The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1911-12-18
AMONG rns FARMERS.

(By Farmer ?. A. NitchellJ Unites
States Department Of Agriculture
Chandler Okla
Last spring We predicted a good sea
son and bountiful crops. but We were
mistaken For 1912 We predict bad
season but some pretty good crops
The lessons taught us during the past
three exceedingly trying years win
never be forgotten
We have all been conducting an ex.
perimental station without an appro-
priation from state or federal govern
ment Our results are a sack Of cot
ton. a bundle Of kafiir corn and a car
pet Of bermuda.
With this trinity We start life anew.
Had we have been raising corn and
oats and wheat we would have been
out Of commission aud now warming
ourselves by another mans fire In
stead Of being coy and comfortable
still holding down our Oklahoma
claims
Our staple cash crop. cotton, hasn't
been paying very well, but our cotton
Is what has paid our taxes and got
some molasses for our corn cakes. 1t
has bought thread TO stitch another
patch upon our better times clothes.
After all with lint and seed cotton has
brought us quite good many dollars,
but we depend upon cotton too much
and secure advances upon II until the
proceeds from our ootton-crop Is eaten
up or worn out long before It's fieecy
whiteness beauties our hillsides and
bottom lands.
Next year We are going to plant as
much cotton as we can take care of
within ourselves, and we are going to
raise more cotton than we did this year
We undertook too much this year and
have in many ways lost We have al
ready saved goodly supply OF the
very best cotton seed Now we are
going to fall plow all of our cotton
ground and plow 1t two inches deeper
t,.an the land was ever plowed before
We viii every day thoroughly harrow
all the land we pillow and keep harrow
ing II until planting time, then harrow
II some more just before planting. VIII
practice shallow. rapid and prolonged
cultivation and ii we have even as
good q season as this has been we will
have cotton Our kaffir corn crop this
poor season was an eye-opener, When
the wheat and oats failed We drilled
in kaiiir. cultivated 1t couple Of
times and gathered thirty bushels OF
seed per acre besides the fodder AS
our faithful teams eat the nice large
heads or pick the broad sweet leaves
they seem to say 1T was pretty hard
work cultiyating II when it was so hot
and dry but It makes nice eating when
It is cold aud stormy And It makes
us feel so much better 70 carry them d
great big armful Of ltaftr corn, heads
and all instead Of using a block Of
prairie hay bought in town into their
feed boxes. We will stick to cotton
aud kafir too.
We are going to set a lot of ber-
muda next spring No use to think
about how we can get enough of It.
We better think how we can get more
Of 1t for tits the stuff Last summer
when the native pastures were brown
and bare, the bermuda pastures were
feeding our else starving cattle and
putting up a desperate fight for life
Then when the rains did come how it
grew and how the stock grazing upon
It grew Next year we are going to
plant good garden upon the best
land we have. plow it this fall after
We have hauled out all the manure we
have and, spread upon it, We will
plant several times as much as we
think we shall need SO IL the season is