The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-10-21
SANDY LANDS NOW IN DEMAND
Used To Be Thought yalueless, Now Farmers Are Finding
Them To Be Best of All
TIDE OF MIGRATION HAS NOW
TURNED TO III SANDY SECTIONS

uVaA1on, and seeing these results turns |
llon In increasing numbers 10 the
sandy lands. "o
Future for Sandy Lands.
ror ION time the sandy lands OF
Inc u and east OF the State were
ooked Upon as worthless. 1t is pos
saDle now that these same lands are
TO prove the really fertile farm lands
North Carolina. Fifty to sixty
bushels Of corn to the acre on a big
!arm Is not regarded as a big average
here. Some of the farmers make as
nigh as eighty. and Hoke county is
not one of the counties that raise their
corn in the far West. This county
provides its own gram and has a sur
plus to sell.
A bale Of cotton to the acre is not
an exceptional yield, some of the big
farmS making the average yield go
above a bale to the acre. The Hoke
county man who CANNOT do better than
the State average does not regard his
crop as a very good one. Now comes
the invading army of tobacco planters
and say that here in the sand is the
ideal tobacco land, and it is predicted
that h crops Of this one county will
be increased next year by a million
grade.
For six or eight years the sandy
country has been passing through a
transformation. Gradually the ex-
perimental farmer has been discover
ing that he was making crops beyond
his anticipation. He has been dis
covering also that while one man
made good crops another n adjoin-
ing did not. Then came various theo-
ries and various practices. some win
ming, some disappointing, but each
effort clearing the ground for a little
farther investigation.
How 1t Works Out.
An example shows how it works
out. In the summer Of 1912 John W.
Moore, cashier OF the Bank Of Rae
ford, cleared a hundred acres OF sandy
black Jack land quite typical Of the
sand Of the State. He cut off the
trees. broke the and with a two horse
pillow, and cut it up with disk har
times. In the spring Of this year tn,
land was planted to cow peas. Two
hundred pounds Of acid phosphate t.
the acre was added to stimulate tn
growth of the peas, and he has finish
ed harvesting n OF h finest ha.
crops hat could be found in a lon,
Journey. 1t was his intention to plan
that hundred acre lot in corn and cot
, ton next year, the pea crop preparing
the land for a good yield, but aionI
, came some tobacco men who are i'm
; pressed with the place, and the hun
; dred acre tract, twelve months gu
: OF the black Jacks, goes into q to
bacco farm.
Hero Is q thing that the sandy Ian
a farmers have learned-that a crop c
;, COW peas raised on the ground as 500
e as it is cleared. whether the peas al
: planted as the sole crop or wit
:. melons or c~antalopes, makes all tn
: difference in the world in the subse
! ouent production of h land. In
: COW pea crop pays the expenses {
making and probably Of clearing II
ground. It also prepares the groun
: FOR a crop Of cotton expected to ave!
r ore a ha1e to the acre or close TO
Il A crop Of watermelons planted on ne
!. ground with a sewed among II
q melons has about the same resul
u n seems that the peas besides gathe
- ing nitrogen furnish some decayH
\, ~ve4etation in addition to tina affordt
- BIZ the grass and leaves OF the surfac
5 give. and that decaying vegetatlf
n flaws a part not yet thoroughly unde
. sfoOd. One feature that the decayl1
"a matter contributes is subsistence I
y minute organisms that live IN the st
and by their action and work conve
n unavailable plant food into a Tor
y, that can be used. Now, as these Q
~ 9antsms must have air and water
10 live they find air more readily IN I
40 norous sandy land than in h CO
s. pact clay. and they find a proper p,
horton OF water moro constantly. CT
lA' when it is we is plastic, when dry
"a intolerably hard and tight SAND
IL alwavs porous. So h organisms n
ns In the sand q chance to live and
onerate in converting vegetable m
IN teriaI into q form that a be US,
r. - ,therate acids that help to disso1
I'D the minerals Of the rock suostans
~ that abound.
Easy 10 Work.
Along with the rest OF this the san
n lands arc easy to work. quick to wa
up. and easier Of drainage. free IT
h. mud, and dryer to live on.
These. In brief. are the reasons :"
dis the sandy LANDS are akins good
as the hands Of the farmers, and v
they are proving 50 surprising IN IN