The Springfield herald., 1912-10-04
SOUTH NEEDS FORAGE CROPS
Millions Of Bushels Of Grain Shipped
Into Cotton States Yearly to Sup
ply Required Feed.

time all farm Implements were some-
what crude as compared with those
now in common use, and the blowing
of the vast crop was not done by
method that would be likely to bring
the best results, and seldom got very
high yields.
The common usage was to SOW on
land was In corn the year be-
fore. and the practice on most farms
was 70 SOW broadcast by hand about
two bushels of seed per acre. as early
In the spring as -he condition OF the
soil permitted. says Tennessee writ.
er in the Farm Progress.
The usual method was to SOW on the
land with the stalks still standing.
and cover the seed with one-horse
turn plows. OF course, 1t covered the
seed pretty deep. but on good soil
with a good season we made fairly
good crops.
II the land was left very rough by
the plows common straight tooth
Scotch harrow was run over the fleld.
which left 1t in very good shape. And
although little rough. We did not
think It worth while to run . smooth
ing harrow over 1t. Az the crop was
harvested with the old-fashioned
Cradles" by hand. there was no
machine to run over the land that
made 1t more desirable to have tho
surface very smooth.
We bound the oats up in sheaves
by hand. and left them in the shock
for a few weeks and then stacked
them. What we needed for next years
seed we thrashed with the old-time
horsepower thrasher. and famed
them with a hand-power tanning mill.
All the rest of the oats were kept in
the sheaf In the stacks. and the uni
versal custom in feeding was to cut up
into about one to one and half
inch lengths in a hand power feed
cutter. When they had not been al
lowed to get dead ripe" before cut
ting this method of feeding was very
satisfactory; but we always fed al
most as much corn to the horses
when on sheaf oats as when fed on
timothy hay.
At that date, before the modern
threshers came into use, not many
men fed oats as grain to their horses.
Corn was the universal grain ration
In all parts of the country. where
corn made good yields.
Methods have changed very much
since then. and oats have become one
of the most important grain crops.
and though the avreage in oats Is less
than that In wheat in this country Tin
1909 there were in wheat 46.723,000
acres. and in oats 33.204.000 acres)
the yield is larger. In the year men
toned the total crop of wheat was
1877 $4,000 bushels in the United
States, and that of oats was 1,007 .353,-
900 bushels.
Speaking from my own experience.
am confident that a more general
resort to the use of oats. as at least a
large portion of the grain ration. will
be better than the heavy feeding of
corn. and also as factor in crop ro-
tation will serve useful purpose. In
most parts of this country. and GER
tainly in the entire southern section,
the reliance upon corn to the extent
now general. and especially in the
south, is detrimental to the work
stock. and in many localities is abso-
lutely destructive to the land.
There is no one thing more uni
versally needed In all parts Of the
cotton growing territory, as well as in
many parts of the cotton belt" where
corn is the main reliance for both
grain and roughage. than the adoption
of some system that will provide an
ample supply Of forage that has
greater feeding value than corn fod-
der. No part of the country can
maintain a general condition Of pros
perity that runs on one wheel.
The most prosperous farm owner
that 1 ever knew in the south. was
man who owned what most people
call a cotton plantation. but on which
he raised not much cotton, but a
great deal of corn. The demand for
corn was unlimited, as practically all
the planters had to buy more or less
grain to feed their stock; and few, II
any. of them ever raised enough
grain and forage to feed their stock
for a whole season.
The best opportunity that know of
at this time. for man who wants to
buy and run a farm where he can
raise good crops of q kind that will
sell right of the farm, Is to buy a
southern plantation, and raise on 1t
the things that his neighbors do not
raise.
Millions of bushels of corn and
other grain. and vast Quantities of
hay, are shipped into the south every
year. because cotton planters do not
grow enough of these things to sup
ply their own needs. believe there is
more net profit to the corn and pork
grower who knows his business In
any one of the southern states than
the farmer in any other section who
is growing only staple crops; and
vastly more than any planter who
raises only cotton.