The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1916-06-23
WHAT FARMERS WANT TO KNOW
BY w. II. MASSEY

advise from rs to 125 pounds nor
acre applied broadcast in March ami
lightly narrowed in.
Late Planting an Invitation To Fail
ure :;
Carefully conducted experiments
at a number of stations in the Cot
ton Belt very clearly show that
planting too late is largely responsi-
bic for our low average yields For
instance, at the Alabama Experiment
station, experiments for 13 wears
showed an average yield for fa,l
seedlings of 36.1 bushels per acre.
against only 16.5 bushels average for
February seedlings, gain of 1876
bushels, or 126 per cent. Results
at other stations have been little less
favorable to fall planting.
The time of planting will of course
vary with the latitude. In the ex-
treme northern part of the Cotton
Belt. September seedlings are
undoubtedly advisable. Further
South. say in the middle Cotton Belt
October seedlings do well, while near
the Gulf Coast oats planted in No
vember can usually be depended up-
on to make good crop.
Farmers in the northern half of
the Cotton Belt sometimes object to
fall planting. on the grounds that
the oats are too liable to winter-kill,
of course this danger Is more SER
ious than farther South. but the fact
remains that as far north as cotton
is grown fall oats on an avera &c
are not winter-killed oftener than
one year in three, and unquestion-
ably the largely increased yield re.
sulting from fall planting will more
than offset the losses occasioned b,
infrequent winter-killing.
But even in the upper third of IN.
Cotton Belt, we doubt IL winter-kill
ing the necessary evil that il i
commonly supposed to be More of
ten than not, excessive winter-kil
ing occurs because of too late nIan+
ing and it is probable than plant
ings made at the right time and i
the right way will anywhere in tn
Cotton Belt. escape this danger min
years out of ten.
In the Piedmont sections of IN
, South what is known as the cone,
furrow method" OF planting is no
considerably used to avoid winte
killing. This consists in laving n
:, rows 16 to 90 inches apart with
small shovel plow on a Georgia stoc
and then planting the oats in tn
furrow with drill, covering Il
.seed lightly This method of plan
ing leaves the oats in considerah h
depression, and this has been four
to be very decided protectic
" against hard freezes. The slowne.
of this method of planting has bee
ITS chief drawback. but recent
there has been put on the market
three-row open furrow drill. with
= FERTILIZER attachment, drawn by or
horse. that does the work very @
fectiveiy. rapidly and economical,
i Planting with an ordinary graf
drill, instead OF the common way {
broadcasting. also helps considerabl
In preventing winter-killing, an
= oats planted with the drill have yer
generally out-yielded those plante
IN the old way.
Treat Your Oats to Prevent Smr
For nearly all the Cotton Belt tn
Texas Red Rust-proof or one of IL
strains. such as Appler. Culberso
and Bancroft. is the best variety {
plant. The Burt is the best variet
to plant. The Burt is good sprin
oat. but spring-sowed oats are in
advisable except under rare cond
ditions.
AS in the case with many othe
crops. oats generally do best whe