The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1912-12-20
THE CITRUS TRIFOLiATA.
BY Senator 3. K. TillmaD.

One familiar With the topography of
the State and character. Of the soil III
upper South Carolina understands
Why the soil washes away so badly. 1t
embraces fully one-third OF the State.
Portions of this are much more hilly
than the rest. On certain soils OF r5d
kind, owing to the freezing and thaW-
ing in winter, the'washing and denuda-
ton is much more marked. Any land
in this region grows Bermuda grass
admirably, and, even where the soil is
gone, if the land is broken deeply and
a little stable manure used, Bermuda
soon sods it over. On land entirely
devoid of soil, or extremely poor the
best way to secure a Bermuda sod is
to SOW rye and fertilize with CONNER
cial fertilizers. That plant grows with
less humus than any OF the grains
aud the roots will serve to give the
Bermuda a foothold if the rye is grown
and allowed to rot on the land. Once
sodded and put in pasture it recuper-
ates and its fertility is restored very
rapidly. The trouble with growing
cotton on such land, as has been too
long the custom, is that having lost its
humus, it washes very badly and soon
becomes sterilized or so poverty
stricken that it will not grow anything
prodtably.
When land has been pastureS sew
eral years and the Bermuda sod be-
comes set and grows all over it, an ad-
mirable crop Of oats can be grown on
it if commercial fertilizers are used
in the drill when the oats are sown
and no injury will result to the grass
at all. Oats should be sown every
third or fourth year in such soils. In
fact it makes better pasture for ploW-
ing it up deep and turning the Ber-
muda roots under the land. Such
farms can be made profitable by stock
raising without the necessity Of grow
ing cotton. Cotton as everyone knows
REQUIRES hoeing, and hoeing Bermuda
sod is costly and laborious. There are
thousands and tens Of thousands OF
acres of land in the Piedmont or re-
gions north of Columbia that are very
badly quilted Or washed. These soils
have all the mineral elements in am
pie quantity to grow fine Bermuda
grass. All they need is to get this
grass on them and use them as pas
lures alternating with oats as l have
already indicated. There are many
thousands of acres of land originally
very fertile and densely wooded which
are now given over to poverty-strick-
en- old field pine thickets, full of gul-
lies, where the pines are puny and
show none of the vigor usual with the
type of trees. How to restore these
now barren and useless acres to pro-
ductive agriculture is one of the prob
lens which Clemson college seeks TO
solve. On its own farm at the college
it is showing the possibilities of re-
cuperation coming from Bermuda sod
on lands once quilted and washed
away. What can be done at the CO.
lege, and has been done, can be done
throughout the Piedmont region in
the State.
The only drawback to making land
profitable for stock-raising is the lack
of fences. Anyone familiar with the
expense and trouble of keeping up
wire, fencing must welcome the hedge
plant that will grow under favorable
conditions and produce fence IN from
six to ten years according to the way
it is treated. Such plant is the Citrus
trifoliata or hardy lemon. have
known the value Of this plant for ~
years or more. Dr. C. u. Sheppard
at Summerville, and Mr.. P. J. Berck-
mans, of Augusta, Ga, have grown the
hedge successfully for thirty years or
more. l have on my plantation at
Trenton more than half mile Of such
a hedge, photograph of which is sent
with this article, and it makes a fence
entirely impervious to stock OF all
kinds. To use the old Saxon adage, 1t
is pig tight, horse high and bull
strong" l doubt very much whether
even an elephant would like to tackle
it for the millions of thorns are very
strong and sharp, and the bush, which
becomes a small tree when neglected,
has a very stiff stem and is not easily
bent