The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-07-21
Some Random Thoughts.

A few features of Sea Island farm
Ing and I must close this series Of
letters. On many farms Of the is
lands the dependence for litter for
the stables Is the dead marsh grass
that the tides drift upon the beaches.
Every barnyard. except the ono at the
junction OF wappoo Cut and stono
River where the BLUM does not permit
Of reaching the beach with cart. has
Its piles Of marsh grass. Every me-
gro tenant had his pile of It. 1t Is
rich I'm phosphorus and is preferred
to pine straw by the farmers on that
account. Then too, many Of them
have no woodland to rake litter on.
did not see a pig on James Is
land and only one lone little one on
the island cut OF from James Island
by Elliotts Cut. a part Of wappoo
Creek. and the inland waterway from
Charleston to Beaufort. They say
hogs are nuisance. There are some
sheep and goats. and every farm has
its bunch Of cows. The finest bunch of
sheep saw were on Johns Island.
There were several years ago two
dairy farms on the island but one
was discontinued as Improbable The
owner az the other claims 1t is profit
able but some OF his brother farm
ers say the cotton supports the dairy.
Rich land Well, IL you could see
the growth Of weeds in one season
on all rested lands. and the dense
hedge rows alongside every public
road. from 10 to 20 feet wide and 10
to 20 feet high. so thick man could
not get through. except with hatch
ct. you would say 1t was rich too.
I laughed at some Of my friends and
told them they allowed the hedges to
grow % a. to hide the crops. but 1t
Ia to have wind breaks. On only
two roads did I see any shade trees.
that was on the road from TT. John
son and the private road to Mr.. Hin
sons. Other private roads may have
shade trees. but did not see them.
Az for the public roads the negroes
cut the trees for fre wood as fast as
they attain stove wood size. Many
Of them using cotton stalks for wood.
The reasons given for resting the
cotton lands are: to grow humus and
to afford pasture that the cattle may
pack the soil; the two. tramping by
cattle, and the humus. preventing its
blowing away. Such treatment al
ways giving an additional yield Of so
to 100 pounds Of lint cotton per acre
which at 40 to so cents per pound
gives a greater rental than cultivation
could do. 1t was stated by several
farmers that every instance where
cotton was planted continuously
showed poorer yields.
Another feature that every interior
farmer criticises Is the vast amount
OF hand labor. The seed are planted
ty hand. The hoeing / was told Is
about 80 per acre. from four to six
hoeings at $3.50 to $500 per acre. A
hoe must never touch a plant. the
least little skinning or bruising and
that plant Is done for.
| The plowing consists mainly Of one
or two burrows In the middle OF q
five foot row. and the hoes follow be-
hind and draw the loose soil up tc
the plant picking out grass near the
plants by hand. When laid by 1t Is
on big round bed at least two feet
above the centre Of alley.
To begin with the weeds and ole
stalks OF two years before were bar
red on by turn plow and listeG
down into the alley by hoes, GOVERNS
a space two feet wide In the old alley
On this the stable manure and fer.
tilizers are spread and bedded on by
two horse plows. the two foot space
under the plants being unbroken. Il
| ~ Soiu this IL uonc 10 cause tne pIan|
to ripen Its fruit. II the land Is brok-
en- underneath the plants It will try &c
grow into tree at the expense o.
fruit, and fail to mature.
Several fields of asparagus from
which thousands Of dollars worth Of
grass had been shipped were among
the prettiest sights I saw in the farm.
ing line. The rows are feet wide
and the shoots as thick as ones fing.
ers. cover a space Of Is inches to 2 fee
wide on the top Of the bed, and are
as tall as mans shoulders. Small
harrows were being used to clean the