The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1903-01-29
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A CLEAN FARM.

crops. With some no effort is put
forth to destroy a weed unless it is
in the track OF the plow. Not fence
or a gate kept in repair farther than
may be necessary to restrain the stock.
A clean farm is not only one that has
a cleared up appearance, but one where
there is a destruction of all weeds
that take life and strength from the
grasses and cultivated crops. A weed
will give back to the land the strength
that it takes from it in growing, but
it does not stop there; it makes a
strong effort to propagate itself in the
hundreds of seeds that it scatters. To
a thrifty farmer there is degree OF
pleasure in noting the strong rich
growth of a weed. 1t tells him there
is strength Of soil where it grows that
he can turn to his own use. But there
is no pleasure to him in the full de-
velopment of the weed, for he sees in
it an evidence of carelessncss on his
part. A weedy farm gets bad name
that the owner cannot rid of as long
as he lets weeds grow, for wecdy
farm generally means a shiftless man.
When a farm is allowed to grow up in
weeds, whether from favorable wealth
er, the expense of cutting, or lack of
interest, the farmer is the loser.
Weeds will, in time, restore life and
strength to worn out lands, but there
is no living profit meantime; they are
TOO slow. Grasses and clovers will
do the work with much more speed
and profit, and a neat pasture adds
much to the appearance Of the farm.
Some men consider full grown rag
weed benefit to the soil, and protec-
tion to the grass and clover in winter.
Does it never occur to them that rag
weed, either dead or green, cannot add
to the attractiveness of the farm?
While I find it almost impossible to
keep down weeds, l do not let them
grow because I attach any value to
them above what could get from the
growth of plants that are useful for
forage and food.
A pasture may be enhanced in beau
ty by irregular outline and indulating
surface, but a field for cultivation is
more attractive with level surface and
parallel fences. 1t does not add TO the
beauty of a farm to allow the fences
to be overgrown with vines and
bushes. 1t is good thing for the
young farmer to cultivate the habit of
keeping things in shape about his
fields and buildings, and it is habit
that develops to his advantage. If
there are stones on the surface of the
land, they should be gathered with
wagons or sleds; what are left may be
put into small piles over the fields,
or in the fence corners, to be removed
some other time. Stones are brought
up with each plowing, but if the farm
er forms the habit of picking them up
as he passes over his fields, the habit
sticks to him like bur. When the
farmer takes his mower seat to cut
a heavy piece of meadow, there is
great satisfaction in knowing that
there is not a stick or stone in the
whole field to check his work. One
of the hardest corners to keep in or
der is the place where refuse lumber
and broken rails are kept. go These
pieces accumulate very rapidly, speci-
ally where rail fences are going out
Of use. Old boards are often kept
and moved about until they are worn
out with travel and weather. 1t is
much better to gladden. the heart of
your wife by turning all this stuff
into stove wood while it is solid. This
clearing out adds much TO the neatness
Of the premises.-John M. Jamison, in
The Epitcmist.
PROFITS FROM KEEPING SHEEP.
The sheep is primarily meat-pro-
ducing animal, and needs to be bred
and fed for that purpose. 1t involves
changes in methods from those pre-
vailing when the wool did pay for the
feed. There is no reason at all why
men who have been accustomed to
keeping sheep and have their farms
and their buildings equipped for their
management should not continue to
keep them They may need to change
the type of their flock, but more prob
ably need to change their method of
growing them. Mutton cannot be
made profitably on the skimping plan
that did secure profits when wool was
forty cents a pound. The profit is in
the lamb, and the earlier in it's life it
can be marketed the greater the profit.
There are thousands of lambs in this
and adjoining states that should be
marketed this month that their own
ers do not realize are ready for mar
ket, and will keep until fall, and prob
ably sell for less than they will bring
now, for they will not be any heavier
and, being older, will be worth less, be-
cause as an animal increases in age
its ability to make gain out of feed
consumed decreases.
Lambs that weigh sixty-fve pounds
or above should be sent to market at
once. A eve old enough to produce a
lamb can be purchased for what it will
bring, and in that way the producing
flock be doubled. I know of no other
stock that brings returns so quickly
and surely with SO little labor and so
little risk as good flock Of ewes.
Then the immediate dollar is not
all to be considered in farm operations.
A farmers capital is not wholly
gauged by his bank account. The i'm
provement in fertility and character
of the herbage of the farm are import
ant results that follow the keeping of
sheep. They eat wider range of
herbage than any other animal, and
carry fertility to the higher points of
the field. 1t takes a rich corn farm
to insure profits from hog feeding, but
a farm will constantly grow more pro-
ductive under sheep. Two ewes to
the acre will pay as good rent for land
o1co orJ ID with 1yor1,