The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1899-10-11
Farm and Garden Notes.


DeKalb Co., Georgia, that was an OBJ
ject lesson to all of the surrounding
country. Situated in what is known
as one of the best farming counties in
the State, it showed what could be ac-
complished by intelligent handling and
treatment of soil. Most of our readers
are familiar with the appearance of
the quilted, red, hillside farms of that
section. That was the beginning, but
the bare, red clay is no longer visible
in these fields. A thorough system of
terracing has stopped the wash and
instead of a surface of red, lOamy
top soil has covered the face of those
red hills to a depth of six to twelve
inches, and the crops show that there
is plant food to sustain them, and this
has been accomplished by use Of lit
tie commercial fertilizer. The owner
is a firm believer in cow peas as
soil builder and as a stock feed. A
thirty-five acre field that produced
wheat early in the season, was fol-
lowed by peas. These stand nearly
waist high and are almost ready for
cutting. AS soon as cut, the pea stub
bile will be turned under and followed
with wheat again. Cow peas are RAM
pant IN the hundred acre corn fields,
and all doing the work of adding hui
mus and nitrogen to the soil for sue
ceeding crops.
Cotton cuts but little figure on this
plantation. Corn, wheat and peas
have dethroned King Cotton. The fod-
der is not stripped, but the corn
stalks are cut and shocked in the
field, awaiting the action of the shred
der to make it all available in the farm
manufacture of meat. The owners
view of the situation is this: The
grain is so per cent. of the value of the
corn crop feeding value) and the
stalks 40 per cent. Under the old sys
tenn of corn harvesting 40 per cent. of
the feeding value is wasted. Our in
telligent friend intends to put this 40
per cent. value into marketable form
in the shape of good fat beef, and
reap the financial benefit.
Not the least interesting portion Of
this plantation is a 60 acre pasture Of
Bermuda grass. This part is too billy
for cultivation and this wise man is
not afraid to let grass grow on his
plantation, and unless we are much
mistaken, this 60 acres of grass brings
in as much or more net returns as any
similar acreage on the place. The
COWS, horses and Essex hogs show
their appreciation Of it in flesh and
the dairy house, with it's pans of rich
milk and cream and "pats" of as good
yellow butter as mankind ever got out
side of show the possibilities of Ber-
muda pasture. There are thousands of
Southern farms in the red hill country
that have five, ten. twenty, or more
acres that are too billy for general Gull
tivatiOn. The wise man will put them
in pastures, and will not delay in the
operation.
The sight of such a farm or planta-
ton and the knowledge that it has
been brought to it's present condition
under adverse circumstances, so far as
conditions and capital are concerned,
gives substantial encouragement to all
who see it, for there is nothing that
has been done there that cannot be
done anywhere else in the south by
any farmer with ordinary intelligence
and industry The fertilizing and soil
building has been done with what ma
ture has provided the south with as a
soil renovator-the cow pea. The
owner of this plantation is not man
who sneers at book or paper farming.
He is always on the watch for new
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