The farmer and mechanic., 1915-09-28
GLOOMS GETTING OUT OF THE WAY
OF THE JOYS IN GOOD OLD robson
People Have Stopped Singing Heart Bowed Down. Commenced
There's Land That's Fae Than Day-County Jolted bv
Low Cotton Past Year But Has Rallied Handsomely

Iiiii hS,oie dulpldD-Ilty OF the crop to
Robson county. l saw a number of
fields OF sofa beans that are waistl
nigh and Of good yield, just as good
as any bean fields in the older bean
sections OF the State, and without
making any comparisons, so good that
these people will not stop raising sofa
beans
There is the thing that settles the
question of diversificatiOn The sofa
pean, through the low price of cotton
last year, has been asked to prove it's
value, which it has done. Cotton will
continue to be the main crop in Robe
son. but the SOFA bean has made good,
and it will never be unhOrsed in this
part Of the State. The sofa bean is
only one new crop. A wide variety of
experiments have been tried. There
are Irish potato fields that turned off
a good crop of potatoes and then made
| a crop Of hay or something else after
| ward. The fertilizer on the potatoes
| made the following crop a winner. For
| instance Major McKinnon pointed out
| Il field that had made TIA barrels Of
| potatoes on three acres of land and
was followed by corn and beans with
a mighty good crop in sight. Another
! place in SOFA beans or peas had
brought 50 bushels of oats to the acre,
another 20 bushel Of wheat. A ten
acre field of watermelons sold a crop
for $735 and was followed by a hay
crop that will pay the big end of the
| expenses.
! Securing Excellent Stock.
Robson county farmers pointed
out to us the excellent stock they are
getting on their farms. There is an
other thing that rarely works back.
ward. They are making the SOFA
bean crops to feed stock, and getting
: stock to eat the bean crops. They
, are trying out the things that ap
pealed to them when they were
scared about their cotton crops, ani
now that they have proved UP OF
|, a number of these things some O
J them will stay.
| IT have that field pretty we'll Sc
! in Bermuda grass" Major McKinnol
: said, as he pointed to pasture II
i which bunch Of thrifty looking hog
fed. 'NO, have no fear Of Bermud;
r grass" he said in answer to the oil
. question. If we can get enough Ber
Y muda grass and the cotton cannot ge
/ along with it, we have a good enougl
5 crop on the grass. But it does no
t hurt the cotton any. I will take al
o the Bermuda grass [ can get, an
{ you notice / am getting it right"
!. 1 have noticed in the last two Q
: three years that the old fear of Ber
d muda grass has gone from a goo
| many places, ana also 1t seems tI1S
4 the farms that are not frightene
). about Bermuda grass are the farm
q that are making the best crops. l d
8 not say this to encourage anybody
Q plant Bermuda grass. [ am merel
:. g. historian, telling what is, not
a counselor advising people to plant
. Ten years ago Bermuda grass woul
II scare the children under the bed
ia most places. Today it is feeding hos
% and cattle and making a sward an
+ pasture, and the folks who Craze
g brag about its virtues. Probably
% is like the hog question If you lii
h Berkshires they are the best hogs c
10 earth. If YOU like Tamworths be
= the Berkshire Is no good. Probab
g. it is not so much the virtues Of Be
L muda grasa in itself as the idi
a. syncrasy OF taste in the farmer WI
"a has to deal with it.
ir At any rate this country arour
Na1tcn is taking TO Bermuda gras
an6 is making live stock on it, al
rv Is planting a lot OF things on groul
va that has in the past been given mo
r. largely to cotton. and is lntroducll
= = new ideas in d:versiflcation. and
ne taking a new look al agriculture
IN general
MaxtOn a Honey Place.
he Naxton is honey town. 1t is n
tv so very old, for some Of the actl
"a men tell about what an insigniffca
no cross roads it was when they fiji
re came here. But it has outgrown tn
,s state now Presumably the most IL
hi portant factor in Maxton is the beae
n They Jest about conditions and S
ar that in past years they had mon
- ono,,oh to 90 to WrightSyille, Atlan