Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1904-09-21
Farming as n Business.

One should 10 more think Of farming
ssil, empty Of plant food, than he
would think Of starting store with
an empty building. Convenient loca.
tion to railroads OF markets doubles
the value Of farm land as it would
the value of q store site. Hauling is
among the heaviest items Oh farm.
Clearing timber and brush land usu-
ally costs as much as clear land can
BE- bought for
Start farming as you would any 9TH
er business. Provide the raw mate
rial for the soil. SPREADING cemmer-
cial fertilizer with lavish hands is not
always successful. as it is apt to
wash away: The safest and surest
road is the one that the Southern
Planter has pointed out for these
many years: Growing leguminous
crops such rs cow peas, clover and
alfalfa; but to depend upon these agen-
ties alone world take too long. You
would be wasting years without re-
Enumeration from your farm. Buy no
more land than you can afford to stock
with plant food, and do moi buy stock
until the farm produces the where
with to feed it, else the cattle, hogs,
horses and sheep will eat the bottom
out of your purse. AS business pro-
position no man can afford to waste
his time improving only few acres.
Jr 1,o IA
fifty to 100 acres, try trucking. a
smaller farm will not be a paying pre-
position.
Next to feeding the sell, or perhaps
even more important is proper cult
yation. II you have settled on your
place disk rs many acres as you k.:pw
you will be able to handle. Disk in
half-lap. Then plow deeply. If you
can, let the subsoiler follow the turn
ing plow. Always barrow Immediate
~ after plowing, unless too wet, to
prevent the land from drying out.
Then disk again until it is warm
enough to plant. Unless you are To-
Gated in the limestone region, spread
twenty to fifty bushels Of lime to the
acre. Lime costs from So per ton to
six and seven cents per bushel. Spread
also 500 to 1000 pounds of ground
rock phosphate. 1t costs. 81 to $S per
ton. Also not less than 200 pounds Of
potassium chloride (muriate of pot
ASH. 1t costs about SAL per ton. Har-
row to fine tilth and SOW or drill
thickly to cow peas.
Begin plowing the peas under in
August, rs the peas will be then more
nearly matured. Turning q crop of
peas under when full Of sap and
growth is apt to sour land in this warm
climate, and disk the land every week
in half lap until time for fail sowing.
If you have used only twenty bushels
Of lime in the spring, sow now twenty
bushels more. Also sow again 500
pounds rock phosphate and some po-
tassium chloride (muriate Of potash).
The land is now ready for alfalfa or
German clover. Devote as much as
you can TO alfalfa.
On the land not needed for alfalfa
SOW German clover or hairy veich for
a winter cover crop. The land or the
seed should be infected with bacteria
if German clover has never been
grown in the field bacteria can be had
from Washington. AS land is rated
!by the number of barrels of corn it
! !4,,all produce, it should oM-gield-t ten
barrels or fifty bushels if properly cul-
tivated. rhe time mas come, then, to
get some good graded stock and to ex-
tend the work of improving to the rest
Of the farm.
Don't ina CINE, however, that you
can now afford to let your stock OF
fertility run down. Of course, your
alfalfa field will get richer every year
and YOU will have more stable manure,
but even then it is advisable to keep
on growing peas and clover. Land in
the South should never be bare OF
vegetation. When crop is removed,
SOW peas or clover Immediately, ac-
cording to season, peas for summer,
German clover for winter. Always
rse lime, phosphorus and potassium
for these crops.
You have ploweG under forr crops
at a cost Of G5 FOR seed, with seventy
bushels of lime, costing 81 Tin car
load LOTS, $500 pounds of rock phos-
phate at S1O, and $40 pounds potas-
SUM chloride at SIC. Your work of
plowing, seeding, diskiog, ETC.. should
be worth SIC per acre. If the land
IS near market OIL statio,' your i'm
provemcnts arc more valuable than
On land less conveniently located. Life
will be easier now since the alfal-a
field has reduced the acreage under
plcw. The decaying crops have sup
piled the soil with hunts and the land
will produce now as we'll rs land so1l
for S10O or more in Illinois, and your
products will bring from fifty to 100
per cent. more than they would in
r,or+ ve-tnrn cnntioT1S