The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1899-03-08

nature laws. Nlture is one power
that can wisely adjust if left to her
self. III small! grain and lice the
natural will be followed and the gain
will adapt itself and not starve and
send out more heads than the situa-
ton of the land at the time will ma
ture. But in putting large quaint.
ties of fertilizers under wheat early
10 the fall will fool" the poor plant
and it will send out more heads than
the land will mature when the force
of the guano has been expended IN
less the land hes a backing behind it
to carry on and mature. But if this
same fertilizer be placed later on in
the winter or spring the multiplying
of heads will not be 80 strong till
the warm nights are on and there is
then usually left enough to 60 on
until maturity. In such case if an
additional amount is applied as a
spring manuring the fruiting will be
assisted in proportion to the help
given to the land to do it's part. A
few years ago I made a splendid fail
ure on two and q half acres of rice,
and that sat me to thinking about
the causes. I had a beautiful pros
sect and expected a large yield, but
. negro had one quarter of an acre
near without manure that beat my
rice very badly. In my field were at
least two heads or more to his one in
bis and very much larger also than
bis, but the negro's rice heads, though
small, filed out we'll and matured
their grain and the heads in my
patch failed to fill and mature. 1
gathered a very fine harvest of straw
but the heads we're very sparsely
filled ard I noticed on the poorer
spots where the stand of rice was
very bad that the heads filed much
better. If left alone nature will
adopt a wise course and he is pru-
dent man who tries to meet squarely
the demands which she lays down
and from which she will not depart,
not once. Old field sedge land is a
good place for high land,rice. There
the decayipg vegetation keeps the
plant on when it is urged to bring
forth its fruit. Any land with vege-
table mould in it is best for almost
any crop as it furnishes food for the
roots and keeps the land open and
porous which greatly assists in dry
weather. But any good, moderately
fair upland will make a lice crop and
will produce all the way from Is to
so bushels per acre. Such land will
usually about double the yield OF
corr on the same grade of land.
Land too low and wet for anything
else will make rice and when once up
we'll, will make we'll on land nearly
all the time under water. We some.
times SOW mill ponds when at a high
head by padding a boat back and
forth aross the pond sowing broad
cast like wheat or oats and in three
or four days draw off the head of
water and leave the rice severely alone
till ready to cut and stack it. When
the sower misses portions in the SOW
ing from the boat a person can stand
in the thick places and pull it out
''severely" and throw it Ito vacant
places fifteen or twenty feet around
him, and if the ground is wet the
rice will take root and grow. 1t will
fall down very generally when thrown
but will soon take root and raise its
head and meet the opposition with
such a determination as to take hold
and grow and mature. I have three
times r~eplanted skipped places in
mill ponds in this way and do know
that what I say is true. Rice will
live easily in low places, where
sometimes a good stand is hard to
get, by taking from The healthy
punches and with a hoe or stick set
firmly in the land where the missing
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