The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1917-11-13
FARM WORK FOR NOVEMBER
The Progressive Farmer.

L L
Put the Waste Land to Work
It's time to do away for all tine
with the patchwork farming that
is (. reproach in SO many sections,
md replace it with broad. open, well
ordered fields. When we see farm
with fence rows overgroWn with
nr;ers and bushes, wet Eol!ows that
s.ow nothing bnt cron of weeds,
plnm thickets and brier patches that
alternate with quilted and CALLED
!lsides, we know at once we've
Found slovenly, unbusinesslikc, un-
gu. pcct that his mental workings
are like his fields-slov"nly, patchy,
illordered, with no system or method,
Such man on such a farm is get
ting an example that is bad for his
children and his community. Be-
coming accustomed to such things,
they will become content with them.
There is no better time than the
fall and winter months for putting
these things to rights. There's many
wet hollow, worthless in its pre-
sent shape, that aline of tile or a
good open ditch will make one of
the most productive pieces of land
on the farm, patches of bushes and
briers, too, must 60. They lok bad,
in the first place, and they occupy
land that ought to be at work. Let's
clean them up, beginning right away
and sticking to the job until we are
farming fields instead of patches.
Good farming demands, first of
all, that we get ready for it, and no
field filled with stumps is ready. All
over the South these hindrances to
the use of improved machinery and
methods are still in evidence, and no
better fall and winter job can be
found them getting them out.
Of methods there are many with
merit. The kind of stumps to be
removed, the nature of the soil and
subsoil, and the individual farmers
facilities for doing the job are I'll
factors that must be considered.
Several years ago Prof. Ferris, at
the Mississippi Branch Experiment
Station at McNeal, tested number
of methods for removing long leaf
pine stumps, and found what is
known as. the Day boring-and-burn-
ing method to be the cheapest. This
consists essentially of an inch-and-
a-quarterauger hole bored diagonally
through the stump, startingg at the
surface of the ground on one side
of the stump and coming out some
IS to "a inches below the surface on
the other side The dirt is then dug
away from the lower end of the au
ger hole and a fire started in the sort
of furnace thus made. The auger
hole upward through the stump to
CIle OCner Slue serves DIS d SoII VI
flue, and by keeping the fire going
at the lower end of the hole the
draft created serves to soon burn tn
stump off.
Another method, known as the
"Pope Method" is popular in some
sections wherepine stumps are num-
erous. Where this method is used,
hole 1S to "a inches deep straight
down beside the stump is dug with
post-hole digger, using care in Sc
lecting a side of the stump free
from roots or projections that
might be in the way. Then, start
ing about two feet away from the
hole first dug and in the opposite
direction from the stump, a hole
one to two inches in diameter is
driven from the surface of the
ground diagonally to connect with
the bottom of the hole beside the
stump. This hole furnishes air to