Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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vVWPU t?. OOXXSSOUL FXXT1LT; mi* 4? R**ay Tread by Maj. J. L. Coker, of jffarttvQle. before the Darlington Agricultural Society, -4u/jr. 14, 1877. It becomes us us farmers to reduce our expenditures wherever possible?to substitute, as far as wo maj, home-mad j articles -for thoso which we now purchase from abroad?to increase the balance of exports over imports. [f the income from articles exported and sold, exoeeds the oost of articles imported we are certainly making progress. Our .policy should be to gather iu the riches of other countries, by selling them our producf tioos ; at the same time produoing for our meat, ana it is so frequently demonstrated before our very eyes, that we need not look abroad for the many evidences of its truth. Acknowledging this, we concede at once, that home-made fertiliser* are to be used in preference to commercial fertilizers, in all oases where they are equal in value and in cost. But it seems that I am expected to show that we should dispense with commercial fertilisers altogether, and this is no easy task. For while I am very dearly of the opinion that we should devote far more attention to the home produotion of manure, I am not oouvinced that we should relinquish the use of guano, snperphoephptes and ohomicals, as fertilizers, to supplement and improve those produoed on the farm. It would seem to be indioated by the prooeeses of nature, that the one creature of exalted intelligence, placed-upon earth. bj^the crea2#0r, should restore what of vatao has been - /transferred by gradual but by constant movev' mant, from the land to the aea. Every V mountain stream is bearing along with its waters the soluble matters extracted from the bosom of earth. Evrery rain lift* from earth's surface particles of the soil and bears f them down through branch and crock and -r?ver. until into the lap of ocean are deposited the aubatanoee gathered from the land. It seems proper that man should take baok from ooeau the riohes with which she has 1 - uecome engorged and should thus keep up the equilibrium, which would otherwise be lost. So from the cemeteries of gigantic sea animals, he exhumes the monster skeletons, and gives them to the soil. He also removes the deposits of guano gathered from the soa bj birds, and distributes these. And the '^en cies 'iulo fertilizing material for tho denuded land.? So too he brings back from ocean its salt and lime, and by his activity and intelligence he repairs tho ravages of time. The best experience of the farmers of Europe and Amerioa, is in opposition to the doctrine that we should rely on home-made fertilizers alone. Our own experience in this section is decidedly in favor of the judi cious use of good commercial fertilizers? Bnt I would be glad if our farmers could be oonvinoed of the paramount importance of preserving what we have at home, and of improving the value, as well as of adding to the balk of, domeetio manures. We ere in a favorable position for making manure from stock, for most of us have oommand of extensive tracts of wood land, *r- nare. at ?Sl ex* pense in oar oovered lots and stables, or by a system of folding directly upon theJgMfc where it is to be used. These woedUnof furnish us ample supplies of litter for peas, lots and stables, and of rich earth for oomposting with auoh fertilising material as oar interests require us to purchase. I can hardly determine the relative nronortion of fltock to pasture lands, as the factors which euter into the calculation are variable; but I will say that most of us can largely increase our stock if we will provide winter food for them; and as we iucrcase our stock we can iuorease the quantity of manure from this souroe. We eau ulso make a wonderful obange in the quality of this manure; first, by better feeding, and secondly bv sheltering our stook at night This sheltering is not difficult ev expensive." If we isse net eWe to build good stables, we can make roomy log pens and cover with pine straw, and this answers the purpose very well. Let no farmer feel justified in going abroad for hie manure until he shelters his stock and makes stable manure where he now makes a very poor artiole of lot manure. I think we will find the systematic use of the penning or folding plan in pleasant. weather, to be the easiest ud beet way of enriehiag the land to the extent that this plan may be praotieed. By this meant the manure is dropped juet where it ie required for use, and by frequently plowing the land, we may bury the droppinge of the eattle, and thus preveo. loea from exposure to eun and rain. I have never seen much profit from any system of oomposting, outside of the lot and stalls, except where the materials are mixed as plaoed together iu the furrow before planting. This method of oomposting we should rosort to where cotton seed or commercial fertilizers are used, on lunds locking vegetable mutter, uiul we may draw as wo will, upon our for cuts for halt rotted leaves and I straw and rioh aurfaco earth, until all ou wants are supplied. Bat