Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1899-11-02
. EXPERIMENTS AT BELToN.
Department Of Agriculture Testing South
Carolina Sci! :sT Forage Crops. s.

| urging Gic lhfUierb Ok' CltS seCItoh w
grow grassos and forage plants. He
called attention to tho fact that the
farmer was running hIs land with
what is known rs "cropping." 1t
was apparent then that the secretary
was deeply interested in the develop,
ment of tho South, especially as to
farming interests, and this interest
was recently demonstrated in q prac-
tical why, at Bolton, S. O., just 10
miles away. .-.. e.
Only last month DR.. Lamscn
Scribner, agrostologist of the agri-
cultural department., was sent to
Bolton to. make extensive expert
ments in the growing of various
kinds of grasses and forage plants. The
agrostologist has entire charge of
this department.
The sending of DR.. Scribner shows
very clearly that Secretary Wilson's
promise last summer to institute ex-
periments here was not an idle one,
but given in good faith.
AS it was thought the farmers of
Anderson county arc vitality affected
and earnestly concerned in the di-
vcrsification of crops, representa-
tive of the Advocate was sent to
Bolton where he spent several hours
with DIR. Scribner. :
"My idca," said DR.. Scribncr, els
not to plant the grasses and plants
in such small quantities and OH such
small tracts of land that the result
will be of no real practical value.
The secretary is anxious to know
what grasses will grow here under
ordinary conditions, not what ones
will grow with extraordinary care and
coddling-what grasses will flourish
on tract of your land that is an
average in richness. With this in
view came here at the invitation
of your Congressman, Mr.. Latimer,
who has Indy given the depart
ment several sections of land on
which to oarry on experiments. AS
rnle we have to pay for the use of
land for this purpose, but Mr.. Lati-
mer has refused to accept rcmunera-
ton in this case, and we certainly
appreciate his libcrality."
DR.. Scribner also stated that the
experimental station at Bolton was
the first of it's kind the department
had located.
lie then enumerated the different
sections of land he had already planted
in grasses and forage plants, as fol-
lows:
Pasture land of about fifteen acres,
with original forest underground cut
away.
Eight acres Of forest pine, to de-
monstratc if pine needles would in
tcrfere with the growth of the grass.
TweHty or twenty-five acae es of old
pine field and six or eight acres of
swampy land.
Along the public road the doctor
planted seven acres in crimson clover,
timOthv and alfalfa
While the reporter was there three
plats of single varieties were sown,
viz: Alfalfa, ten kinds Of clover
(white, red, yellow, etc.,) and ten
varieties of grasses. Each variety
was planted separately and marked
so as to avoid confusion in the
future.
For several years at Knoxville,
Tenn, experiments were carried on
with tho grasses and forage plants
used at Bolton, but only in the plats
and not in the open field as is being
done in the latter place. The Knox
vile experiments we're successful as
far az they went, but they can hardly
be said to be fair tests of what
grasses and plants will grow in the
open field under ordinary conditions.
Anderson Advocate.