Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1897-04-09
FARMER AND PLANTER.
FARMING WITH COTTON.
BETTER Methods Are Rapidly supplanting
the Old Ideas.

WAS tnOuBnt tndJ cotpou was cioP
that would not fit into any improving
rotation, and that the only way to
grow it was the old way of planting
year after year and trying to squeeze
little more from the land by the use OF
costly complete fertilizers. With cot
ton at good price this method could
usually be relied upon to give some
profit even at the enormous percentage
the cotton planter paid the merchant
for money and supplies. No other crop
grown in this country could have borne
the great cost of its production under
this system, or rather no system, for as
we have often said 1t was simply gam
bling on the chances, and resulted in
"old fields and quilted wastes all over
the south. With the low prices of cot
ton in recent years came the necessity
of either abandoning the crop or grow
Ing it at a. lower cost. Thoughtful
men who see that cotton Is the natural
money crop of the greater part of the
south, will adopt the same plan that
prudent men adopt in any business
when prices rule low, reduce expenses.
The old argument of the cotton planter
that he could not afford TO grow any
other crop, because cotton paid more
per acre than anything he can grow,
falls to the ground when considered in
the light of the heavy expense of pro-
viding forage and grain from the west
to feed his teams, and paying a big per-
centage on the money to buy them
with. 1t has been found, too, that
cotton fits into farming rotation as
well as any other crop, and that the
annual outlay for high-priced fertiliz-
ers is entirely needless to the man who
adopts the same businesslike methods
that farmers in other sections have
been compelled to adopt. 1t was for
tunate for the south that the climate
and soil that favor the growth of
cotton are also the most favorable
TO the grandest recuperative crop
in this country, the COW pea. Years
ago it was the practice to bewail the
fact that in most of the best cotton
lands of the south red clover can not
be grown with success. But this should
not be deemed misfortune, as the
southern farmer can improve his land
faster with the COW pea than the north
ern farmer can with clover. But the
best way to do this has been a ques-
ton, and though the same crops are
not grown in the south that the north
ern farmer grows, it has been found
that the same method of rotation
with the crops he grows is as
available and profitable in the
south as in. the north. In fact his
climate enables the southern cotton
farmer to grow more crops in { short
rotation than the northern farmer can
The feeding Of stock, where it can be
done, with profit, Is as important to the
farmer in the south as in the north, and
while it is not feasible to abandon the
use of artificial fertilizers, they should
be used in such manner as to increase
the capacity of the farm for feeding
cattle and sheep and making manure
at home. The old plan of gambling ir
fertilizers without a thought of using
them for the permanent improvement
of the land has had its day.
The cotton farmer of the future viii
use them literally, but will use them
judiciously,in their proper place to for
ward the building up of his land il
the production of his sale crop at ;
lower cost. But to keep stock ant
make manure requires that there shall
be plenty of food. And here we hav.
great advantage over the northern
farmer in the crops we can grow in |
limited time. l want to say at thu
outset that as / have before written
the best rest for land is to keep 1t bus,
growing something of value either t,
the farm or farmer. The old prac
tice of resting land between crop
of cotton to grow up in weeds 4
not the best we can do. Ever,
southern farm in the cotton belt cal
have permanent pasture for stock IL
summer by using the Bermuda grass
This will do away with any necessit,
for pasturing the fields devoted to crop
ping, and will save interior fences o.
the cropping land make a regular re
tation Of crops, and short one of no
more than three years. Do not potte
and bother with the piling up of wha
has been called compost, but whateve
you make in the way of manure get
out as soon as possible where som
crop is waiting for it. A year or go ag
! saw one of the farmers of Sout
Carolina cleaning out his stable
and hauling the manure out b.
tween the rows of cotton in Angus
He said that it would leach and vast
In the barnyard, and whether it woul
do the cotton any immediate good G
not he wanted to get it on the Ian
where he was growing crops and let
leach where some plant could get /
Now with the great amount of feed W
can grow from the Indian corn plar
and the COW pea there is no difficult
In keeping stock in the south and fee'
ing them as well as anywhere. No
for the rotation to grow cotton cheapl.
Get all the manure you make out @
the field to be put in corn and sprea
1t broadcast. At first it will max
little show perhaps, but thel
is the place for it. Plant pei
among the corn at the last worl
ing. Follow the corn with winter GA
sown in September or October.
soon as the oats are cut pillow the stu
BILE and apply mixture of equal par
of kainit and acid phosphate and
not be stingy with It, -Four hundrt
to 900 pounds should be used per acr
and will be none too much. Harro
1t in well, and after week SOW Il
land in COW peas broadcast. You wi
get the biggest crop of pea vines W
ever saw on that land. Cut them ar
cure for hay as soon as the first po
: are yellow. If your land is Of clay