The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-05-24

CATTLE AS A MRANS OF PROFIT
ABLY REDUCING COT
TON ACREAGE.


recently published q letter from Mr..
". 7. Bradley presenting his ideas on
O profitable way OF learning to grow
less cotton in favor of cattle raising.
It says I'm part:
SIT is universally conceded that re-
duction Of the acreage is the cure for
all these ills. How to bring about this
reduction ia the question. Any Of the
plans suggested would bring the de,
sired relief, If carried out. My plan ia
this: Let the farmer prepare as much
land for cotton as he may wish, but
when he is ready TO plant let him plant
every other row in cotton, and in June
let him plant the remaining rows in
peas. This, you viii observe, reduces
the acreage n half, but does not re-
duce the yield SO much, as my expert
ence teaches me. I make at least
t~hree-fourths of q crop Of cotton, and
peas without limit. You enrich your
land, so that in q few years you can
make q bale per acr with every al
tsrnate row in peas, have an abund-
ance of feed, and consequently fatten
stock and your bacon at home. Be-
sides, you save one half fertilizer, one
half hoeing and one third blowing. We
have in cultivation this year "a, 600, 600
acres. We will make lin round mum
bers) 10, OOO, 600 bales. This cotton is
worth at the present price $3.50. 600, 600.
Now, 60 follow the pea suggestion. VS.
would have IL, 600, 900 in cultivation,
which would yield 100000 bales,
$500, OO0, 900 at eight cents per pound,
O. gain Of $50, GOO, O0G, TO say nothing
about the cost Of production, which, as
have shown, would be about one half.
If it is not desirable to plant 30 many
peas, you can plant pinders, sweet or
Irish potatoes, with equal success. /
bought ten Gre Of very poor land and
farmed it as above suggested, and to
day I am offered $4OO for the ten acres.
lam making q bale Of cotton per acre,
and corn, ETC., in proportion"
In commanding Mr. Bradley's views
Nj. Edwin Lehman johnson offers In
the Southern Farm Magazine this
amendment:
buy one head Of cattle per acre,
plant half an acre less In peas and
make q cattleysrd Of it; exchangeyour
cottonseed for hulls and meal; feed
these, together with your common or
the ground pea hay, to the cattle;
cover this half acre lot with litter, pine
straw or anything convenient six inches
deep, and make one of the best ma
nures you can put under cotton or
corn at the rate Of one ton per headper
month, worth 50 per ton by actual
chemical analysis. Put this manure
on the land broadcast or drilled. In
five years you will not need to raise
any more peas, but can raise potatoes
or cabbage between the cotton rows,
and at the same time make two bales
Of cotton to the acre. I have seen this
done, and know it isnot mere theory.
1.-THE cattle yard must be carefully
chosen, so that the rains do not wash
away q part of the manure, and the
ground should be plowed deeply with
q two horse plow before the cattle are
put In it. At the end of every 80 days
or when it becomes packed, it should
be plowed again and more litter put on
Fifty head may be fattened at one
time, If desired, in such an enclosure.
and the loss in manure will hardly be
~appreciable. OF course when the ma
nure is needed the ground is again
ploWed, when it will be found to be
saturated with the richest ammonia
that the farmer can get and mixed
thoroughly with the dung. Shovel the
whole into q two horse wagon and dis
tribute down the field, four rows at q
time, two behind the wagon and one
on each side.
SIT is better to feed cattle under
cover and let the manure accumulate
under their feet, using plenty of bed,
ding, and occasionally when needed,
raising the feeding troughs. There is
no more scientific method of fattening
cattle than that, but the half-acre lot is
simpler, cheaper and more likely to be
adopted by the average farmer.
81 have recently completed a rigid
investigation into the value of manure
from cottonseed bulls, and meal and
find that instead of there being only &c
per cent. of the value of the feed left
In the manure it is over go per cent
when the proportion of meal to hulIs il
1 to 4.
snow there is hardly any soil in the
cotton growing States that is fertilizeC
nc all that will not be benefited me