The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1909-02-21


machinery for the past twenty years.
and / find that it pays. Am the first
man 10 use improved machinery in
this section It took years to con-
vince nv brother farmers that ] was
not running the land BY deep plOWinE-
Nv fields were full Of StUmps. To
succeed with improved machinery
they had TO come out. Three years
hard work freed one hundred acres
CT every stump aid root. Then /
had fair sailing aud could use good
tools with profit and no danger of
breakagr.
I raise nearly all kinds of farm
crops suited 20 tins section. except
cotton / cut thar out fifteen years
ago Ny money crops are hay. corn,
cassaya, and hogs I plant field IN
oats. After they are gathered the
land IS prepared and planted in peas
I cultivate them till they get a good
start Then the Mexican clover
comes on and fills every vacant
place. and the two combined make a
fine field of hay.
For turning the land I use three
horse Chattanooga disc pillow, and run
it to a depth of about ten inches.
completely turning under all the
stalks and trash 50 deep that it is
entirely out of the way IN aIter-cul-
tiVation II necessary to break deep
er / follow with good horse and
an Avery sub-sOilsT, going down in
the bottom of the fUrrow about six
inches. After the field is proved 1
take an Acme riding harrow and 80
over it. which puts il in fine condition
for planting.
For planting corn I use a two-horse
planter and fertilizer distributor,
made by the Eureka Mower Co, Uti-
ca, y. Y, which plants and feTtilizes
two rows at a time and marks for
the next row. This enables one to
complete the whole business with
one man and team. and go over ten
acres a day. doing the work in fine
shape. II can plant anything from
velvet beans down to onion seed. We
drill in our oats with this planter.
BY going over it twice We make the
drills about twenty inches apart. One
can give corn a second f5rtilizlng
when, say, knee-high, and put fer
tiliZer on both sides of the row at
the same time, I find this planter a
great labor saving machine
| am now using the Mccormick
moving machine ] find it the best
aII-round machine for the south. 1
also use their hay rake. l have a
hay barn that Will hold fifty tons of
hay, fitted with a horse hay Fork, and
can unload ton of hay in about FIVE
minutes, which saves much time and
hard work. l have a hay press so
arranged that We can bale hay on
rainy days: so no time is lost from
the field / have now on hand about
forty tons of hay which is worth SIS
per ton.
l use a HalIock weeder and lower
GU vzfrT a=~@r,T
waiting corn and other crops. I use
the weedeT till corn is about foot
high; then l start the cultivator,
which finishes up a row as it goes.
Sometimes / use a Planet, JT., for lay
ingby, fitted with sweeps. Once in
row is ali that is necessary. By
the above method 7 make forty
bushels to the acre, and at small ex-
pense.
For sweet potatoes I break the
ground broadcast the last of April
or the first of May Then take
fourteen-inch lister and open the
rows and I'LL the burrows with lot
and coarse straw manure Cane
mash and pine straw will help when
manure gives out. Put fertilizer
high in potash, on top of manure
When ready TO plant split the mid
die with lister and your beds are
ready for planting. BY this method
I have never failed to make q fine
crop Of potatoes. When digging time
comes take the lister again, split the
beds open and the potatoes are in
good shape for gathering. One man
and a good team viii dig an acre in
an hour.
We have several other tools. such
as disc harrow, One-horse drill, one
and two-hOrse walking pIOws, feed
cutter, corn shelter and tanning mill
They are all paying tools. This
about completes the list. | have d
tool house where they are stored
when not in use, In the tool house
there is work bench. and vice
and plenty of tools to DO the neces-
sary repairing about the farm.
The farm is run by one man with
myself thrown in, except such extra
Jobs as haying and baling hay I'm
nearly all our farm work We do little
walking. and that makes il possible
for mel am now seEenty-twO years
oid-tO accomplish nearly as much
as a man in his prime. Riding beats