Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1911-03-02
PROGRESSIVE FARMING.

That the farmers of Tazewell county
ana this section generally are becoming
thoroughly alive to the opportunities
presented by their industry is patent to
everyone who moves about through the
rural sections much. A vast change ia
taking place in Southern farming sec.
tions, not only hereabouts but through
out the southland. A few wears apo
few farmers thought it worth while for
instance to break up their land in the
fall or winter and such a thing as a COW
er crop merely for the protection and
benefit of the soil was unheard of.
There are innumerable farmers yet who
have not gotten wise to the profit in the
advanced methods and farm in the same
slipshod fashion that their fathers did
but the proportion of real farmers. men
who have reduced the thing to a science
ana practice it as a business out of
which to make money and good money
at the same time, is rapidly increasing.
The observant man who will travel
through this section now. will note that
scores of fields have been broken since
the harvests were gathered in the fall.
II he will notice a little closer he will
find that the blowing in very nearly
every instance was with two or three
horse pillow and that the land is broken
from seven to ten inches deep and some
OF it deeper. Some of tina land was
broken in the fall and early winter and
is already thoroughly pulverized and
that which is being broken now will
have ample time to become so before
planting time.
There are three essentials to really
successful farming: proper preparation
of the soil, including deep blowing; ade-
quate fertilization, which is almost IN
known in some communities, and the
intelligent cultivation of the growing
crop, shallow cultivation being about as
important as deep blowing in the prep
aration of the soil.
The proposition that has baked most
farmers who have considered the mat
ter is that of increasing their fertilizer
from 200 to 300 pounds per acre to three
or four times as much. The cost of
deep p:owiDg is little greater than the
cost of shallow blowing and shallow cul-
tivation is easier than deep cultivation.
but 600 or 300 or 1000 pounds of COM
mercial fertilizer costs more than 200 or
300 pounds. However, the farmers who
have given this subject the proper
thought now regard their expense for
fertilizer as an investment that will al.
ways pay large dividends.
Not all ordinary farm lands may be
made to double their production to the ,
acre in one year of intensive fertilizs- ,
ton, but there is practically none that
will not give largely increased Yields by
the application intelIigently of more
fertilizer, deep blowing and the proper
treatment of the soil.
The farmers of this section are randi
y waking up. This county is as capa-
Die of producing bumper crops of corn
Is is any county in the State, and the
armers hereabouts probably need the +
money just as badly. The demonstra- O
ion farms, the farm journals, the bulle- f
ms from the national and state depart t
nents of agriculture and the work of
many experts have led to very general c
dissemination of knowledge as to cor il
ect methods of farming for the best n
esults and the farmers of this section 81
re beginning to profit by this knowl- 8,
dye.