The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-12-13
THE DEMONSTRATION WORK IN
THE SOUTH.

That wise man. DR.. seaman A.
Knapp, whose active assistants arc
doing such a great work in all parts
Of the South under his spienold suld.
ance, has recently published a speech
he made to the farmers at Macon,
in a circular from, the Depart
ment of Agriculture, No. 33. Some
points in this I wish especially TO bring
to the notice Of our readers.
He says: Tile drainage is a perfect
remedy for the washing of all the hills
in the South, and the only perfect
remedy" / would go further and say
thai tiiling, with deep breaking n
subsoiling, and the growing OF q SOD
to turn and put fibrous matter in the
soil before a hoed crop WOULD make
the perfect system. ! have cultivated
the steepest Of red hills and never
made a gully, solely by deep breaking
and ~subsoiling, and keeping a sod on
the land between hoed crops. But.
as [ have elsewhere suggested, the
ditches behind the weed-groWn ter
races all over the South could in many
cases be used either for tiles or where
there is a grea deal Of surface rock
these would make drains and be got
ten out OF the ways on the surface
Get the water into under-drains n
then break deep n subsoil and
grow a sod and you a do away with
the terraces pIOiidDly.
mother point with which I fully
agree with DIR. Knapp. Farming can
not be successfully carried or in any
country without live stock.
When | was a boy three-fourths OF
England was under til!age. Today less
than o~ne-fourth is under tillage, and
the population has multiplied many
fold. The same IS true Of Holland.
IT Is almost entirely q grass country
and lands ara worth on an average
$500 per acre. The same is true al
Denmark. . They have made
up their minds that they could get
more out Of lane from grass n live
stock than they could by cultivating
it
And right here, go far as the South
is concerned, ONES in the matter Of
cattle ticks. The South must get rid
Of the ticks before a general live stock
industry al thrive as it should. Clean
out the ticks and you can bring down
improved cattle to feed. and there is
far more profit in feeding good beef
cattle than in feeding scrubs.
Again: Why is it that the North
west, with It's lower range of crop
values per acre, prospers? If the
farmers there set SO to SIS or $40
an acre out of their high-priced land,
they think they have done very well.
Why are they richer than you men.
WHO Can get 30 10 SlOU OUT Oh LII
acre Of cotton? It is because one man
works an enormously greater number
of acres. . They do every
thing by machinery. and they use from
four to eight times the horse power
and q great deal larger horses, and
they don't even want a walking pillow,
because the man who walks will get
tired in the afternoon and wan to
stop, and he won't do as much by
33 per cent. as if you let him ride,
and he won't nlow as many rows"
But get the circular, for it Is full
Of wise advice and is a good thing
to keep by you.
I have never mixed Thomas phos-
plate with any material containing
nitrogen in an organic form like cot
tonseed meal. I fear that if the mix
ture should stand long the lime would
drive off ammonia. / would not be
afraid to mix it with nitrate of soda.
and if the mixture was made and
used at once. I do not think much
damage would be done. But I would
not mix this phosphate with ~cottonseed
meal or fish scrap or tankage if the
mixture was &c stand any length of
time.
Heed the advice Of Professor Dug
gar and do your subsoiling before the
rsubsoil gets wet. 1t is seldom advisa-
BILE to subsoil in spring, because when
the surface soil Is in fairly good shape
for blowing the subsoil is still wet. The
fall is the only time to do subsoiling
profitably. And On fiat lands that need
drainage It is usually a waste Of labor
TO suhsoil. Drain we'll first.
"A MCDOWELL FARMERS
CORN CROP PAYS HIM.
-