there is another branch of the sub ject to which I must refer. There are oei tain plants possessed of great value tor fei tilising purposes. Those now used anionj us are, first, the ootton plant of which w use the seed and stalks, secondly the pe plant, and thirdly the weed whioh naturall; succeeds cultivation. As to the first w need not desoant upon its value; it is alread; appreciated. Nor is it necessary to urge it' production for the purposes of manure.? We supply ourselves with the seed in 6u efforts to produce the staple. I will on); say that every good farmer husbands hit cotton seed as he does his oorn, and use Jill ha.ana act for manure. Bad as to a nei ^ftigTor Mnhre tH have here a ornn iin?nrnnM?il -?? -*1? r ? ? - J/? %*J m u j UbUCl Very rich io Nitrogen and Potash and Phos pbatea, a tap rooted plaut, deriving a larg< portion of its nourishment from the air, i is admirably adapted to gathering and stor ing away the elements of fertility which an wanting in the soil. We have thoughi well ot this crop as a food crop, but bav< not appreciated it as a means of restoring fertility to the land. I cannot too strongly press upon you the importance in this re spect. Plant it; resist the entreaties ol those who advocate green manuring, and le it fully mature; then consign it to the soil burying it well and you have applied wha is more valuable than five hundred poundi of the best commercial ferlilixer with whicl we are familiar. But if you cannot spare so large and s< valuable a crep for manure, feed it off U hogs and even by a steady rotation of cotton oorn, small grain and peas, with the use o both home-made and commercial fertilisers we may rapidly improve our lands. Aud now as to the weed crep, it is foi those who are willing, or perhaps are una ble to undertake the expense and labor o planting and cultivating a crop solely foi manure. Best a portion of the land, and you wil get a valuable crop sown by nature's ham and grown without mac's labor. You perceive that I have tried to b< jir?unv?i m luu way. i might have tok you of many new theories for manure ma king at home, of many new plants highly recommended for improving land, but I an firm in the opinion that no plants have ai yet been fouud adapted to this locality jThtflimy^flQm?vahjflJhr .manuring amp ID" pOO IBU vflv^WwiBB pJBllff suggestions are suoh that our farmers ma; adopt them without any violent changes ii their arrangements. They need not tea up their stakes and begin anew. I do no believe all our former praoticss are to b condemned. It is now quite the fashion t< denounce the Southern farmer. He i called slothful improvident, unmethodical He is told that if a Northern man wer iu bis position, he would show him how t< be enterprisiug and successful. The South eruer is said to be all wromg in his meth ods and his opinions, and is exhorted to iin itate the Northerner, or the Englishman o even the Chinese. Have you noticed wheth er or not these monitors, often Soutberi men, and farmers, are themselves eminent! successful with the plane they commend t others ? If not ww^irill prefer to follow th r.. ?r tanners wnom w know. We believe the Southern farme has done as well as any others oould hav done under similar oiroumstances. Ho ou 1 Sttlseaa appear to disadvantage beside an others when they occupy the same grount Do they in business oircles in our great oil ies 7 Do they in our armies as soldiers Do they in our halls of Legislation as statei men ? Do they in the ooUcges of the lan as students T if not let us stop this sell depreciation, and with confidence in oui selves and in our God who made us the equal of any others, let us copy after none, but worl out our own mothods and go on bravely t success. "Is This Skat Occupied?"?An ol but vigorous-looking gentleman, seeming! from the rural districts, got into a car an< wanted ita full length without receiving a invitation to ait down. Approaching on gen items n. who had a whole bench to him aelf, he aaked : (<Ia thia aeat oeeupied "Yea, air, it ia," impertinently replied th other. "Well/' replied the broed-ahouldei ed agrioultoriat, "I will keep thia aeat unti the gentleman oomee." The original pro printer withdraw himaolf haughtily to on end, and looked insulted. After awhile th< train pot in motion, and still nobody cam to ofaum the aeat, whereupon the deep chea ted agrieulturiat turned and add: "Sir whoa jou told ma thia aeat waa oooupiet you told mo a lie"?auoh waa bis plain laa guage?"I never sit near a liar if I cai avoid it; 1 wonld rather stand up." Thei appealing to another party, he mid : "Sit may 1 ait next to you ? You don't lool like n liar." Wa need hardly ?y that h A. II- - - - ? - - * * " got au Ml, ana that tbo original propric tor thonght that there was something wronj about our social Bjatem.?Bolt. Ga%etU. A Vicksburg papei says a negro magic trato in that oounty lately sentenced a negr prisoner to bo hanged for stealing a hng, am thai the ?