The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1899-09-14
THE OUMPURE OF RICE.
A Spartanburg Farmer Has Shown
tho Way for a Profitable Crop In
tho Up Country.

tho Way for Profitable Crop In
tho Up Country.
Piedmont Headlight. r.
"a Col. II. j. Moore is one Of the pioneer
planters Of the South. With q magni-
iicont plantation OF about 300 acres,
with over 400 acres Of the finest bot |
tom land on Tiger river; with big
brain aud ample capital, he docs not
make farming tread mill. Crops
which were once profitable no longer
are remunerative, and tho farmor who
succceds best must be he who first
discovers new crop and gets the
cream out Of it before others rush In
and glut the market with 1t.
Some experiments of course will not
succeed. Growing tobacco in this sec
tion Col. Moore proved to be imprnctt
cable. The demand is for o light yel-
low leaf. The sandy soils Of the low
country produce this almost as perfect
as the finest lands Of Cubn. But our
clay soils and sandy soils with clay be-
meath, will not mako tho yellow leaf.
The iron in the soil Of tho +" old Iron
District" makes the leaf dark. 1t pro-
duces plenty of weed, but the product
is not marketable at good prices.
Many of tho Virginia farmers, for tho
samo reason, have been forced to aban-
ton and Florence farmers OF this State
have taken their places and are max
ing fortunes out Of tobacco. Col. Moore
turned from tobacco to hay, and this he
has proved to be profitable. But he is
now eXperimenting on another crop
which far surpasses the h"y-lt Is rice.
Recently he invited the oditor OF the
/ Headlight down to see his rice field,
and the invitation WAS gladly accepted.
He met US at tho station in his car
| riage, drawn by two high-steppers,
and before going to tho rico fields,
drove US TO tho race track where Mr..
| White vas training his fine stallion
Kilbourne. Col. Moore believes In fine
stock and Kilbourne Is ono Of the tinest
brcd horses in America. He is % mag
nifcent chestnut sorrel, fifteen and q
| half hands high, weighs 100 pounds
and hae not O. blemish on him. He Is
registered in the American TrOtting
Register. His lineage traces back to
Old Hambletonian, TO Mam0rino Chief
and to Vermont Morgan, and he Is
closely related to Maud S, and other
leading horses Of the world. Mr.,
White, who is one Of the most export.
enced trainers Ia America, believes
that he has great future before him
on the track. He was only practicing
|
miles to see tho practice"
After leaving the race course we
drove down into the meadow. Col
Moore owns about 100 acres of bottom
land on Tiger, and o larger portion ol
this land Is covered with native grasses
and Bermuda. It has recently boon
cut, aud is lis level rs 60 floor covered
with velvet carpet. On the hillsides
wore rows OF nay racks-about 100
containing ton and a half to two tons
each. There will bo another cutting
which will raise tho yielded to about
25O tons. Col. Moore says he finds
ready sale for 1t at $l2 to $l5 ton,
and thero is very little ID Dor, and that
is done almost entirely by machinery.
Threo to four Thousand dollars for
grass alone, and that in a dry year,
seems good enough. But Col. Moore
thinks that IN. tho rice he has a crop
that will surpass eVcn his hay, almost
bevond measure. He has twenty-five
acres in rico this year, twelve OF which
Is irrigated and under water; and
thirteen Is upland rico, though planted
on dry bottoms.
Col. Moore says that he has not ha(
enough rain since corn was planted u
wet the ground an inch deep Under
such conditions oil land crops have
suffered severely, and the upland rice
has suffered along with oil other crops
But when we came to the swamp rice
it was thing of beauty. The lant
had formerly been thoroughly ditchc(
for draining. Those bitches wer
.stopped up near tho rivor and the waite
of q branch turned into them. The wnte
spread out over Tho twelve acres an,
,, turned it into u swamp. Here the rio
had been planted and the water GOV
cred it. No grass could grow undo
' this water, but rico can, ana 1t di'
grow, gathering strength and nourish
. ment from soil and water, while a.
9 around on the. hills was parched an,
. dry. The rice Is dcop green, thicke
. than the heaviest oats, and is nov
v about six iect high. No cultivatio
has been necessary. The shoot G
water acted as hoe and plow, KILN
the grass and keeping the ground sof
Did you ever count the grains in
head of wheat? Col. Moore asked tw
D. of his neighbors to guess at the nun
,s ber of grains In ~ head OF his ric
and wagered that tney could not CON
in fifty Of 1t. One guessed 1.-TWO
!, thinking thero could not be over tift.
"a "a another guessed fifty" and anoth
10 guessed "one hundred" by actu
-, ~ count there were over throc hundred
ri | ana tner0 are from tCn 10 IWCHby bthll
~ from each stool" How does tn
ID compare with wheat Col. Moore b
~ lioves that he will make 200 bushels
"a the acre on his land, and it looks 30.
~ asked II 1t was not In danger of 10
u from late overflow. No." Col. Moo
i, replied, "water cannot hurt it exec
10 for very short timo-whilo 1t is ripe
n ing, and even then 1t is less liable
a. q damage thsn corn. Nature has pr
~ vided against that. Wheat and GA
No begin to ripen first in the stalk al
n last In the head. But rico ripcns fir
~, = :. in the head, leaving tho stalk groe
u flexible and strong to resist tno now
-, the water In freshet. And hare is q
49, ~ other advantage of rico; while O
q straw and wheat straw is dead ar
4 comparatively valueless as food, IL
-: rico straw Is grecn, and succulont al
"a almost as good as tho best grasses"