The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-06-23
Plant Forage Crop.

When the staple crops-corn, cotton
and tobacco-have been planted and
started on their growth, time should
be taken to plant forage crops to sup
plement the pastures and to make
feed for stock during the winter. The
Importance of these crops has been
emphasized by the long winter through
which we have just passed. On hun
dreds of farms throughout the South
where no special provision had been
made by means of forage crops for the
feeding of the stock, but the old Gus
tom of relying on the fodder from the
corn crops and such hay as had been
saved had been followed, the stock
have had to 60 short of feed and have
come through the winter in worse
condition and are worth less money
now than when they went into winter
quarters. This is poor farming and
bad economy To keep stock without
its constantly improving in weight and
value is q waste Of food and time and
q loss Of interest on the money invest
ed in the animals. To merely keep
them to make manure Is not sufficient,
especially when that manure Is made
only from shortened rations Of no
high nutritive value. 1t cannot under
such circumstances be of anything like
the value for the improvement Of the
land which it ought to be. Where
stock are we'll fed on rations rich in
protein and carbohydrates the manure
made will largely pay for the cost of
keeping the animals, and will, with the
increase in weight of the animals,
make stock keeping a profitable busi-
ness. and result in farm highly i'm
proved in productive capacity by the
application of the manure to the land.
Such manure will return to the soil
not merely the vegetable refuse which
makes humus, but will also return to
the soil something like seventy-hve
per cent. of the nitrogen and mineral
fertility contained in the food. Now
that the South is becoming so much
more largely stock keeping country,
the necessity for the making Of forage
crops is a subject demanding atten-
ton. There is no section of the whole
country where forage crops of so great
variety and Of such great luxuriance
of growth can be- made as in the South.
While some other sections can make as
fine hay crops, nowhere else can such
enormous yields of forage and so many
crops be made in the time as in the
South. In making choice Of the crops
to be grown, attention should be given
to the feeding value Of the same.
Some are rich in protein, the muscle
and flesh forming elements, while 9TH
ers are rich in the carbohydrates, the
makers of fat and heat. There should
be selection made from both types, so
that the animals may be fed a bal
anced ration, and thus be enabled to
make growth and fat.-Southern
Planter.
Best Methods With Beans and Peas.
Beans and peas should not be plant.
ed in very rich ground, as such land
has tendency to cause them to run
to vine instead of seed. 1t should be
in a state Of good fertility sufficient to
cause moderate growth of vine. Sue
cessional crops of English peas should
be planted as soon as possible in Or
der that they may make their growth
and seed before the hot weather sets
in, as this is very liable to cause mil
dew in this crop. Plant all these
crops in long straight rows wide
enough apart so that they can be
worked with horse power. In planting
lima, butter and pole beans see that
the poles are well set in the ground,
so that they will not be easily blown
over. Dwarf lima beans will save the
cost and trouble of setting poles, and
they make a good yield, but not so
heavy as the climbing varieties.