< n(eucc wuld certainly have I>2im carried out il' thu wbito penplo had :i >t in loitered to prevent it. U-.. i I I n?n ?.n i ' r LAYXVG DO WIT PKBKAHXMT PABTUBB8. The first thing to be doue in laying down arable land to grass is that the land is well cleansed, and as inuohjft possible freed from those weeds which, ififleft to gormiuate ung molested, are likelmo be troublesome Tor 0 many years to corns. Therefore, tho y|pr 1 before the seeds atSsown, it will be uecots> f sary to make a gfbd summerland sowing b thereupon. * */ * * Tho seed Y should be perfectH even and fine, and ligh^6 ly harrowed before and after sowing. Jr - sown by hand, ant experienced sower shoul r bo employed, and a still day chosen for the f purpose. Whether corn fgrnin Ed) should 1 or should not be. sown witn the graal seeds s is a mutter of djfsput^buti^gioMfgeucial ^ is sure to rob the grass,' a^^wtoSdlyto ? smother and hi odor the growth cf the finer 1 sorts; bat others, with equal confidence, - maintain that the shelter afforded by the 9 growing corn is of great use t) the young t seeds on strong land. Most of us would ho 9 inolined to adopt this latter view, as the I value of the corn orop is an iuportaut elef ment in the consideration of this expensive * operation. Oats are thought to he better F than barley or wheat for this purpose, but I they should be thinly sown. > When the young grass is three or four t inches above tho ground it should be rolled, 1 and if sown without corn, the weak places > may oe mended by resowing; if sown with oorn, then the resowing should be done im> mediately after tho corn is harvested.? > Much depends, of course on the choice of ? grass seeds, and great oare^f required in 1 their selection. ? Another very important olemont in the consideration of this subject is the quality r of the soil. A good medium loauiy soil is * tho best adapted for permaueut pasture.? f Where the laud is too light aud sandy, no r proper accumulation of vegetable mould takes place round the roots of the plant, ; winch, by a continuous underground growth, 1 and the action of the earth worms, would annually deepen and improve its owu seed ' bed. These conditious cannot be fulfilled in * a sandy soil, whioh, owing to its porosity, ' causes a decay of the roots more rapid tbau f their growth, and is consequently sensibly 1 felt by the plant in dry and parching sea1 sons. In very stiff, cold cluys, on the coni trary, there is an absence of all porosity in > TT'tSg' nEwte fa VMslggfe f pede the growth ot the rodtf of the plants 1 and the creation of rioh humus Ijy tbo earth r worms. Both these extremes of very light t and very heavy soils are unfavorable to the B growth of good herbages. . .> 3 Let us suppose, that tliu grata has bocn 8 properly laid down, on suittf>lo ^ud that has '* been duly drained, cleansed and leveled? 0 still our real work is not yet done. How5 ever promising the youDg grass may look, * we must uot take liberties with it, and sup* pose it will bear the de;letor; practice, * which is resented even by old aid well esr tablishad pastures. Therefore. I cannot l* agree with those who feed young grass tho Q first winter after sowing; nor to 1 believe 7 that a heavy coat of manure it suited to 0 plants in so tender a stage of gnwth. The ? prrtjuir nnnrup wnnld be to A| the ynnng * layer a light top-dressing&TfKon and well r rotted manure early ip the winter, which 6 will both protect the fclsnt from tho effects r of froet, and enoourags its early growth in 7 the spring. I would loll und very lightly ' bush-harrow the layercn March, (or when " the land is in tilth in the spring.?Ed.,) and 7 then mow it late, say at the end of Juue or j the beginning of ffuly, so as to allow the d -j . i? j u<.i?suimui ^tuifu auiiu lueirseeas, wdicii ^ happens in the fiddle of June. It is to '* the future, and not the present hay stack, j" we must look, siuce any illtimed parsimony * now, or any premature desir? of realization, 0 will deprive us of permanent profit for the sake of a very doubtful presont advantage. ^ In the autuj n the layer may be grazed | _ with cattle, but not with sheep, for thoy bite ^ too elose, and pull up the young grass by the q roots. Nor should the eatde remain on for e too long a period; and auy*tnfts of rough grass they leave should be mown. The next _ season will be cytioal and trying, as two exe haustive crops will have been taken from .. the land, and, therefore, a liberal coat of 1 good farm-yard manure should be spread on ? the pasture as sooo as the cattle are removed e from it. */ Q Above all, it is neoessary; in order to B keep pastures in a profitable state, not to h mow it too often, inlet* an adequate return . ean be made in manure. It is not suffioientj ly considered that vthe hay crop removes more nitrogen from the land than rje, oats, j barley or wheat, and that not only is no rej turn made to the mown meadow in thefehape . of special manures, bu\ the atook fed on the ? aftermath are often drhren off at night to e help to enrich the arable lands. Cat) we wonder that the proceak of deteiiorttion . shoald proeesd so rapidlyW nsstnffcs thus treated, and that the most ttddKIe grasses begin to dio out.?ltov. C. T/Cokbanob, k of England. o The general dircotious given in abovo aril tielo are