The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-05-17
BERMUDA GRASS.
The Jersey COw-Her Milk-and the
Profits on All.

dairyiDg Industry OF Georgia Wnlch
has developed so rapidly durning the
past few years is Mrs. B. w. Hunt, of
Eatonton.
Several years ago she wrote an arti-
Gle which was widely copied at the
time, but it has not been seen in print
for some time. The article is SO full
of practical and valuable information
about the dairy industry in it's rela-
ton to Bermuda, the blue grass of
Georgia, that there is considerable de-
mand for it's publication, and the At
lanta Journal reprOduces it:
The question has been asked me
what advance dairying has made in
the South since the war, and cannot
answer the question better than by
giving some facts and figures gained
in a personal experience.
The country reside in is geographic
cally the center of the State Of Geor-
gia and lies in that "black belt" $50
called because the negroes far out
number the whites), devoted exclu-
sively to cotton culture, extending
from Virginia to Texas. The soil
originally fetile, has been much eX-
hausted by the ruinous system of
farming known as "clean culture. ]"
So deadly and persistent a fight hav-
ing been waged for years against the
two enemies of the cotton plant, grass
and shade, that our once rich planta-
tions have long been in danger of be-
ing transformed into arid deserts.
Years ago my husband purchased
North and brought here small herd
butter and increase from the herd,
under the difficulties of acclimating
the animals and controlling the ther-
mometer in this semi-tropical region.
From our little experiment, however,
such results have followed that must
impress the most confirmed and hard
ened disbeliever in that specialized"
animal, the butter cow! Let it be
borne in mind that at the time we
brought our Jerseys to the county, the
small amount of butter made here was
principally consumed on the farms
where the animals were raised, only
an Insignificant portion finding its
Way to the market. The native
Southern cow was wretcbed crea-
ture poorly fed, and cared for, and
managed and milked by ignorant ne
groes, who starved and beat her with
out mercy, her unhappy offspring also
coming in for its share of abuse. No
calf was raised on the bucket or pail.
The negro allowed it to suck to start
the flow of milk. then drove 1t from
its mother with blows, and this suck
ing and beating continued during the
whole process of milking varied by
occasional whacks on the cow when
she did not "give down her milk,
This mode of treatment, coupled with
insufficient food and exposure to incle-
ment whether, did not produce q
breed of COWS calculated to make
dairying a cafe or profitable business
in the Southern States. The result
was, taking my section as typical, the
South drew large butter supplies from
the North, it being generally conceded
that this commodity must be always
imported here, as neither grass for the
making nor ice for the saving were
indigenous to the realm of King Cot
ton.
A wonderful revolution, however,
has taken place in 10 years, in ideas
and methods agricultural in my ser
ton and while it is due in part to the
general breaking up throughout the
South Of princely plan tations into
small farms, and the turning OF atten-
ton to diversified industry, the intro
duction here of the Jersey cow has
been the greatest factor In producing
the result. Once acclimated she has
thriven on the tropical grasses through
the long summers Of this latitude as
though to the manor born, and by
that subtle alchemy known only to her
kind, she has transmitted the gold of
Southern sunshine through her butter
into the farmers pocketbook.
My county, that so short time ago
imported its butter, now manufactures
all its home supplies, and exports
I quote from the books of the ex-
press company here. From April /,
1886, to March 81, 1887, exported 49,
600 pounds; from October L. 1887, to
September 80, 1888, exported $4,000
pounds. An increase of 50 per cent.
in one year, and the demand has fully
kept up with the increased supply! l
reiterate the statement that the intro
dnction of that little butter machine,
the Jersey cow, has accomplished
these results a few years under untold
disadvantages.
Every dairy in the county that il
making money has now its herd OF
Jerseys, pure or graded, and the breed
once tried has never been abandoned
for any other. The short horn, Dew
on, Ayrshire and Brahmen have all
been successively, if not successfully
employed, but it was left for the little
Jersey to put dairying on a paying
basis in the South.
Remembering that our county ships
more butter than any other in the
State, the facts pay eloquent tribute to
the profitableness Of this breed. With
the introduction of these valuable but
ter COWS has come naturally an appre-
citation of fine pastures, and of all
grasses that are indigenous to the eli
mate, or are capable of cultivation
here; and with grass has come shade,
moisture, rest and fertility to the worn
out cotton fields. The hitherto worth
less Bermuda lands are proving a
source of greater revenue to the plan.
ter than all his proud acres of ''heecy
staple" and plantations run over with
this pest(?) that were once offered, on
that account, lower than others, are
now held at higher prices.
And strange it is to see a gray-hair-
ed Southern planter coaxing the once
despised Bermuda grass to live, thus
mutely and tQuchingly acknowledging
his lifelong error in fighting his hest
friend-now the last hope of his old
age.
Perhaps the Northern reader may