The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-08-24

extremes this season. Compare our con- 1 dition in this section with that Of 1he
 farmers in the flooded districts of our 1 country, where they nave not only hao
 to witness the destruction of lneir crops,
 which were so promising for time, but
 had in many cases to fee from tneH
 homes to save their lives. Now l know
 that we are all likely to charge up al
 four crop failures of this season to our
 present drouth. This Is not fair at all
 Our late excessive spring rains are large
 ly to blame for our present conditions.
 The rains held on so long, and extenaeu
 so late into the planting season, that
 farmers had no chance to prepare me
 soil for resisting the dry weather Whleh
 set in before the lands could be broKen- Could we have had the time to break
 and prepare the soil for seeding and re-
 ceiving the roots of the plants as they
 require. the result of the drouth as
 whole would have been entirely different
 One of the most valuable lessons we
 have learned is the amount of dry wealth.
 CT that plants can stand in our soils, ana
 also what plants or varieties or Vegeta-
 bles that are the best drouth resisters. | We have been very much surprised to
 see how vegetation has withstood our nn-
 favorable conditions. all of which goes
 To prove that with the proper prepara-
 tion and cultivation that we could have
 grown much better crops than we now
 have Another very important lesson IS | that we should use better methods than
 have been used heretofore in assisting
 the soil in retaining moisture. While our
 annual rainfall amounts to htty-four 1 inches, yet we suffer annually at one or
 two periods of the season from severe drouth that does us an inestimable I amount of damage. Now we could pro- | duce fine crops in a much less amount | of rainfall if we could only devise some pneans for storing up a large per cent
 of this in our soils. Fortunately, as a
 rule, our drouth periods in the South are I of short duration, and with a proper
 knowledge of how to assist the soil in
 storing moisture to help bridge over these drouth seasons we will be able to greatly
 reduce the damage resulting from oroutn | In order to have the soil store up moist
 ure we must first make 1t a reservoir Tor
 holding water.
 This can be done largely by breaking
 deeply and by sub-soiling. It is also ne
 cessary to incorporate in the soil an
 abundance of vegetable matter, either In the form of barn-yard manure or green | crops to give the necessary affinity TOT I water, and again after the mechanicsl | condition has been improved the soh l should have frequent shallow cultivation l to prevent the escape or moisture, py treating our soils that they will first be- | a | ing them to prevent the escape Of moist
 ure except through the roots, tissues ana | leaves of the plants we can store great | deal of the water that falls during our l early spring rains and which only runs | off and Is wasted under our present sys- I tenn of soil management. We may oy | persistent effort assist the soil in storing l enough water to tide over the snort
 drouths to which we are subject and thus
 secure larger and more uniform crops
 where we now produce but small per | cent. of what our soils are capable or | producing Not only should the soil De | plowed deep and sub-soiled deep but the 1 use of good steel harrows, rollers or
 plank drags will be necessary In making
 and keeping the soil in fine condition. | Our clay subsoils store up and hold | great amount of water, but if there IS | stiff layer of subsoil between the surface i soil and this moisture so that the roots
 of the plants cannot penetrate It, ana
 reach and pump up this moisture, 1t will avail but little during our drouths.
 Hence the importance of deep suosoilins
 and frequent shallow cultivation or the | soil
 During this season of unprecedented | drouth I notice now and then a crop where the soil had careful preparation before planting and regular cultivation l since that these crops have stood much
 better and have paid for all the care and l cultivation given them. My experience | and observation of crops this dry sea | son leads me to conclude that if we would commence with our lands In the l fall and blow and subsoil deep and SOW l lands to rye and clovers and blow all | these under at the proper time that we would greatly assist our soils for the
 next seasons crops. We can get always
 an ample supply of green pasture from | the rye and clovers to pay for seed and | for all expenses of sowing. Another very important lesson that I have learned from this drouth Is that we do not com mence our farm operations early enough | in the season. We lose too much of the l fall and winter, neglect to improve the | time then. expecting to make 1t up in the | spring. This Is a great mistake, Tor 1T | we expect to make good crops and to | make a success of farming we must use | the fall and winter weather to the best | advantage I have printed here a few of
 the many valuable lessons which 1t will | pay us well to remember, and in remem- | bering these let us also remember that | nature is kind and will respond readily | to kind treatment, and If we will only | do our part in the preparation and culti- vation of the soil we need not fear but 1 that we will be rewarded for our labor. | Before closing allow me to say this. that | in all my long experience in farming I | have found that crops most generally pay in proportion to the amount of care and cultivation they receive. But I must mention one more very important les | son, learned by the drouth. which is, we must not be afraid of doing too much; must not give up and quit working our l crops too soon. We see so many farm l CTS who become discouraged and say, we'll there is no use to work any long | CT, the crops are not going to make any
 thing anyway. and there Is no use to work When we get to the give-up point | then we may expect failure.
 Broom Corn.
 The reports on this crop show that the l crop in the West Is very promising | though the acreage is small. The writer | urged the planting of broom corn last | spring fully believing that it could be | made a paying crop in the South. Broom | corn, like sorghum, is one of our best | drouth resisting crops. To our farmers | who wish to grow broom corn next sea-
 son, we would say commence to prepare | your land this fall by sowing on 1t clover | to be plowed under next spring. The | price at present ranges from S75 to sl00 | per ton.
 | Potato Crops.
 1 The present indications are that we are | to have the shortest crop of sweet pota- | toes for some years. There was not a | large crop planted, and the drouth has | greatly cut down the yield of what was | planted
 | While the crop of Irish potatoes is short | in this section, yet in the great potato | growing sections of the West fine crops have been secured and the prospect Is | that these will be cheap.