excellent, but the difference of scu11 sous horoaud in ICnglund necessitates sonic difference in practico. I'or instance, it is | rccouiuiviidod to rcsecd spots whero the stand is poor, in June, or as soon as the 8rain crop is harvested. This oould not be one in our hot, dry oliinate?the following September would be quito as early as the young plants oould venture above ground with safety. But we cannot commend too highly tlio advice, to let tho plants teed the first year and thus correct defects in the stand; and to avoid weakening the plants by gruzing or mowing, before they have become 6trong and fully established. Pastures aro very frequently ruined by tho desire to realize from them too soon.?Ed. So. Cultivator. oat8. Editor Southern Cultivator.?As soienco requires "tables," I was in hopes to ihwmraiiintfifl inmn .jetting forth the reVnMffpfibie experiments with oats made the paefieason, Dut a destructive drought of nearly 60 days, commencing April 13th, rendered most of them uninstructive, especially so iu those instauces where 1 hoped to demonstrate (partially) tho comparative value of cortain salts, applied as a top dressing in March?only ouly one rain, and that a slight one, fulliug after tho application. In there cases, there was no discernible diffcrcnco between natural soil, Nitrate Soda, Phosphate Lime, Chloride Sodium, aud Sulphate Lime. These salts were applied separately and also in combination. It was pluin that the oapacity of the natural soil only was exhibited. The variety sown was the rust proof oat. I shall repeat this experiment the coming season, making the application much earlier (December or January,) and hope to be more successful. As "tables" are not essential to the practical farmer, however, I shall proceed to tell what mv exDerimcuts in another dir*>n. tion have taught me, and I am almost dogmatic euough to doty any one to disprove my conclusions in rofereuce to oat culture by actual test. It is uot wise, however, to be dogmatic iu reference to agricultural matters, for, as a rule, almost, it seems that the experience of one is disproved by that of another. I have been a close obsorver and student of oat culture for several yoars, and the result of my observation and experience is this: Thai the time to sow is from September 15th to November 10th, tho earlier on poorer soils?tho happy medium is October 10th15th. Ou rich aud vory rich soils, from October 15ih to November 10th. That a is the best soil for oats, but that they can bo profitably grown ou any soil, if judiciously manured. That the phosphate lime is the special manure for oats, where they follow cotton or poas, and especially so ou clay soils. That the manure should be drilled in with tho seed. That the seed should bo put uniformly 3} to 5 inches deep; that ou all but very rich friable soils drilling at 18 inches aud cultivation increases the yield under like circumstances of manuring, 50 to 75 per cent. These, Mr. Editor, aro the maxims I hold in reference to oat culture, and I can confidently recommend them. Many are agreed as to the proper timo for sowing, but a very large number of farmers still hold to the opinion mac February is the time to now oats, and yet they admit that they rareli uiako really proQtabie crops. Xiet tnem once under stand that October sewn oats, put uniformly 4 inches deep, and that havo a good hold on the soil by the 15th Not. are not endangered in the least once in 10 years, yea 20, in this climate, and thoy will tee their way clear to profitable oat growing.? Notwithstanding the uupropitious season 1 made a fine crop this year, as my neighbors, who came frequently to examine and admire, can testify. At the lowest calculation, made 40 bushels on rathor poor sandy land, and but for the drought would certainly have made 60. The oats were sown in cotton in October, siding the cotton with a shovel and sowing seed in furrow. Covered by breaking out the middle with a scooter. Tue cotton had been picked over twice. In January the stalks were beaten down, and the oats cultivated 3 times afteryards*. . Tha .oo too #ows were 3 five* apart, and tha cotton was so sided as to maka oat rows 18 inohes apart. Made no speoial application of manure to tha oats, but the cotton had been manured. This is a good way to work oats, for it is economical. On our old cotton lands, the aoid phosphate oi lima is tha only fertiliser needed to maka msgnifioent cropa. It should ha applied in the furrow with the seed, from 2 to 4 hundred pounds per acre. It is with oats as with cotton, too much nitrogen to be guarded against. Twenty to forty bushels ootton seed, however, may he applied with profit, in addition to phosphate, but, aa 1 remarked before, auen application ia not necessary after cotton or Dcas. As drilling nod cultivating oats is notmj invention I have no personal theorising at take in the matter, but I give my experience. There aia numerous, oooasioae, no doubt, when it will bo found more profitable to eow broad oast and reap less, but as a rulo the "intensive" farmer will gain by adopting the drill. From 4 to C acres can bo cultivated in a day, depending