The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-08-17
PERMANENT PASTURES FOR THE
SOUTH,


SOUTH.
IV-The Redemption of the Hill
COuntry-How Thousands OF Acres
of Now Valueless Land Could Be
Made to Produce Feed for Herds
and F1OclIs, and Wealth for the
Owners.
(By A. L. French, r. 2, Byrdville,
In a previous paper I pointed out,
and I think proved, to the satisfaction
of all fair minded readers that good,
real pastures were valuable. That
when handled from start to finish In
a thoroughly business way good pas
lures will produce as great a net in
come as land handled in any of the
staple farm crops Of the South There
| are millions Of acres Of land distrib-
uted all over the South that are pro-
ducing practically nothing, which
were they put to work in a business
way, growing pasture grasses and
grazed by first-class animals, would
bring an income to our section each
year as great as that from our en-
tire cotton crop.
This is no idle statement. but ~
made by the writer after careful
study of soil in different sections of
hn
tical knowledge Of what good land
set in pasture will produce. If land
| made rich, drained, grubbled, and
Kept grubbed, planted in grass, graz
ed with animals of the best type Of
their kind, will pay interest and taxes
on valuation of 5000 to $500 per
acre, ought we not to get out Of the
old rut we have been in here in the
South for forty years and go to MAX
ing and using pastures?
1 have seen all over the hill section
OF the South, lands cut up with ter
races, worked at great expense and
then washed to death by every heavy
rain that fell, in order to produce $50
worth of cotton per acre at a cost for
labor and fertilizer of SIS per acre.
when 1 know the same red land we'll
prepared, we'll set in the best
pasture plants and grazed by the best
animals would pay $40 per acre clear
of all expenses for a term Of ten
years and at the end of that time
have Il market value three or four
times as great as at present.
More than this, the labor previous
ly required to work this land in the
hoed crop could be dispensed with.
The manure made by the animals
during the winter and from plants
grown as catch, or Gin between"
crops (silage and legumes pricipal-
ly), would so enrich the level por-
tlons devoted to the regular money
crop that the total products Of this
crop would after a few years not be
any less but actually more by means
of devoting the hill portions Of the
farms to pasture.
l want you, my people, to do this
thing with whole lot of the hills of
the South that are now being culti-
waited. but not just at present. What
/ want to see at present-beginning
this present good year Of 1910-is a
start made toward utilizing the vast
amount of land we have that we are
paying taxes on which Is returning
no income, not dollar.
But, you say, "we haven't time
to grub out these bushes" Oh yes,
you have. my friends. You and 1
have lOafed away tine enough and
J fooled away with inefficient tools,
| horses, ETC., and by using unbusiness-
like methods of handling our bust
| ness, time enough to have grubbed
all the proftless land in the South.
What we want to do just now is to
face about. start change in our
methods that will put our farming
! on a business basis.
There will be a vast acreage OF
this land that you can not at once
! fit up into real pasture. This must
| he fenced with good substantial
fences. grubbed thoroughly and kept
moved and grubbed so that use can
| be made OF the wild pasture plants
| that are now thinly set over the land.
Then, as far as possible this
! land should he taken In hand
and thoroughly plowed, or If too
| peas and other lcgumcs until some