The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1899-04-19
70 b Farmers.

der and pea vines pulled in the usual
way for our stock feed is justly
classed as a dullard. Man has been
styled a bundle of habits, and the
call corn feed" is one of the uufor-
tunate bad habits Of the farming
man of this land heretofore and one
apparently very difficult of cure. A
Tennessee farmer once told me that
he could not afford to raise corn to
feed every thing; that it costs too
much. That is considered a better
corn country than ours aud If they
cannot do so, how can w? 1 have
been as hard to learn the new way as
"my other brethren" have been and
like them tbs only revolution irfu-
encipg unalterable DEGREES that forces
my reason to overthrow my preju-
dices and early habits.
A few years ago, before the Wilson
Tariff bill in C!eveland's administra-
ton put the butchers knife to our
sheep industry, I kept q goodly flock
and the next year after the enact
ment of the Wilson tariff bill l bad
gotten back to thirty five head. l
obtained a few early amber cane seed
TO plant two acres of the land l ID
tended. 1t was only a very average
piece of ground and a portion quite
po3r. 1t could under no circum.
stances have made more than twenty
bushels of corr on the entire two
acre, and that without manure is a
high estimate, I found. 1t raj very
thick in the hill but l did not thin it
at all. It only makes a smaller stalk
and that is only better for the stock.
After it was planted it had only two
plowings and at each blowing there
were only two burrows to each row,
making only four burrows to each row
after the plants came up. There
never vas a hoe put in it at any time.
On the 21st day Of June I turned
on it ~thirty-fve sheep, tbirty-two
hogs and seven head of cattle. I
feared to risk the cattle on it, having
heard so much about its deadly pow.
ers to kill COWS and horses, but I
knew the hog could hold its OVID
tgaiost anything but starvation and
he had a free and unlimited jurisdic-
ton on the cane. The seven COWS I
fed we'll before putting them on and
in two hours turned them and the
sheep off. In the afternoon I did
likewise, but next morning I fed for
age to the COWS and then gave them
and the sheep "a white mans dose
with hogs and I never could see
that either one of them felt sick or
unwell. A gap was left down next
to water, and they did eat, drink and
make merry with each other. They
apparently were devastating the
whole FIX" at first but soon they went
and eat over and over and over again.
That two acres kept we'll and in fine
fattening condition the stock of
hogs, COWS and sheep for seven weeks
without additional feed except two
mich COWS the last two weeks had q
little help of grain feed. Ileave any
intelligent farmer to say if the two
acres in corr would have done that.
I am satisfied that a better policy
would be to cut the cane and throw
oTer to them, and better still if
thrown on land that will be used for
crop next year. 1t will greatly en-
rich it and to throw it over into fence
n and into the woods is sheer
extravaganza and thriftlessness. On
al acre of cane thus feed there is
several dollars of fine fertilizers, for
acres elsewhere. An acre feed pru-
IDENTIFY and properly will carry three
to four times the amount of stock
that the same will in corn fed in the
unsual way, and there is the usual
costs and expenses in housing and
the losses attending. Corn when
fed green to fattenipg and growing
stock will 60 much further than
when fed in the manner we usually
do. 1t is much more remunerative
in tie green state but for work stock
it is not 80 when fed in excess. There
is more actual grain in cane than in
in the corn and the stock can use up |
the stalks which for fstteuing stock
is worth more than the grain is.
For general stock feed on the farm
corn and pea vines will not compare
with the sorghum family and the e1-
p~erience of men has shown that for
raising mules and horses colts and
for feeding to horses and mules not
hard worked it is extraordinary and
for stock that is idle it is all that ia
necessary, and for wolk stock a por-
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