on the length of row, and the expense is very small. A twelve year ol?l hoy with a donkey is almost first class stock for the purpose. i ?? hmwwmmmwbww? One more remark and I am done. Id this soctioD for several years we hare been able" to bay from one and a half to two bushels of corn with one of oats, in the mouths of October and November, the period when corn is harvested and oats in domand for seed. Now, as it is a well determined fact that the yield of oats is three times greater than corn, (in respeot to bushels) on samo soil, even when oats are broadcasted, hero is 45 to 60 bushels oorn from ordinary soil. To what extent this is the case in other sections of the State, and how long it may continue to be the oaso here, of course I do not know hut. it i> reasonble to expect that ior many years yet a bushel of oats will purchase one bushel of corn. This ought to enoourage us to gtvwoata, U JamdMhUdly4ha .. surest crop tbar we eaa plant, and it is to bo hoped that the advioe of the "Southern Cultivator" will not go unheeded this fall. S. A. C. . "Stick to Dad."?A farmer's son writes us tho following: "I am tired of farming and want to come to town to make a living for myself. What do you think of it?" Well, wo think you are a fool if you don't stay at home. The city is overrun with 'dead beats' and tramps, and if you have a dead sure thing of making "bread and meat" on the farm, you'd better stay where you are, and dig potatoes, than come hero and go to the Workhouse and peek rock. Stick to dad. Stay on the farm.? You are worth more to yourself, to ytur neighbors, to vour State and the country at large than all the one-horse mutton head professional gentlemea that are living from hand to mouth in this city or State. You stick to tho plow, the mower, the reaper, /? A . A ? . A " ireeze to coat iurns like a fly blister to a negroe's lip, raise rye, corn, bay, barley, oats, potatoes; chop wood, maul rails, burn brush, curry your mules, feed oxen, raise stock, and instead of hanging around the street corners dependent upon lunch houses to keep sand out of your craw, you'll be at home on your farm, living a life of "independent happiness," while thousands of "nice young men," too pretty and proud to work, and too lazy to steal, will be lighting out "over the hill to the poor house," merciless beasts aud lazy subjects of utter dependence upou> public charity. Young man, if you know which sido of the bread of life the butter f/vtliok ?/! ? ap aa? ing to Louisville to "make a living for yourself." 25 acres of and a chapliko you to tiil. it, is worth more to the county than the bank in this city and the smartest capitalist we know of to run it.? You stay where you are. Follow the plow, and engineer the docile, willing mule that Kulls it. Our word for it any young, oaltby, st out farmer's boy who will give up his chances for "a dead sure thing inlife" and come to towu on an uncertainty is not smart enough to take oare of himself, and should be arrested and sent to a lunatic asylum for a darned fool. Stay where you are,?Louisville Courier-Journal. Four South Carolina Widows.?At Prosperity, a station on the Greenville and OaIiu^u. -a?,u unrcn-iu" re&cn 6T the sound of the whistle, four widows whose names and deeds should be printed in letter* of gold. We shall tell of them?to spare blushes?first. No. 1. This lady?as, in fact, all the others?lost her husband during the war and was left in straightened circumstances. Did she sit down and grieve at her fate ? By no means. She has raised four children, besides fine crops, and to day she has much of last year's cotton and flour on hand, in free from debt and is able to pay cash down for what she wants. No. 2 looks complacently on all of her last crop of cotton, and with a sense of perfect rest and absolute fullness on 3,000 pounds of flour, neither of which she has sold because she has no use for the money ?here's a widow for you. The only thing which disUitha her rest now is what todb with her new fodder, every place being, filled^? with the old. She might dispose of some of it to the Editor of the Herald, who has been standing to tho rack for years, fodder or no fodder. She, too, like a true woman, has raised children and set them np nnder their own Tines and fig trees. No. 3 struggled through the years which bare rolled on sinoe the late unpleasantness, raised six children, given each at majority $500 in cash. Last year she bought a tract of land, for whieb hi 4(M1 in mwwi mnn?? ?* paid. Has corn, fodder and other things in abundanoe. No. 4;, like nnto the others, has aasde a splendid fight and brought np a large fhmilj in the way tbej should go, has of last year's orops abundanoe, paya oaah in trade and loans her earnings out on interest. Curculios may beat bo fooght by inclosing the plum or other fruit trees infested? cherries, peaches, etc.?with a chicken yard fence, and oolonlsing a flock of chickens withiu. Then, after the fruit is set, by a slight shaking of the trees every morning, while the insects are still inactive, they will drop off and become au easy prey to their ready enemies beneath.