and sorghum to supplement
the grain crops and add succulence to
the usual dry winter feed, keeping
your stock in better condition, pro-
noting a more rapid and healthful
growth and at less cost. AS this half
of the farm is to be run for the pur-
pose of making manure, as well as in
cidentally for the profit that will arise
from stock raising, both objects will be
subserved by providing warm shelter
for all Of your stock in the winter
season. These may be made comfort
able and convenient without being
expensive. In fact, the material for
building them may befound on almost
every farm, and the work may be done
by the farmer himself. The stock
should be well Uttered and the manure
carefully saved and applied to the cul-
tivated part of the farm.
The remainder of the farm may be
planted in cotton and corn; and I
would suggest thirty acres Of it in
corn and twenty acres in cotton. By
fine preparation of the land and thor
ough cultivation-say once every week
which can be done easily with the
proper cultivating implements, and
hign manuring, these fifty acres can
be made to produce IS much corn and
cotton, with one-half the expense for
labor, as would be produced by
the present system from one hundred
acres.
TO successfully carry out this sys-
tenn will require careful planning and
intelligent supervision of every detail,
and, above all other things, persever-
ence and faith in your business, with
fixed determination to make your
farm success. Of course your land
should not be run too long in cultiva-
ted crops, but system Of rotation in
the above crops should be carried out.
Let peas follow every crop of grain,
and be sown among your corn at last
plowing for the improvement of the
land. The silo may be madc a profit
able help in this system, by enabling
you to keep larger number Of stock
and in better condition, than would be
possible without it.