The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-04-09

piants tnan In any other section. Make |
grasses in order to feed live stock should
DO the motto CT the farmer In the South.
He believes it will be the salvation OF
the country When live stock is grown
more extensively. BY increasing the
amount OF forage b iucreaee Of live
stock vii now. Ahv south can p.o.
duce beef III 20 chnsr'v 'haa any other
section, and u. demand for beef has
never been o~versupplied. A farmer can
not C.AN-" y" o~atcm Without much
study u planning, and this is what
the farmer here need to do at once. |
Clemson College at the Experiment
station is growing forage plants suitable
for the South and tho farmers should
get the monthly bull Tins to find out
what is going on IL vie.
Mr.. Spillman said that he camo from
the Statc OF Washington just three
months ago. and since that time he has
been connected with the Department of
Agriculture, with which he wanted every
farmer to get acquainted. He advised
every one to send for the Monthly List
of Publications." which would prove
beneficial to every farmer who wished
to get information Some OF the bulle-
tins cost a small sum, but the large ma
jority OF them are free, and each member
OF Congress has q limited number OF the
pay bulletins at his disposal. Write
to the Division Of Publications, Wash
ington, DC.
Within fifteen years If the right course
is pursued much larger crops of every
kind will be produced in the South, and
double the production from every acre
of land will be the result. Only one
kind of farming is possible in any coun-
try for a great length of time, and that
is i've stock farming Rotation Of crops
ia ohqNlntn1u nppnoaaru FOR Hun cfnph
farming. Every man should go to work
seriously, slowly in order to be surely,
to increase the live stock on his farm
whereby he can build up his land, and
thereby make one and a half to two
bales of cotton to the acre. Handle the
soil right and get big crops without
commercial fertilizers. Last year he
made sixty.one bushels Of wheat per
acre in the State Of Washington, using
l twelve tons of barnyard manure to the
acre Out there wheat is sown in the
I fall. Oats are sown in the spring and
are harvested in July.
Leguminous crops and winter psstur.
4 age are asked about most frequently.
The cow pea is tho best legume for the
South, and where it grows as it does
. here 1T is the best for any country The
" cow pea, clover and other legumes fur
. nish all the nitrogen necessary for grow
| ing any crop. Agriculture has never
been successful anywhere unless there
were leguminous crops. The soy bean
, is easier to handle as hay than the cow
Q pea, as there is not'so much vine The
g velvet bean ia a legume from Florida
. whose seed will not ripon here, but the
t seed are cheap. Velvet bean is good to
use as a green forage, and tends to build
y up the fertility of the soil. If planted in
the orchard let the cattle eat it, or the
vines will cover the trees when let alone
The Florida bcggar weed grows five II
six feet in height and stock eat it very
!, readily.
u Bermuda grass is the most important
forage plant in the South. One acre
!, will pasture twice as many stock as the
best acre Of blue grass in Kentucky OF
, y elsewhere. After pasturing two or three
4 years, then plow it up, and it will come
again. The johnson grass makes thu
: best hay, but 1t is the greatest pest in tn,
u land. The only good thing about nu'
grass is that it will make a lazy mar
Il work. Keep it from makinga green lea
= for two years, and 1t can be extermina
n ted. Shade the ground with oats. AL
falfa or lucerne is the great hay plant il
X the West, and would do well in thi
section. Bermuda is the best summer
. pasture and coast rye for winter. Rescu,
- 7 -oo "o III oouIh ShIOllu
sixty years co., and it can be seen OF
1 the plat of the agricultural department
at the Exposition Orchard grass is also
u important, but not many farmers in this
section appreciate Its value. Red clover
u is not suitable for the South on accoun
. of the trouble in getting a stand Texas
= blue grass is very fine for a permanent
q pasture.
MIR Spillman's speech was condensed
n into thirty minutes, and was full Of in
formation to the farmers. He distributed
a a large amount of seed at the close o
r the meeting, but only to those whc
signed a pledge card that they would
report the result to the department, by
q which means he has established a large
number of experimental stations In
G~reenville County to test the value Of
Z forage plants he had selected for expert
ment.
/ Prof. Newman made an admirable
t speech on the necessity of supplying
humus to the soil, and he explained thai
humus is simply decayed vegetable mat
ter. Every country has its period oil
destruction and hen must have a period
OF reconstruction as to It's fertility. INC
8 grass, no stock, and no stock, no crops,'
is an old adage that will bear scrutiny,
The Piedmont section Of Virginia is an
8 example where reconstruction has taken
place by a system Of protection to lands
d%uringthe winter season, and from Char
lottesville to Alexandria the earth is car.
peted with grass and clover. Corn is the
only clean crop that is grown there, and
this is always followed by a cover crop.
Nc soil is exhausted finally, and every
soil can be recuperated. Plants do not
eat, but they drink, and moisture must
be provided.
} What are we going to do ? We must
r change some Of our methods and make
a study Of our calling, The moro he
\ taught agriculture the wider to him has
become the field for study. We have
worked out of our soil the organic mat
ter, and this can be replaced by growing
manure crops. Stable manure Is the pro
duct of organic matter passed through
the machinery Of an animal or the or.
, ganic matter can be applied by the plant
directly. Thrce.fourths Of the ~fertiliz.
Ing material In cotton seed is taken away
from the South. We must learn how to
grow cattle and make 1t business, and
we cannot change our system without
learning how others make money out
Of It,.
The old field pine and the broomsedge
are the greatest benefactors to the far.
mers in this section, as 1t replaces what
we have destroyed. Nature restores the
fertility that has been taken from the
soil, but we set fire to broomsedge in
stead OF turning 1t under to aid in re.